Whoever said kiddie pools are just for kiddies? When you’re waiting for an air conditioning service company to fix your broken down system, filling up a kiddie pool, dipping your feet inside and periodically sprinkling water on your arms and legs will do more than release your inner child; it will help keep you cool until a technician arrives to fix your air conditioner.
During the summer, companies will receive an influx of repair calls. You aren’t alone if your air conditioner stalls on a sweltering hot summer day. You might attribute the timing to Murphy's Law, or it could be that you haven’t kept up on your maintenance.
It's conceivable that you might have to wait several hours for an air conditioning service technician to arrive. While you wait, give the heat a one-two punch by taking steps to cool your home and then yourself.
Cool your home down
- Close your window treatments to block the sun.
- Resist the urge to turn on overhead lights and lamps to compensate for the sunlight. You'll feel the heat these devices generate. (But keep in mind that incandescent light bulbs radiate less heat.)
- Turn off other “non-essential” heat-generating electronics, including TVs and computers.
- Turn on your whole-house fan and open the windows. The fan will push warm air through the attic and roof. Augment the effort by placing small fans in the windows to push even more warm air outdoors.
- Open your chimney flue to draw more warm air out of your home.
- Capitalize on the opportunity to cross-ventilate by cracking open windows on opposite sides of your home. Use your best judgment; cross-ventilating on a sweltering hot day might make matters worse. But if it's moderately warm and breezy outside, a cross wind could provide comfort.
- Refrain from turning on the oven or stove, which can heat up your home in a hurry. If you absolutely must fire them up, run the exhaust fan while you work and also for a full 15 minutes after you're done to help dispel heat.
Cool yourself down
- Dress in lightweight, loose-fitting clothing. Perspiration that forms on light and loose clothing quickly evaporates while heavy and tight clothing traps perspiration.
- Place fans in your windows to pull in outdoor air – as long as it's cooler outdoors than it is in your home.
- Press other fans in your home into action. Spin your ceiling fans in a counterclockwise direction to create a wind-chill effect, and plug in table and floor fans to do their part.
- Stay hydrated by drinking water and/or eat healthy snacks that are loaded with water, such as watermelon, grapes, pineapple and raspberries.
- Eat spicy food such as hot peppers (believe it or not) because as you perspire, your body will cool down as the moisture evaporates.
- Evoke the earliest days of indoor air conditioning by filling a bowl with ice and positioning a table fan so that the air blows over the ice. Alternatively, fill a water bottle about three-quarters full and place it in the freezer until the water freezes. Place the bottle in a bowl to catch dripping condensation and blow the fan over the chilled bottle. You might like one or both of these ideas so much that you might set up multiple “portable refrigerators” in several rooms in your home.
- Pamper your pulse points by keeping a water mister nearby and squirting your wrists, elbows, ankles and your neck. If it's a really hot day, apply an ice pack or cold compress to your pulse points to lower your internal temperature.
- Cover nubby, scratchy, itchy or otherwise uncomfortable fabric and furniture with smooth, cotton sheets or pillowcases, which will be decidedly cooler.
- Release the cooling properties of aloe vera by spreading some on your arms and legs.
- Soak a shirt in a sink full of warm or tepid water, wring it out thoroughly and then put it on. Rewet it after it dries.
- Enjoy a bath or shower with tepid water. And if you decide that a kiddie pool is more your speed after all, don't stop there. Make your own slip n' slide toy by spraying an old tarp with water. Just be sure to nail down the corners first.
[Note: Click here to review the latest California drought mandatory water restrictions.]
At some point, you might be having so much fun staying cool that you might not even notice that your air conditioner is on the fritz. Then again, maybe not. Either way, you'll find that with Experts In Your Home, there's more than one way to beat the summer heat. If you need an air conditioning service contact us today!
