10 Ways To Cool Off

When Your Air Conditioning Breaks Down

When you’re dealing with summer heat and humidity, losing the use of your air conditioner can be miserable. There are several things you can do to make yourself more comfortable in the meantime. Here are ten suggestions that may help you cool off without the use of an air conditioner.

1. Head to downstairs – It is always several degrees cooler in a basement, than it is in the aboveground floors. This is partly because the ground insulates it from the hot air, and partly because warm air rises. If you don’t have a basement, the lower floor of a two story home will still be cooler than the top floor.
2. Get out the fans – If you have fans, use them to circulate the air. It may even be worth it to purchase one or two to use, if the AC will be out of commission for more than a day. Use them to draw in cooler air in the evenings from open windows.
3. Cool showers – Rinsing your body in a cool shower can feel very refreshing when there is no cool air available.
4. Lawn sprinkler – Kids use sprinklers all the time to cool off. Why not join the fun? If you’d rather not run through the sprinkler, just set your lawn chair in its path, and let it spray you each time it turns your way.
5. Visit the pool – Get out your bathing suit and spend some time at the pool. The water will cool you off, and you’ll feel refreshed before you have to head back to the heat at home.
6. Go the beach – If you are near fresh water or ocean beaches, this would be the perfect time to spend the day there. Even if you don’t go in for a swim, the air coming off the water will be much cooler than it is at home.
7. Sit in the shade – It may actually be cooler to sit outside in the shade than to sit inside your home. Sitting under a shade tree or a sun umbrella with a cool beverage may help you to cool down some.
8. Cool your feet – Putting your feet in a basin of cool water or a kiddy pool will help your whole body cool, since your body radiates heat from your extremities.
9. Chill your wrists – To help bring down fevers, medical professionals will sometimes place ice packs on a patient’s wrists. Just as with the feet, cooling your hands and wrists will help your whole body feel cooler.
10. Close the blinds – Keep your blinds closed, to keep the heat of the sun out. Keeping the heat out of the house can be as important as trying to bring cool air in.

Heat stroke can be a real danger when your body does not have the opportunity to cool down. Keeping your body cool, and drinking plenty of fluids to replenish what is evaporating through perspiration, can be critical to your well-being when your air conditioner isn’t working. (Compare Electricity Rates, 5.16/2011)