Preparing for heatwaves

I grew up in SoAz - yes, you can leave your footprints in asphalt.

I spent half my Zoomie years at Nellis AFB, working out in the open on the bombing & gunnery range - year around.

(pretty scenic, eh?)

My suggestions?

Turn the air conditioner to be only 13 to 14F below ambient for the early summer - IOW - set it at 80 or 85.
Park in the shade / walk in the shade
wear a hat
wear (thin) a long sleeve shirt and a cotton T shirt under.

Better than A/C, use a swamp box evaporative cooler.

Power vent your attic/roof crawl space

When riding my bicycle to and from work, I would wrap my head in a wet towel - just my eyes showing. Would have cool ride home and by the time I arrived, the towel would be just about dry. Longer trips require a re-soak.

Check bicycle tire pressure carefully and stand the bike in the shade or indoors. I have had tires explode from direct exposure to sunlight.

Know the signs of and guard against heat exhaustion/heat stroke - both can kill you.

I agree with the afternoon nap, if possible and work after the sun goes down or early in the morning before the sun comes up - much cooler. Drink lots of water.

Finally, if you are tired of baking off your buns, do what Bruce and I did - move to Alaska.

 

In grad school I had an office in the Agricultural Engineering building and it had no air conditioning, someone before my time had taken an old truck radiator and had cold water slowly flow in at the bottom, usually in the high 40's from the well, and out of the top, a fan blew air through it and the air coming out was kept in the 70's by controlling the water flow, the water coming out went into a tank and was used to water the plants in the greenhouse. Misters were used in the greenhouse to both raise the humidity and lower the temps as some plants will not set fruit or will bolt if the temps are to high. Being a building built about 1900, the ceilings were high and the windows were opened at both the top and bottom and a natural air flow was created with the hot air going out the top in temps up to the 80's. The old adobe buildings with thick walls and roofs were opened at night to cool as much as possible, kept closed during the day to keep the heat out and used swamp cooling as well. Everyone who could worked during the cooler hours. High temps and survival are most affected by the humidity, you can be fairly comfortable with low tech solutions in the 110 range if the humidity is low, 100 % humidity and the 110 temps would kill many people without refrigeration. Another reason to consider earth sheltered housing if your area is suitable for it.

 

Exactly, people die from heat also. Even the strongest and smartest can get heat stroke. One symptom of heat stroke is confusion or the definition is an altered mental state. You may not realize that you are getting over heated. I like all the suggestions of using damp clothes or sheets to help cool things off. I have many bandanas so those will come in handy if we need to cool off.

So heat kills. Somethings that keep popping into my head:
If SHTF and people die from heat, things will get bad quickly.
Your garden will suffer greatly
Activities/chores will have to be at night but so will everyone else-
Cooking with heat will have to be done during cooler times or tailor your eating to a menu that does not require heat.
New issue that was pointed out, bike tires will melt.

LOL! the count down has begun!

 

I mean, it is illegal for power companies to shut off people power here in the summer months because of the number of people who die from the heat.

 

So stock up on white linen sheets , make nice shade .And if its not windy roof cover.
Preferably with a space between sheet and roof for max. cooling.
@AxesAreBetter, many things are illegal, does not stop them from happening.

 

If an overloaded transformer burns out and kills power to your area no law will stop that.

 

Post SHTF there won't be a surplus of water or fuel to produce evaporative cooling indefinitely .
Under ground cooling needs to be deep and closed up so earth temperatures can stabilize . Too shallow and the sun light is still cooking the ground above .unless you have a structure above that it's self, is insulated .
I've been in old long deep mine shafts on especially hot days in the desert and you want to move in there and stay indefinitely .
shallow holes however not so much .
When it is humid , Swamp coolers do not work for beans ,a fan is about as good as it gets, setting aside refrigeration which require significantly greater energy resources . ( another great reason for LED lighting ,they add almost no heat ,depending on intensity)
I have 12 volt DC automotive and computer fans going right now which seem to do the job well enough .
During the worst of the day I/we bail out to town, and enjoy the air-conditioning in stores and such, till after it cools off a bit , and then mozy home start the swamp cooler to cool off the house, and after it's cooled down out side close enough to the inside temp , I shut off the swamp cooler and use the fans to continue the cooling of the house till about mid night when I go to bed. I sill maintain a small fan at my desk and bed long as i'm in the room.
I do have plans for an under ground shelter specifically for storing my preps and things that are heat sensitive , including me .

 

Don't remember all the things from haying in the 1950's, but if you had heat exhaustion as they called it it seems you were very sweaty, sick, dizzy, weak, hot, and flushed complexion. If it went to heat stroke or sun stoke, you quit sweating, got pale, even sicker, and if nothing was done you could or might die. Looked into it a bit on the web, it seems to be tied to body temp. 104 or so is bad, heat exhaustion etc, over 106 and it is heat stroke and your body and organs start to shut down and if untreated, you may die. We always kept an eye on each other, drank switchel to stay hydrated, and used salt tablets, although I think they may have contained more than sodium chloride, and knocked off if it got too hot.. Also avoided large heavy meals, stopped and ate small amounts of food, drank a lot of fluids, cooled off and then went back to work. Took a break like that at least every hour or two. Was hardest to work when humidity was high as well as temp.

 

I have never heard of this. I looked it up, great info to know.

Switchel or Haymaker's Punch Recipe

Here’s a classic Haymaker’s Punch recipe, which was unearthed from the archives of The Old Farmer’s Almanac:

• 1 gallon water
• 1 ½ cups molasses
• ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (ground)

more swithel recipes if you follow the link