Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

I bought an evaporative air cooler, like that bedsit Bob showed, about 8 years ago and keep it in a cupboard upstairs. It only comes out when the temperature rises and rises to unbearable and it is very much a life saver for me, it works and does not need an exit hose, just an electric socket. It is basically a fan behind a pile of straw, which is dipped into a water reservoir. It most definitely keeps the room at a more pleasant level.

I sometimes use a wet t towel on an airer in front of a fan but only when the heat period is very short and not too intense. Tbh I dread very hot weather. When very hot then the insulating curtains do double duty and stay drawn on the south side of the house. I only open windows on that side when the air temperature outside is lower than house temperature. I have two weather stations outside, one up on a high post on the edge of the garden and one by the house, both on the south side. The second one is shaded. These give me readings inside and out. I use the reading on the one by the house when dithering about when to open windows. The house is still ventilated because I have mechanical ventilation, which is drawn in from a duct on the north side.

My action plan in case of extreme heat is to set the evaporator up in a room on the north side this time, I can keep this side pretty much cooler as each room is like a fully insulated box, I will just keep the doors shut and raid my hidden stash of chocolate

I don`t remember which year it was, sometime in the 70s or 80s but it was intense for weeks, reservoirs dried up. I remember soaking me and the children with water, just to stay cool

That wet curtain tip from RAS is brilliant

and you couldn`t buy a fan of any type, not anywhere for love nor money. Every single fan anywhere had been grabbed

nuatha

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Thanks for the info re Ceiling fans NUATHA, He Who Knows had already said they might be too noisy for use in a bedroom anyway. RAS thanks for the cotton curtains being damped down that is a very useful one.

TBH we didn't find them that noisy. The vertical fans we have are large (12 and 16 inches if memory serves) because the blades are so large the move slowly while still shifting a lot of air which means they are far quieter than small fans doing the same job.
If it gets too warm this year I'll try a soaked muslin from the water tray to the top of the fan's cage and if it works I'll be back to thank RAS
(Too warm for me is 22C, at about 25C I struggle to think, though generally I'm fine sub zero in the UK. If we're going to have a run of hot summers I'll be following Softstuff's example and fitting air con)

GreyQueen

I taught my parents that trick with closing blinds to keep a place cool when on a caravan holiday as a child. Can't recall where I learned it, but it works. And RAS's wet cotton trick is something I've used successfully, too. If you're tempted to wet down clothing, please remember that you can even get sunburned through clothing and that wetting it won't stop this happening.

In this country, we're more likely to be too cold than too hot, but hot weather is a killer, and older people can be particularly vulnerable, so we need to factor hot-weather preps into our plans, even if it's just down to stashing a few tips at this stage.

When it's full-on summer, I don't do my gardening in daytime, I garden either very early in the morning or start in the early evening and leave before dark. Heavy exertion in full sun is debilitating and people who live in hot countries avoid it.

And don't disdain the simple sunhat, or the umbrella - the latter were invented as sunshades not anti-precipitation devices, after all.:p

[Deleted User]

1976 the year of the great drought, we had pond bases crack never to be repaired again that had been there for hundreds of years back in Kent, day after day after day of hot blue sky and sun. It got very wearing in the end though and you'd get up in the morning just praying for a shower or some respite from the baking heat. The plus side was that we were young, lived in a place with many other couples without children and we barbecued or picnicked in each others the gardens for the whole summer, hardly had to cook and it was like an endless garden party everyone bringing something to the feast and usually accompanied by lots of homemade beer and wine. It was however a great relief when the weather did eventually break and the countryside suffered greatly from the lack of water.

moneyistooshorttomention

Well there was this little thought (amongst many others) in my mind on moving here to West Wales re if the temperatures increased...

Me - I would be quite comfortable at 22C (probably about my absolute ideal temperature) and still fine up to 25C. I start complaining at around 30C I think:rotfl:.

Anyways...I've now been here over two years and, to date, I've yet to think "It's too darn hot - I'll just whip all clothing off and have something to hand to put on if anyone rings at the door". I certainly used to do that sometimes in the hottest part of the year in my last house and had a couple of fans on stands to use when required. I got shot of one of my fans at one point since moving and the other one has never been used yet since coming here...

Thinks....:think:...does this mean that if temperatures increase I might actually get to use that fan again and my summer dressing gowns (which I've also not used since moving here)?:D. I'm doing some very positive thinking - and keeping them...

[Deleted User]

oh yes 1976. We lived in an old cottage in the middle of nowhere in n wales. We had two children, one 4 and one 2. There was a private water supply, from an e coli tank on a hill. Yes I brought a health inspector in and boiled every drop, we were never ill. The tank ran dry, so we had no water supply at all. Dh used to bring water carriers home from work and I opened black sacks and spread them out at the base of the hill by the house. It collected drips from the hill and I used that water. I was 28. It used to make me mad when we could hear sneaky garden sprinklers going behind town hedges, when the country was so short of water. There were lots of areas with stand pipes. Makes me wonder what would happen now, with a much increased population

I have no idea or guess about the potential for summer but I am going to connect my water butts up in a few weeks and I still have several good travellers water filters. Writing that made me think

Mrs LW do you remember the melted tarmac everywhere?

[Deleted User]

oh yes, crossing roads in sandals was sticky business that summer.

I suspect that if we were forced to use standpipes in 2016 there wouldn't be the polite and resigned queuing there was back in 1976 where everyone patiently waited in line for their turn at the tap, there would be stampedes and fisticuffs and bad feeling and I suspect the strongest and most aggressive would get there ahead of those of a more passive nature. Besides, most of the world wants 'designer' water NOT plain old tap water and certainly NOT from a tatty old stand pipe tap in the street!

RAS

I was a bit younger kittie; spent part of the summer with a houseful of other students working our way from the back door through the jungle to something that turned out to be a small river. One of those that flooded this last winter.

The big river was very low; it had sandy beaches on both sides. I remember one group who were dive bombing off the bridge and the coppers told them to stop. Not sure if the river was still navigable at the time but anything coming through would have been coming through that arch.

They nicked one lad who kept going and took him away in his orange Y-fronts.

I got sunburn walking on the moors despite the long sleeved top and spent a day hiding in a gorge where there was still water pouring out of the hill, up to my shoulders in freezing water.

At home the ground was cracked and I used to siphon the bath water out of the window to water what was left of the veggie plot.

GreyQueen

I remember 1976 quite well, although I was still a child.

Those endless summer days when we virtually lived at the swimming hole down the river. It was so shrunken that there was even a mini 'beach' of yellowy sand.

Yup, remember stand taps in the street, exortations to not overfill the bath tub and to bath with a friend. We'd run the hose out of the bathroom and down to the garden to re-purpose the water for the veggie patch.

I always seemed to have bits of tar from the melting tarmac stuck on my flip-flops. And the meeja were faffing around frying eggs on pavements and car bonnets....... happy daze for a kiddliwink.

[Deleted User]

ahh good memories coming back

I just watched the second episode of the real marigold hotel, I am just loving it, some of these pensioners are so natural and have no side to them, I wouldn`t want to live there, in India but by golly it looks a fascinating place. I couldn`t cope with the toilets or the crowds. Medical treatment is among the best in the world and so cheap compared to here. I am just going to find out the weight I should be, the Indian doc said height in cm minus 100.

omg what is 25kg in stones. Permanently carrying around two and a half bags of fuel stuck to my thighs and hips. I don`t` eat that much now, except for chocolate once every day. Scary. I know I should lose it, well that is my shtf. Realisation that cuddly is not the right word :eek: