I had this happen every now and then in NorCal it is HELL BRO. buy a unit that's portable for future times. I can't imagine the difference between Hou 95 and San Jose 95 it's brutal at night...I couldn't get sleep if I took my sleeping meds that early summer.-feel for ya
When my AC went out a couple of years ago I soaked a bunch of small towels in water and then threw them in the freezer. Place them on your head or chest or wherever. Worked pretty well, they turn in to tiny ice blankets! A t-shirt would work as well probably.
Reminds me of the time we were camping at Caddo Lake that time in the summer. We tried the wet rag on the head. I sure as hell didn't sleep that night. I think that was the same trip we went to the White River and Ozarks in Arkansas. If there is one thing I'm good at, then it is sweating. Lol.
Dude, Cooling yourself is usually a big waste of time/effort. Warm (or lukewarm) shower rather than cold shower. The idea is to get yourself as close to the natural temperature as you can tolerate. Cooling yourself won't last long enough for you to fall asleep, it actually reduces your sleepiness, and the subsequent rise in body temperature makes the experience much worse. Your body tries to regulate its temperatre taking into account the external temperature: you should assist this process rather than fight it. Also if you absolutely must, get a sheet or piece of cloth, immerse in water and let it hang over the window if there's a breeze, or let a fan blow through it from a distance. This creates cool air. Trust me, this is how my people survived.
You'd be suprised at the areas of our country and others' countries I have been too-THAT DONT have AC sef. Not a 3rdworldproblem
What you DO have in the US is the resources to build a redneck AC as pictured earlier in this thread. OP also said that the electricity was out.
Whats the efficiency like on those ice-chest AC's? I have to imagine over a long enough period (like 24h/d for 5months of houston heat) the price and efficiency of an actual window unit would surpass the homebrew AC. Fans run a decent amount of power, right?
total 3rd world prob... sorry to hear about it... try to block all sun entering the room in the day and evening and i suppose open the window at night if you can if there is a screen.... wouldn't if there are bugs or security issues. also find drafting floors and set up blankets there if need be... sleep on the blankets and ditch the covers since you're hot as hell. take a cold shower and don't dry off soak clothing or a sheet in water if you feel you won't be discomforted too much since it's cool. have water on hand and douse yourself when needed try setting your alarm clock for the middle of the night when you pass your first REM cycle and get up and repeat with cool water. obtain a box fan or ac unit somehow is the best bet to beat the heat. Good luck brotha
Fill a bucket with (iced) water then soak your feet in it. It's like the reverse of wearing socks when it is cold. May piss your pants if you fall asleep after the water warms up in prescribed conditioned.
Standard 2.5ton central ac uses 3500 watts an hour... Medium sized window ac unit uses 100 watts an hour... Standard issue box fan uses 100 watts an hour... Central ac doesnt run for an entire hour straight except maybe if you jus turned it on and its been off for a few days and its really hot out... ac's typically run for 15-20 minutes per hout if your set at a predetermined degree like 75... it will most likely run on avg about 5 hours or so a day(rough guess)... so it will cost you about 5x3500 17,500 watts used... Basic medium sized window ac should (in theory) only be used while in the room because if not and left on all day it will use alot of power... so if for when you get home untill you goto sleep or wake up its on from lets say 5-10 hrs... for comparisons sake 5x1000 =5000 watts used... Standard boxfan or table fan converted into redneck ac used for 24 hours a day at 100watts an hour is 2400 watts used... thats by far the most effecient in terms of electricity used... add in costs of water being used to freeze and/or bags of ice bought... Hope this help clears things up...
My air conditioner went out last Memorial Day weekend. My only recourse until I could get it fixed the following Tuesday was to always be a foot away from a high powered fan. At night I slept with it a foot from my face (it was still over 90 degrees in the middle of night). Would not be amused with no power on top of no AC. Good luck sino.
Another thing you might try is get a long tube sock, fill with rice and put in the freezer for around an hour. 30 minutes before you go to bed, put the sock under your pillow. This will cause your pillow to get pretty cool, and it will stay this way for around 2 hours. Laying down on a cool pillow works, Dr. Oz said so.
