I did some maintenance on my own AC last weekend. Rinsed out the condenser coils and poured bleach down the drain pipes. Hadn't done it in the 7 years at this house. Fairly simple maintenance that I've ignored but anyone can do. If anyone has to work outside, get a long sleeve SPF shirt. They're made of polyester. You'll protect your skin from the sun and the shirt will help keep you cool. Grab a huge hat, too, one that has a neck shade. You'll look ridiculous but feel much better. Also breathable pants. I like the Zion stretch pants from Prana. I did yardwork outside for 4 hours from 2-6pm that way with lots of water and some breaks. I used to think short sleeves and shorts were better so I could feel the breeze. But the sun is really gonna overheat you and drain your energy. #1, protect yourself from the sun and stay in the shade as much as possible if you gotta be outside.
I don't know if it's true, but I've been hearing lately it's bad to pour bleach down the condensation drain. More people are using vinegar instead. I've always used diluted bleach in the past. I bought some condensate pan tablets that people say help keep the lines clean, but I don't know if it's true or not. I see AC companies using them here and there. *shrug*
I've heard both are acceptable. Never heard bleach could damage the drain pipes. I figured I hadn't done it in 7 years so I might as well use the strong stuff.
I didn't see this earlier either -- what happened? Assuming full recovery, and assuming you were out doing ranch-type work. I've heard this stuff sneaks up on you without much warning.
Been meaning to respond to yall, thanks for the concern. Outdoor welding (boots, jeans, long sleeve shirt, canvas-type jacket, do-rag, heavy gloves, welding helmet) is hot work. No shade where I was doing it too, of course, but it had to be done. I was good about taking breaks, hydrating, sitting in the truck AC, etc until I could see the end, so I was powering through it "almost there...almost there...." Started to get dizzy, took the helmet off and realized I wasn't sweating anymore (couldn't tell from my clothes, I'm a sweater and they were pretty much soggy at that point), never got nauseous but was feeling like I was pretty damn close to it. Called the local VFD, ambo was there in about 15 minutes. Had cold wet towels and blue-ice packs in various places in the meantime. Got an IV, more cooling stuff, paramedics said they've been doing these runs daily during the heatwave.
I hear you. Me and my oldest sister got our dad's genes who would sweat a lot. It doesn't take much but 10 minutes of being outside to look like I've jumped into a pool fully clothed and I'm not someone carrying around extra weight to insulate me. If I'm cooling off because of the sweat, it's fantastic but I definitely have a lower threshold for being outside this time of year if I'm not constantly replenishing myself with water and electrolytes. I know during football practices in the summer, EMTs always encourage coaching staff to provide pickle juice even over Gatorade. Getting to the point where when doing outdoor work, might need consider pitching a tent over the worksite just to provide some extra relief. OSHA suggests drinking at least one cup of water every 15-20 minutes if outside even if you're not thirsty. If outdoors for more than two hours, then beverages with electrolytes is necessary. I get up early to take care of my outdoor chores even before sun is out just to minimize mid-day heat and be done before 10 AM hopefully. Still getting tomato harvests even in this heat though I'll probably have to pull everything in the next week or two and start prepping for Fall harvest. Deal with a lot more spontaneous muscle cramps as I get older. Sucks when a part of your body locks up when doing vigorous activity outside. Happens to my forearms, hands, feet and calves mostly. When I start noticing involuntary muscle twitches, that's when I know I definitely need to get back inside and rest and rehydrate. Stay safe out there.
Good post. I've heard of the pickle juice option, but I frankly can't stand the stuff so I've never delved into it. Maybe I'll keep some pedialyte on hand in addition to water, emergen-c powder (was recommended to my older aunt by her daughter, former National Forest Service ranger-type), gatorade (and a couple of beers when you're done) Thought about the outdoor shade (we've used one before) but unless it's an old army burlap/canvas type that I don't have it would have looked like one of those indoor "star projectors" after about 5 minutes due to the sparks. I just got a little dumb...those last "couple of minutes" I was thinking about stretched into 10+ I guess and that's all it took.
Glad you were smart and asked for help. I had what I think was a heat stroke ~15 years ago...I was replacing a liner on an above ground pool, in the summer in over 100 degree heat. Had a similar experience, no longer sweating, dizzy. I managed to climb the ladder out of the pool, go inside, get a huge glass of water and cool down. I think part of it were the fumes from the super-hot fresh melty plastic, but it was no ****ing fun. Another time my buddy's wife called me and asked me to go pick him up and take him to the ER- he was doing fences as a side job and was having a heat stroke. I found him in his truck and took him in, they gave him some IV, cold towels, etc. It was pretty scary, and I got into an argument with the intake person who was typing in my buddy's info like he had never typed before.
It's 107 at IAH. 2 degrees from the all time high of 109 with an hour or two of heating to go. Let's do it!
Seriously, am I just crazy or is the heat dome situation like something new and looks to be a potentially long term localized terraforming type of event? Like can the jet stream just long term change in a way that just turns half of Texas into one giant West Texas?
Things outside just not working right in this heat...gates, pipes, drains, fence posts, everything is doing too much shifting in this weather.
Text from my uncle yesterday: Has anyone else noticed their outdoor plastic electrical parts burning? This plug is only about a year old. Also seeing it on conduit between the service pole and my new barn. Haven't looked at all of mine yet, but a couple of other people chimed in that they're seeing the same thing. ****ing sun.
Dam!! We need some dam rain. I finally had to put a box fan in the attic pointed at my evaporator coils as my drip pan was filling up due to the sweat of the HVAC unit. I have never experienced this heat for this long. I need to check my outdoor conduit and see if I am having these issues
