Poor Woman's Air Conditioning

RIght now, it's still in the 90s, even though it's 7:30pm. According to the downtown Northampton Silverscape clock, the mercury hit over 100 today, so today isn't the best day/night to try this. This works best on moderately hot days with coolish nights (even low 60s will do).

1. When the sun goes down, open all the windows in the house.
2. When you get up in the morning, resist the urge to listen to the birds, and instead close all the windows again.

Your house will stay remarkably cool this way. It is, I admit, much more high maintenance than turning on an air conditioner, but much much cheaper and better for the environment. Plus, some people hate the quality of air produced by air conditioners.

Other a/c free suggestions:

-take many many cold showers throughout the day
-put ice packs on the back of your neck
-put up curtains or blinds in the windows of rooms that get a lot of direct sunlight
-eat Gazpacho and watermelon

Katryna and I played at the Sustainability Festival in Coventry Rhode Island last Saturday. It was very hot, and a good day to be convinced that we should install solar panels to the roofs of our houses. Our friend and heroine Cheryl Wheeler has done just that, and in summer months, her household generates so much extra energy that it spills over to their neighbors (and they get the credit on their electricity bill!) Right now, the government pays half of the costs, so if you have an extra $12000 hanging around, this would be a great use for it.