completeconfusion

Free air conditioning (or the equivalent) with nothing to buy – a way to beat the worst of the heat waves with little or no expense. Sound good? A year or two ago I figured out how to create a make-shift cooling system for the hottest days of summer that doesn't cost much of anything. The poor man's air conditioning system, you might say.

As it happens I live in a part of the world that's [temperate] in summer, where [air conditioning] in the [summer] is optional. Most people don't bother purchasing it. But there are always periods [in the heat of the summer] when one isn't going to be very comfortable without it.Not to mention that in a heat wave, staying a bit cooler can be life-saving, especially in areas where air conditioning isn't common. For example, University of Delaware climate researcher Laurence Kalkstein has said that a 1992 heat wave in Seattle contributed to around 60 deaths. As I write (July 21, 2005) a headline states that 18 people, mostly homeless, have died of the heat in Phoenix (consider giving a homeless person a frozen water bottle or yogurt container of frozen water on exceptionally hot days.) And the 2003 heat wave in Italy is now credited with causing 8,000 deaths, as well as widespread blackouts due to extra demand by air conditioners. (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=RGJMFQU50JYCOCRBAEOCFFA?type=worldNews&storyID=8914252)

Certainly the extremes of summer heat isn't to be trifled with: “Severe heat causes more weather-related deaths in the USA than all other weather phenomena combined.” – the Centers for Disease Control (USA Today, May 26, 2005 http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-05-26-heat_x.htm).

Which is where a simple system of improvised cooling or air conditioning comes in handy, keeping you cool on the hottest summer days, since it's generally the poor who don't have air conditioning in place. If you have a [refrigerator], some empty yogurt containers or something similar, and a solid surface or plate that's metal or stone to put under your feet, then you too have free air conditioning or if you prefer, "temperature regulation" available to you, right now. (Well, it's free if you aren't paying the electricity costs directly and already eat something that comes in plastic tubs.)

The trick is to use the freezer to time-shift the cold, as it were. In the evening, fill up a half-dozen or so of those plastic yogurt container with water - about three-quarters to seven-eighths full, no more, because [water] expands and can split the container. You'll probably find that thin-walled containers work better than sturdier plastic because they're more flexible and more likely to expand than split. It may also help to squeeze the containers as you snap the lids tight on them so that the sides of the containers are pushed in somewhat.

Now in the night, when the [heat] is not so insufferable, your freezer will go to work slightly raising the room [temperature] of your kitchen - but you'll be glad tomorrow.

When the day begins to heat up, go get a frozen yogurt container, by now frozen solid. If you have a concrete floor, as I do, take off your shoes, put the yogurt container between your sock feet, and carry on typing or whatever it is you're doing.

The [ice] will cool the floor, and the floor will cool your feet. True, the air around you will also be a bit cooler, but what will really keep you comfortable are your big feet. They're terrific [heat exchange|heat exchangers], by design - it's part of what they're supposed to do, in [nature] – after all, we didn't evolve wearing shoes.

In an hour or two, switch to the next block of ice, putting the now liquid water in the used container into the fridge or down the drain. Don't put it in the freezer during the day unless you're really lazy. It's best to wait until night to start the freezing part of the cycle again because your freezer is a [heat pump], and the more you make it work during the day, the hotter your place is going to get.

Now, you may not have a concrete floor, of course. You might be cursed with unhygienic carpeting. In which case you need a slate of marble or ceramic tile or stone or metal (aluminum's a great [heat conduction|heat conductor] so you could use a fairly thin piece of aluminum) to put the ice block (still inside its small plastic tub) and your sock feet on.

For more cooling

It's best not to put your feet or ankles against the ice. That's a bit extreme, not quite what bodies are designed for, and you shouldn't find it necessary. On very hot days, I do use a couple of containers at a time, however. It's also very useful to start getting a container or two out and down on the floor at least an hour or two ahead of the time when you'll really start feeling the heat. That way, the concrete floor is already cool when you need it to be - and you may be able to slightly delay the time when the heat is oppressive, as well. Another technique I sometimes use on very hot days is to use a couple of containers at my feet and to shift them back and forth about twenty centimeters from time to time so that I can put my feet down on the concrete where the containers have been sitting for some minutes, for an extra blast of cooling.

For less cooling

For less extreme cooling, wrap a towel around the yogurt container. If you're going through a lot of ice containers, you may wish to cool the surrounding air less. So in order to cool just the floor, not the air generally, wrap a towel around but not under the container.

If you can't find anything like a marble slab to put under your feet, you can wrap the container in a towel and put it beside you - but I don't recommend this as, aside from the bottom of our feet, our bodies aren't built to be extreme heat exchangers. So if you do this, shift the container around a lot so as not to cool one part of your body too much - that sort of differential cooling just ain't that natural. Better: just go find a slab of something.

For only a little bit of trouble, you can enjoy a significantly cooler body and a maybe even a slightly cooler [environment] during the hottest parts of the day. You might even want to use this instead of your present air conditioning on some days, if you only need to cool yourself and not the whole house and you want to be a little more [green party|green].

As a bit of an aside, I must admit it would be nice to have a nifty solution to the problem of the yogurt containers cracking sometimes from ice expansion. Using thinner containers helps a lot, but I keep thinking that something like a stick of styrofoam long enough to go to the bottom of the container slipped into the center of the container while the water's liquid, or even better, a sealed plastic tube filled with air that's not quite as tall as the container, might absorb most of the expansion by allowing itself to be crushed slightly in the center. The only thing common and cheap that would do the trick that I can think of would be strips of bubble-wrapping rolled up and tied with string or wire to make a cylinder a bit longer than the tub is high, or a column of styrofoam if you have some of that packing material handy.

Some other tips commonly given for hot times: eat small meals more frequently, since digestion is a large task that creates considerable heat itself, stay hydrated and keep your electrolyte levels up with some form of salt.

The first signs of heat exhaustion are being very thirsty and a dry mouth. Less urination may mean the body is growing short of liquid. Dizziness and fatigue and also signs. Hot and dry skin is a red flag – heat stroke is setting in and death may follow.

For more information, see the CDC site: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/index.asp

Russell Johnston, completeconfusion.com

first posted on the net June 6 2004

last revised July30, 2005