The heat was absolutely brutal this year. It has never been this hot. We hit 107 one day - which we also hit about 7 years ago. But this year there has been probably a dozen days of over 100. I think two summers ago we never got over 100. And last year I think we went over 100 on three days.
If the temperature goes over 96 degrees ...
777 Have a list of stuff ready to go in cooper cabin. This year, on a day when it was 104 outside, it was 74 inside cooper cabin. So if projects could be inside cooper cabin during the hottest part of the day then that would be far more comfortable.
778 have a list of stuff ready to go near cooper cabin. The heat is a dry heat and people seem to be able to deal with it well if after doing stuff for an hour outside if they can just go inside someplace cool for 15 or 20 minutes.
779 We have some really cool portable misters now. I think that if anybody is outside of cooper cabin, then once an hour they will be required to be misted (having only their hands misted is okay - but a full body misting is suggested). And everybody that wants a neck bandana gets a neck bandana (they really help at keeping you cool).
780 Slushie delivery. We did popcicles this year, and while they were a massive help, they were also very expensive (organic juice) and people pointed out that there was a lot of single use plastic. Some people passed because while they were pure juice - it was still a fruit sugar. And some people liked some of the flavors much more than other flavors. And some people wanted more. So, maybe we can take slushie orders and provide many slushies in many sizes and flavors ... maybe some are stevia sweetened and some are juice. With or without electrolyte stuff. And a switchel option.
781 On site fans using our portable power
782 Full sun shades mounted on the berm shed and classroom. The shades we managed to deploy really helped a lot. But the cords and frames to hold it in place was a bother. So we need something more substantial.
783 Let's make a kiddie pool. Maybe a small pond in far arrakis. About eight feet in diameter and two feet deep. And we can fill it with the fire truck when the heat gets up there. We can set up some canopies with some lounge chairs around the kiddie pool.
784 A full on natural swimming pool on the lab. We have the spot - right next to the new well. The pump is going in soon and any excess water goes into the natural swimming pool.
785 I wonder if we can have some spots where a series of misters come on for about 15 seconds every 15 minutes. We can probably have five different spots that would work with this feature.
786 Cooling hats for everybody!
787 more shaded sit spots. Canopies. Maybe even a sky lodge
We Americans like our pop-up canopies. But you might consider the original leaning kind. They are easier to move out of the way at night when it is time to radiate heat back into space.
They can be built from junkpoles and whatever fabric you want. It seems to me that they would be ideal for the berm shed. If ventilation is wanted, you could leave a 6 inch gap between the canopy and the building, at the "peak" of the canopy.
Keep in mind shallow pools will heat up quickly. Someone I know with a big above ground pool said theirs was about 36° after a few days of the heat we got.
I think "near" Arrakis ends up baking the whole south side of the auditorium. Putting up a large pergola or structure for grapes or kiwis to vine on would greatly help keep the building cool.
Vining or espaliering something up the west side would also be great.
Organizing harder work during the AM and lighter stuff for the PM also worked well (I think).
All of these ideas are great - going back to the joy suck - if there was any way to 'escape' the heat on the lab, the joy returns. Feeling trapped in the heat makes the joy disappear. So, yes, Cooper Cabin, misters, fans, keeping the classroom cool (< super important I think), natural swimming pools, popsicles, etc.
River trips on the daily were essential for my well-being and made the heat bearable! (thanks to Mike and Opalyn for letting me tag along) Truly, once I was in the river, I felt 100% better.
To be cool I like to eat no bread and way less grain.
I eat more cooling foods. Some examples are watermelon, grapes, pears, strawberries, mint and cilantro.
another thing I like to do is wear a cotton or linen scarf and keep it damp. I keep my hair wet and when it is really hot I get my clothes wet and work in soaking wet clothes. It is kind of cold and uncomfortable to be dripping wet but it is nice and cool as they dry.
I traveled on the Indian reservation in summer and everyone has an arbor outside their house where they sit and enjoy life. It is just 6 or 8 upright poles with more poles tying them together at the top to make a platform up at about 8 ft. They pile green branches on the platform so they have a large shady area underneath. It is really cooling under there. For large events they just make it longer. I went to the Sun Dance and there were two big arbors, each over 100 ft long. The shade they made was about 15 ft wide, ample width for tables and chairs. When I went a few steps away from the arbor it was it was baking hot. All those days were at or over 100 degrees.
The best ever is walking in the hot sun at Wheaton Labs and stepping into cooper cabin!
783: we are ordering a stock tank made of aluminum. 4x4 and 22 inches deep. We will set this up as a kiddie pool in far arrakis with huge wood slabs around it as a sort of "deck" to sit on while your feet are in the pool. And the whole thing will be covered with a canopy. Each day we will drain it with a pump we have that will move the water to our horticultural projects. And each day we will refill it with fresh, cool water.
and last year we tried these "cooling towels" which people at the event suggested. They must have been good because they are all gone. So I ordered some more
Pretty expensive. But I really like that it doesn't need a hose - it gets ten gallons of water for the whole day and that's it. If we use it for just four hours a day, we might get two days out of it. And we could use off-site water.
paul wheaton wrote:contemplating getting this thing
Pretty expensive. But I really like that it doesn't need a hose - it gets ten gallons of water for the whole day and that's it. If we use it for just four hours a day, we might get two days out of it. And we could use off-site water.
Sounds like a great project for a PTJ team to build, test, improve and then enjoy....
paul wheaton wrote:contemplating getting this thing
Pretty expensive. But I really like that it doesn't need a hose - it gets ten gallons of water for the whole day and that's it. If we use it for just four hours a day, we might get two days out of it. And we could use off-site water.
Sounds like a great project for a PTJ team to build, test, improve and then enjoy....
And then we have four? So we get one, and then we figure out how to make three more?
Or don't buy any, just play with parts and pieces to make the equivalent from common materials. I'm thinking it's just a fan, wet filter media that the air is blown through and a means of delivering water to the filter membrane. Basically a portable swamp cooler...
Or buy one and try to copy it. I'm just assuming that the store bought one will be fancy and trying to copy its intricacies will require more skill than designing a "red neck" version from scratch.
We hope to have three cells of the berm shed dedicated as "sit spots". And there will be four hammock chairs in these sit spots - as well as a lot more lawn chair like things.
During the PTJ and SKIP events, at noon we will replace the hot water and coffee urn stuff with this gear. So people can make slushies whenever they want.
We tried this out the other night. I liked this flavored stevia option
Out here in New Mexico we put a compressive shower rod in the doorway then hang a wet towel over the bar. The fan blows air against the towel and the cool air blows into the adjacent room. Works well in a dry climate where evaporative cooling is possible.
Here is another long-term project idea a work party might enjoy building into one of those hugelkultur mountains:
Swiss Cooling Caves
Bob is a handsome counterweight!
For personal cooling and rehydration, I keep a water bottle handy and fill it with this if I’m feeling a little woozy:
Emergen-C Electrolytes seem to be necessary for fast recovery. There are other electrolyte replacement drinks. The home-brewed fermented options like kombucha are much more in sync with the permaculture lifestyle but those Emergen-C packets have saved me when the kitchen isn’t handy.
For a luxuriant option, I enjoy spritzing rosewater on my face using a personal spray bottle.
We want to run a cable from the shop to the tree. But the tree sways and the shop doesn't. So we wanted a way for the tree to sway without ripping the shop down. So there is a pulley about four feet away from the tree and bob keeps tension on the cable. And if the tree sways, then bob bobs.
We are expanding the bob line system and getting more sun shades. The first bob line is now 12 feet higher. And a third line, called "bob-ra" is being installed now. Sun shades in front of the classroom, the back of the classroom, over the classroom, and to the wood shop.
More hats, bandanas and cooling cloths have arrived.
We are upgrading our slushy making systems.
Lots more personal fans.
A big buffet of electrolyte stuff
More misters - portable and connected to hoses.
And we now have infinite water. So we can run lots of misters and even irrigate during the worst of the heat.
swimming excursions are typically arranged on hot days.
When the forecast calls for 95 or hotter, suggest the people visit one of our many electrolyte buffets in the morning and again in the afternoon. Each electrolyte buffet offers:
snake juice
pellets
drink mix
I, personally, prefer the pellets.
Electrolytes make all the difference. It's as if the day is 15 degrees cooler.
The Bob system is activated, although I do think that we need to try a lot more stuff. More shades and more shades under the shades. We did canopies under the shades and that worked really well.
Hats, hats and more hats ... I think we now own over a hundred hats for people to try
Bandanas and cooling towels
Slushie delivery once per hour! A huge success this year. The boots liked doing it and the attendees liked getting the slushies! When the temps dropped below our "heat protocol" threshold people groaned because there would not be slushies!
Spray your hand once an hour
Kiddie pool - empty and refill every morning
Misters
for every hydrant
portable
Swamp cooler in the classroom
Little fans (electric and manual)
cooler inside the berm shed that is always shaded
irrigate surrounding berms/sand/everything
-- made a huge difference! Even if the irrigation was done the day before!
a quick trip to the local water hole - seems like a popular option at 5pm on hot days
AC in the library and fisher price house
very cool in allerton abbey and cooper cabin
infinite water means several cool showers every day
open the classroom windows all night
Note: next time, maybe get a few more of the really big fans - people seemed to like those.
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