I'm new here, so I don't know if this is the right spot. I have a question about air conditioning.

I understand this is about wood burning stoves, which puts off heat. So I figured there might be equal amounts of information on air conditioning. Basically, there's plenty of ways to keep warm during the winter months, but how do you keep cool during the summer months? What's the most self-sufficient way of going about it? Really, any information at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

From what I gather you open a door at one end of the house and open a window at the other and hope there is enough draft to cool you down.

Which is ok, but if you have mosquitoes or heavy traffic noise it doesn't really pay so many dividends.

We were looking at passive cooling the house, at the moment we are just saving the airconditioner condensation and using it on the garden, not exactly green but hopefully the solar panels are providing some of the power.

Ideally building properly. Having the windows in the right place and having good geometry to shade during the hot season. Having thermal mass inside of the insulation layer helps, having a roof that is not dark colored, having a good ventilated space under the roof is also effective. The most effective is to have the structure surrounded with earth.

But most the time one cannot start from scratch. So most economical and ecological to plant trees for shade in the summer. This can take a while to feel the effect though. :/
Ventilation can help, if done right, but this also needs a structure with some mass.

Ventilation through a pipe that goes underground, is a good solution. Needs to be properly sized for the home, so it can remain effective through the summer. Best combined with some structural changes, because having less need for cooling is better than having more cooling power.

Hi, Dylan, Welcome to the forums. You might find some information to do with your question in the related topics listed at the bottom of this page.

look for the book "the passive solar energy book" by Edward Mazria, he's still around I think, you could search for him
[covers both heating and cooling concepts and strategies]
also see builditsolar.com - a free "clearinghouse" website with huge amounts of background info and DIY projects too
also try the other areas of this site, passive building, solar, etc.
cooling options vary by locale, you need to describe ambient conditions/climate

Andor Horvath wrote:look for the book "the passive solar energy book" by Edward Mazria, he's still around I think, you could search for him
[covers both heating and cooling concepts and strategies]
also see builditsolar.com - a free "clearinghouse" website with huge amounts of background info and DIY projects too
also try the other areas of this site, passive building, solar, etc.
cooling options vary by locale, you need to describe ambient conditions/climate

I just picked that book up at a used book store for $1! Lots of good information in it.