Tips on surviving the deep south heat

I love Paul Wheatons designs for lowering energy cost and making it sustainable.  However, he doesnt have a lot of info about handling the humid deep south temperatures.  

Does anyone have any ideas ?

Welcome James!
Check out this thread https://permies.com/t/57366/Cool-person-space-methods#484308 about "cooling the person and not the space" (not "cooking the person", which for some reason my fingers really REALLY want to type....).

also https://permies.com/t/14038/Electricity-free-cool-home#125306

and also a super interesting project in a place that gets even hotter than where I live:  https://permies.com/t/129015/Geothermal-cooling#1013321

In the extreme south of Illinois we have air you can wear in July and August.  The misery index compares well with what I have experienced in New Orleans. Although I have to admit, somehow New Orleans has figured out how to get humidity to exceed 100%.  I set my alarm for 1 hour before sunrise.  While I do grab a cup of coffee, any other food waits until I give up on working outside.

Don't use a.c. as much as you can tolerate.  A.c. prevents you from acclimating

Swamp coolers kinda work

A breeze is very nice

Electrolytes let you sweat

Long sleeves keep you from burning and keeps your sweat from dripping off you.  The thinnest fabric the better, my folks use worn white dress shirts and don't button them up

Round brim Hats

It's harder the more overweight you are

Don't work when the heat is killer.

Thermal mass in the house will make it cooler during the day and hot at night

Some people weren't made for the South, look up the latitude of England

Martin Mikulcik wrote:Don't use a.c. as much as you can tolerate.  A.c. prevents you from acclimating

Swamp coolers kinda work

A breeze is very nice

Electrolytes let you sweat

Long sleeves keep you from burning and keeps your sweat from dripping off you.  The thinnest fabric the better, my folks use worn white dress shirts and don't button them up

Round brim Hats

It's harder the more overweight you are

Don't work when the heat is killer.

Thermal mass in the house will make it cooler during the day and hot at night

Some people weren't made for the South, look up the latitude of England

The big issue for me is sleeping while hot.  I really struggle with that.  

Hi James,

Indeed, I can tolerate a good many things as long as I have had a decent nights sleep. Your original post does not address if you are off grid, living alone , etc.  I grew up in a home without AC, so I am aware that decent cross ventilation in a bedroom can work wonders….even if the situation is not optimal.  At the other end, I know of a gentleman who lived alone off grid who tented his bed and installed a small AC unit on a timer.  

The way my family did it in NC, VA, SC and GA before air conditioning was a two story house, with a sleeping porch upstairs.  The porch was above mosquito level, mostly, but netting and screens were used.  Downstairs was a big porch and breezeway.  They would dig a small pond downhill from there for air drainage.  There were tall trees for shade, weeping willows for natural air conditioning and bushes around the house to shade the ground. Fans were utilized as soon as possible.  In the summer, people got up at 4 AM and worked until 10 or so.  Then came in for a meal and rest until the heat of the day was over.  But, many, including my great, great grandfather died from heat stroke.  I have had 3 heat strokes... not fun!  I have to wear a straw hat to keep the sun off of my head.  A cabbage leaf under the hat, or a cloth soaked in ammonia can help.  Cold spring water is a must as is salt in the diet.

My answer from 30 plus years in hot humid Georgia and hot dry California is wear as little as possible....cut-off shorts and sandals most of the summer, drink enough water to have to pee every hour or so (easily well over a gallon a day, and more overnight),(and yes that means water! not any other liquids like caffeinated or sweet or alcoholic beverages!) and get wet from time to time....at least wet hair, perhaps a wet hat, and whole body wet if available.  I am however blessed with good genes in this regard...I tan easily and darkly, and have never fainted or vomited.  My partner by contrast goes through the hot weather as a night owl and her outdoor chores are crepuscular.

Our guest cottage has a living roof and is partially earth sheltered and that helps some with the temperature but humidity is still an issue that I haven't found a way to mitigate apart from using mechanical ventilation. The good thing is that it doesn't require much energy to keep that space comfortable. We're able to power the cottage mini-split and our main house unit with solar and battery storage.