Cool the person not the space: methods of doing it

Kailyn Topper wrote:Whoa! Do you know why it works? Is it the henna itself? Been reading about the art of henna and how much the mixture and designs matter into the healing and mastery of it. It is super cool that it is cooling!

I see nothing giving the actual science behind it sadly, up here in Maine henna won't grow, so I've been trying to find other dyes she could use and I wonder if they will have similar effect...

Don't forget the Earthships! I visited this area and went inside 3 of them. All very cool compared to outside. It's what I would do if I had the money and manpower. I'm at 109 again today.
https://www.earthshipglobal.com/

I live in the Oklahoma City area and it gets very hot here in the summer. When my brother and I have to do things outside or in our storage units we just do a basic bucket of water with a towel or rag (I like my own bucket cuz I don't like sharing sweat with my brother LOL) and we dip the rag ever so often in the bucket squeeze it out and wipe our bodies down and then either put the rag back in the bucket or around our neck and then when our bodies get too hot again the rag gets dipped again. Now this is only good if you're liking your office you mentioned sitting there and with a little mini fan blowing on you would be perfect you don't have to have a big fan on you I prefer though a box fan in the room. Sitting down at night watching TV every little bucket of water next to you quiet down and then with the fan blowing is nice and cooling. I heard back and old days in Texas the ladies would take their nightgowns and dip them in water and ring them out and during the hot time of the day put them on and wear them to bed for a siesta or nap. Sometimes simple is better.

This is true, they're now adding a water mist to outside air conditioning units to help keep the motor from overheating in the hot summer months. It helps keep the components cooler.

Surprised not to see this mentioned yet, I had read that antebellum ladies on hot, humid plantations would hold metal spoons to their inner wrists. The metal resists heating and feels cool for a long time.

THanks for the “door against the west winow” idea! We just hung towels over the outside of our few western windows (luckily DH has long arms, one was hard to get to!) and it’s already made a difference.

Rachel Lastname wrote:Surprised not to see this mentioned yet, I had read that antebellum ladies on hot, humid plantations would hold metal spoons to their inner wrists. The metal resists heating and feels cool for a long time.

I know down south we used to take trips to the springs as well,,, about 3-4 times a day based on the workload etc.

There are plants called herbal refrigerants. They lower the body temp. Such as tea hibiscus too.
These are a few more.
lemongrass
chrysanthemum
lemon balm
lavender
spearmint
peppermint
chamomile

So many great summer teas...in those temps. Every bit helps.

Your houses build sound really thoughtful.

Thinking of where I can actually enjoy a hot day, I think the best possible “problem is the solution” option is to embrace how a hot day is nature slapping me in the face and telling me to find a clean, cool place to swim, or at least a stream to wade and sit in. Sometimes I just need to take the break anyways. Otherwise, being able to drop my body temperature back down deeply allows me to get back to work, travel, or play out in the heat for quite awhile.

Creating, recreating, and preserving these cool clean water sources on an individual and broad acre scale is one of the most tangible natural luxuries potentially produced by permaculture.  I sympathize for the many for whom a cold creek, lake, sea, or swimming hole is not an option, but restoring what has been lost and making the earth even more luxuriant for life is possible in my opinion and observation. I am trying on my own property to make sure everyone downstream has as healthy a creek and watershed as possible by building soil, slowing spreading and storing water in the soil, and following the practices described by Bill Zeedyk and others. This will help keep our springs flowing and our perennial cold pool at the valley floor perennial and cool. Safe swimming to you all!

Yes, blankets to cover windows when the sun is coming in helps but, just like your door showed, covering/shading window and doors on the outside is best. I stapled painting drop cloths over our east and west windows and doors, the biggest heat gains during summer because the sun is so high overhead it barely shines in the south windows. Permanent awnings that shade those windows would be a big help.

Came across this article from Good News Network after reading this thread and thought I'd come back here and share the link to the article, I hope that's ok.

The section "Use Ice" on the article pinpoints where cooling is most effective, the crown (temples or brain? lol), neck (carotid artery), and the thighs (femoral artery), was a bit surprised at thighs, looks like that would be a hassle/challenge to cool though unless wearing a knee pad or something to keep something wrapped around thigh from slipping down, definitely doable if someone is determined enough or if the environment is that extreme to warrant it.

Outside the scope of the topic, but I thought it was interesting about using wooden slats to deflect the sun but allows wind to enter and cool the room. Seems like it is this concept that inspired modern synthetic clothing with wicking properties.

I personally love a good sun hat and am just now starting to use Kafka's Cool Tie, which I wear around the neck. I've had it for years but it rarely gets so hot here that I feel compelled to find it and use it. The cooling sensation is somewhat short-lived in my experience so far.

I usually wear a Tilley hat in the Summer, but on the hottest days I reach for my Kavu Chilliba, (https://youtu.be/J82xlbFJnjU]YouTube[/youtube]  review here) a synthetic hat inspired by the traditional Korean rice farmers hat, unfortunately, it seems Kavu no longer sells it, the closest thing they sell now is the Fisherman's Chilliba . Far less finger-pointing and attention-grabbing, but also offers less coverage and certainly doesn't feel like an umbrella on top of your head. I got the Chillba hat for rain, (I live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, it rains a lot here, it's not far from WA) and my challenge was I wanted to use an umbrella but needed to keep both hands free so I could sign with them (I'm hard of hearing and have deaf friends as well as deaf clients). I had figured out a real umbrella and a harness to use it hands-free, but it was way too much hassle. This hat was way easier to deal with. Works great in the heat too though, so much shade. Doesn't look like it'd be hard to DIY, but then again, there are plenty of other sunhat options with great coverage.

Tyler Ludens wrote:Cool vests:  http://www.coolvest.com/view-products/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Lol, that would take up so much space in the freezer! Imagine a family's worth of those, you'd need another freezer probably, and that's why we cool spaces rather than the person probably. I love the idea of clothes being able to temperature regulate though, it would be so useful for gloves particularly to avoid condensation. There are a few out there that try to do this but they're so expensive, and I question their longevity and how well they actually work, particularly since batteries are involved. I've had enough wearable tech to know they generally don't last long or work well. I've pretty much stopped buying wearable tech and things that have built-in rechargeable batteries generally.

we are in Thailand. Hot & humid. coming from a cool northern europe country, we haveto cope with heat differently then the locals.

We eat (big dinner) after dark because digestion takes a lot of energy. When we eat, it is small portions. As mentioned before, some foods result in cooler body (try ginger in the heat )

Also use the siesta in the hot hours. heavy work always done in early morning hours.

aircon for solar note:
the compressor in the aircon is an AC motor. these motors need a huge start current. often more than double the current after the start. If you know an engineer or have the skills yourself, you might combine your solarpanels with supercapacitors and save a lot on the normally required solarpanels(surface). the supercapacitors deliver the start-power, while the solarpanels give the (lower) current for running. This appllies to a none-battery setup.

Cooling the body: cooling towels are now available (got mine off Amazon) that you wet, wring out, wrap around your neck, and when they loose their chill you "snap" them (open, brisk snap/shake) and somehow they get icey feeling, again. They run around $10.

Ceiling fans move air and make the room "feel" 4 degrees colder. We have 48 inch ceiling fans in most rooms, and you truely do feel the difference when you enter a room without them. They are dirt cheap to run, power wise, if I remember correctly, just a few dollars a month, each.

Now, if you add a wet, wrung out t-shirt, and/or dollar store misting (see hair stying supplies or household cleaning for clean, new empty bottles) you will also lower your skin temp significantly, put your feet in a bucket or dishpan of cold water and you SHOULD be good to go.

Keeping the house cool: as some others do, we closely monitor indoor and outdoor Temps. As soon as the scale tips to the outside being hotter than the inside, it is time to "lockdown. Close blinds, close the additional blackout or insulating curtains to keep the heat OUT. As soon as the outside is cooler than inside, if possible, open lower windows on the breeze/wind side and higher windows on the opposite side to allow natural convection to remove the hot indoor air with cool outdoor air. We specially added clerestory windows (small, long, high up, opening windows) to ensure rising hot air was less likely to get trapped against the ceiling.

At night, if you can: use all your exhaust fans (bathroom(s), over stove) to help expel heated air.

Use box fans down low to suck cool air IN and up high to expel air OUT through doors and windows.

Turn on your furnace FAN MODE to suck in cool air, and help push out the hot.

Place clothing or sheets in the freezer.

MY favorite though has to be the Dog cooling pads. About 1cm thick, they fold up and get tucked in the deep freeze.  The best ones have a flexible gel infused foam that truly gets icey cold. The largest allows me to sit in a chair, with it against the back of the chair, under the butt and all up your back, bliss!

Lastly, get low, the higher you sit/stand, the hotter the room is, due to the natural effect of heat rising.

That's my 2 cents worth!

PS: Nicole Alderman hit pretty much ALL my other tricks, read her post carefully!

My response to the original post was the thought of adding a layer of shade above the roof - saw this on a small old house in Cambodia (really really really hot there), and I think the same thing is happening with my solar panels being a few inches off the roof. But the tarp - pretty cheap. Definitely growing things.

I am looking for more information about solar greenhouse for cooling. I'm planning one, thinking about putting in a cooling tower for summer, but really need to find all possible information before actually building. I'd like to keep it as low-tech as possible.

And I feel lucky: southern Minnesota, right now it's 91 outside, 80 inside, and 78 in my room on the west side - because I cooled during the night with fans. Even though we had some bad heat, I haven't had to move into the basement yet - and the fact of that backup option gives me great security.

P.S. I know this is an old thread. Maybe somebody's there anyway.

We have a plastic kiddie pool that we gather around in the morning and evening for a good cold foot soak and nice cold glass of infused water. It feels great! Also, what about the old college trick of getting a sheet wet and hanging it in the window or in front of a fan? Instant cool! Taking a cold shower works too!

Anthony Dougherty wrote:I see nothing giving the actual science behind it sadly, up here in Maine henna won't grow, so I've been trying to find other dyes she could use and I wonder if they will have similar effect...

You know how dark surfaces absorb heat quicker than light colored surfaces? It happens that dark surfaces are also more emissive than light surfaces. In other words, a darker surface will lose heat quicker than a light surface. You still have to be in the shade for that to work, though.

Yes, this is very good. Thanks

I keep a neck pillow filled with a mix of walnut shells and latex infused millet hulls in my freezer.  When I come inside to relax I use it stretched on along my legs or I wear it like a scarf.  I put it under my sheets when I go to sleep.  Don't know how I survived heat waves before this pillow.  
https://openyoureyesbedding.com/products/walnut-shell-latex-infused-cooling-mix

V Kay wrote:My experience has been that one of the best ways to keep cool is make sure I'm not carrying around extra body weight. When I'm overweight, I'm miserable in the heat, but when I'm at a healthy weight, my surface area-to-mass ratio improves, and I can dissipate heat better. Since I eat a high-fruit & vedge diet when I'm maintaining a healthy weight, the extra water and phytonutrients also help reduce inflammation, which in turn helps with staying cool.

I realize that excess weight isn't necessarily an issue for everyone on this thread.

ME TOO! ...and, eating any and all fats heats me up, so avoiding fats and meats during hot seasons is critical for me! In fact, I wonder if fasting, when possible, is helpful?