Heat Waves and Headaches
It’s getting a lot hotter out here in Elgin, and Lake Michigan isn’t bringing you any respite from the boiling temperatures.
Image by Lucio Alfonsi from Pixabay
With highs reaching up as far as 100 degrees Fahrenheit, your home is going to become an oven before you know it. And who really likes the heat anyway? It can be especially unbearable when all you have is a small fan to cool yourself off.
I’m sure that with the steadily climbing temperatures year after year you have used little tricks to help stay cool during the summertime. And nobody would blame you! This heat is just killer, and it is getting worse every day. Small steps like opening your windows suddenly aren’t enough anymore, and you need relief from the sweltering heat.
And the lows are not much better, are they? From 80 to 50, you go from sweating your socks off to freezing your eyes shut, and there’s not much you can do about it. These extreme temperatures are killer, and you’re running out of ideas, right?
To that end, you really don’t want your heating or air conditioning unit to go on the fritz now of all times. If that thing breaks down, you might just die from the heat, or at least that’s what it sure feels like. Maybe it is already broken, or you need to get it replaced, or you need an air conditioning unit in the first place.
Yes, despite how silly it might seem, it is possible to suffer from heat exhaustion inside your own home. A Mayo Clinic article about the symptoms can be found here. For summary though, heat-related injury is quite common. Stories of young children and pets being locked in hot cars aren’t rare, and the consequences can be severe.
On the flip side, staying in a cold room can cause hypothermia, especially if you don’t dry off properly after a shower. Being too cold is just as dangerous as being too hot; more so if you consider it is harder to tell when cold is damaging your body.
Temperature-based dangers are very real, and very concerning, but even if you’re not in mortal peril, your comfort is being challenged. Fight back against the climes and remain as temperate as you can with a few handy tricks.
Tips and Tricks
There are a few small things you can do to optimize your home’s circulation. Even if you have an air conditioning unit, you might not want to waste electricity. Placing a fan in your room might seem like a good solution, but you might not have placed it in the best spot!
Perhaps you’ve pointed the fan right at yourself, hoping it will cool you down, but that’s not the best way to do it! If the inside of your room is hotter than the outside, you should place the fan in front of an open window, pointing at it and a few feet away. This will force the hot air out, and allow cooler air to come back in.
Next, keep your blinds closed! This should seem obvious, but sunlight is hot, especially when it’s absorbed by dark walls or furniture. If your home has black upholstery, consider closing your curtains to prevent sunlight from pouring in and superheating your room.
Another good prospect is to close rooms that you don’t frequent. If you keep the air circulating in only the parts of the house you live in, the cold air won’t flow to rooms that are otherwise pointless.
There are plenty of ways you can keep cool personally as well. Drinking cold drinks and wearing cotton are good ways to prevent your body temperature from rising too drastically. Avoid too much strenuous activity and you can enjoy an indoor summer all you like.
As for warmth, other than bundling up you can try some different strategies. While you should still keep your unused rooms closed to prevent your precious heat from leaking away, you should also open your blinds. Cooking indoors is also an efficient way to keep the chill out of your kitchen.
If you live a more indoor lifestyle and have a PC for gaming, a more entertaining way to keep warm is to simply play high-fidelity games that heat up your CPU. This has the doubled effect of heating your room and keeping your CPU’s temperature low.
There’s plenty you can do to fight back against the weather, and you can avoid all the pesky problems that accompany it just by playing smart. But even your best attempts might not be enough.
If All Else Fails…
If you really need to cool off or warm up, and the above section is little help, there’s one final step you can take. Purchase/fix your HVAC.
Despite how costly it may seem at first, there are helpful local companies like Advantage Heating & Cooling that can install, maintain, or repair your HVAC units. Their services can cut energy costs and provide you with top-of-the-line appliances, which is perfect for establishing your ideal temperature.
Your comfort and safety are paramount. You deserve to be as relaxed as possible in your own home, so don’t slack off and let yourself be miserable. Finding your ideal ways to beat the heat or kill the chill is essential to living a happy, productive life.
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