Can someone help me figure this out? :/

The air conditioning in our place is broken. It's really hot outside. We've got a 5 foot tall rotating fan and a ceiling fan in the living room. We've closed the drapes to keep the sun out. Now, is it wiser to leave the front and/or the back door open or should they be closed? Keeping in mind, we're trying to keep the house cool. If you can answer this, with proof and anything that can help illustrate your answer, it would be much appreciated. I have a theory but I'm curious to hear what others think. Thanks.

-JEM

As far as I know, it will be useless to keep only one door open, need at least to get a cross breeze.
But, from what i've read, the drapes should be closed and the doors and windows closed as well.
I guess theory is to keep cool air in. Personally I just deal with the heat using a fan than keeping the sun completely out...a person can go crazy that way

how hot? and how humid?

Well... hot air rises..the theory of the ceiling fan is to pull up the cooler low air and send the heated air down the walls..the other fan may or may not assist ..depending on whether it is blowing out the hot air..or the cooler.. seems like you should have a window open..with the fan blowing out the top part and leave the lower part open for relatively cooler air to enter below (in the winter you set the ceiling fan to blow down..as you want the warmer air to come down .

Thanks guys. I live in Colorado. It's near 90 and it's very dry here, thin air as well.

Get a mister and pump some cool water into the air.

What I do (I live in the same area as Clox) is I turn on my swamp cooler :)

same here. and I don't live in the same area. but not that far off, I suppose. swamp coolers are awesome.

I don't think keeping everything closed keeps the cool air in. If you've ever sat in a room with the doors and windows closed for so long, it starts to get rather hot (could be a combination of your body heat, as well as the heat outside getting trapped inside the confined space). We just open the windows and doors, and usually that brings some type of breeze into the house.

I live in colorado without air conditioning. When it's anywhere from 80-100+ out we open every window/sliding glass door that isn't broken in a way they never open properly anymore *glares at the front windows* and have multiple fans on in different parts of the house. We have overhead fans, but we don't like to use them and they freak out my cats, as evident by the 3 inch scar on my wrist I got 10 years ago that makes it look like I tried to kill myself. The basic idea is to create an airflow that circulates through the house, and the only blinds/curtains we leave closed are ones facing the sun since they disrupt the flow of air through a window.

we were thinking of maybe putting a big bag of ice in front of a fan and seeing if it does anything.

I found 8 "nearly new" swamp coolers on E-bay.......I would have bid but I sold my swamp last year

Well since I've never had air conditioning I can tell you how we try to keep cool, and we've been needing it since it's been in the high 20's and 30's (celsius).

It depends on where you get the most sun. If it's facing the front or back door then yes, close them and draw the curtains. Since the heat will transfer to the glass of the door to the floor it'll build up the heat. Put on the fans (and in this case a ceiling fan really helps, if ones lucky to have them) sometimes placing the fan right in front of the window facing out (sounds strange I know) but this sucks up the hot air and draws it out. Side windows should be left open, and the back door or window, like I said depending on where the sun hits the most. A large container of water helps as the water dissapates in the air, cools the area off, adds humidity too, so that's up to you (Terracotta works better for some reason.)

And yes, keep a mister handy and if you have a basement, even a small nook go down there, it'll be cooler than any other place.

From one sufferer to another here's hoping these tricks work, and damn lucky you if you get your conditioner operative again.

Thanks a lot everyone. I appreciate your help. :)

If the air conditioner is completely broken, keeping the doors and windows closed won't really help. Fans circulate air, but they don't reduce the temperature of the air unless they are drawing air from a cooler area. (this isn't because I'm a scientist, I'm just speaking from experience because the devil is sitting in a lawn chair in my yard drinking beer and bitching about the heat) Can you afford ice? Is there a Tractor Supply store in your area... someplace with a metal cow/horse trough? (a small one) I'm laughing, but I am so not kidding, really. If not, buy cheap styrofoam minnow coolers... Try to keep the outside air flowing into the house by leaving the windows open, but leave the drapes closed to keep out the sun. Fill up some kind of container with ice and place the fans pointed upwards behind it (because cold air falls). If all else fails, strip and get in the ice filled trough with a cold beer. If you have a large enough trough, invite people over to join you. Pretty soon you'll be happy. :) Either that, or you could prostitute yourself and go to Wally World and buy a cheap window unit?

I like when it's really hot. (90 on up)
but not if it rains cause it gets all muggy and hot.
I don't like muggy and hot.

I hate cold.
But I love penguins.

Get really drunk, then you won't care if it's hot.

I like it hot, too, but 115 in the shade is a bit much, the beer starts to boil and then you care. You're a coon-ass (lol) and you don't like muggy and hot? HAH... funny.... you should move.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, I believe there were some actual good info suggestions.

Yeah, and you kin leave yer boots on (you gotta take yer spurs off if yer gettin' in the trough), but don't leave yer hat on, because you'll retain your body heat that way). Everything else has to go.

Also... seriously... I have been subjected to some really extremely hot conditions... shooting archery tournaments carrying heavy stuff in the blazing sun, trying to keep up with my brothers and my Daddy in the pasture, mule deer hunting in the badlands of New Mexico carrying all kinds of heavy crap... if you're really, really miserable, getting something wet and putting it around the back of your neck helps reduce your body heat. I don't think you'll die there in Colorado, but you could try that, too. :) I think it's whatever you are acclimated to, though... I used to vacation there almost every summer, and you would laugh at me when I went outside even this time of year at night and my teeth started to chatter and I got goosebumps, and everybody else is wearing shorts. :D

My posts aren't long enough, so I'm editing to make them longer. I have a question. Is it just me being typically who I am, or is Telluride full of weirdos?

You must tell me DBA, what's Telluride?

And your suggestions are great, but I still stay keep the front door closed. Just the front door (if that's where the direct sun is) then as the days trolls by and it's cooler open the door, screen. An open door will bring in the heat if it's in direct contact of the sun. But the rest is boss on.

A wet cloth on the face is nice too.

We have the same problem here at the moment we dont have any a/c and only have one fan for the whole house but we keep all the doors and all the windows open for a lil bit of breeze to get through the house which helps, if we kept them closed the heat is unbareable, also what sweetcell said about the wet cloth helps especially if u sit infront of the fan after wiping yourself down with the cloth.

I out-nerd you all!

It won't help to keep your doors open in 90 degree weather. The incoming air has to be around 75 degrees in order to displace indoor heat. (edit to add: the temperature being 90F doesn't mean the moving air is 90F, but the air wouldn't be as low as 75F, either) Your best bet is to keep the drapes closed to avoid letting in sun heat and let your ceiling fan get a little bit of air flowing.

I live in Boston and don't have air conditioning either -- just a ceiling fan. There's a lot of humidity here, so it's shitty in the summer. We usually make a big block of ice in a tupperware and put it near the fan and let it fan the cooler air around the place. I was desperate enough the other day to turn to wafting around popsicle air when our block of ice melted, but I don't want to talk about it.

I've tried different strategies and right now, it would seem lsvr's strategy is closest to the one that has worked for me. Thanks again for your help guys.

Relief! But..hot as the house gets Mr. Clox..You're still cool!

Haha, very clever Dave. Thanks.

:o)

http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/218

some tips here, look at #2...BOO-YAH!...I knew I heard this. Keep the Mother F*cker tight, not letting hot humid air in

Sweetcell: Telluride is a ski resort town in Colorado.... I stayed there for a few days, and when I was there, there were a bunch of hippies riding bicycles barefooted and getting clothes out of something called a "free-box".... :).... not that hippies are weird, there were lots of strange people hanging around. Looks like a place where nobody actually lives for very long. (I didn't need the air conditioner there AT ALL, and it was summer time, that part of it I loved)

I use to carry around an ice pack... and sleep with it during hot summer nights.

then you're a smart cookie :)

xD <33 Thank ya!

Get a cold pack of peas! Always does the trick! XD

Ha! I'm in Colorado too right now. It IS dog-meltingly hot here lately. We have no air conditioning either- apparently these apartments were built pre-global warming, when it wasn't needed. Sometimes if you turn a fan backwards in the window it 'sucks out' some of the hot air, rather than blowing it in.I have fans going pretty much all the time in the summer, but I have found that it's better with the door open, mostly just for air circulation. I take alot of cool showers and put a cold wet washcloth on my head when it gets too bad...God I hate hot weather- it's the primary reason I moved away from the South...
(The reason the 'door open' thing works for me I think is that we have very dry heat here, not humid at all. In Texas I would definitely say leave that sucker closed!)

Fix the air conditioner.

I have a question for someone who understands air currents. We have added a great room with a loft bedroom to our house. We have 19 ft vaulted ceilings and the room is about 16x27 ft. We are planning to use a gass fireplace for heat but realize it will not warm the lower part of the room as the heat will rise and make our bedroom unbearable. we are trying to dicide on how many, what size and where to place ceiling fans. We think 1 large fan with a 2 ft extend rod that has a large pitch may be enough. We also theought that 2 fans, one on each side of the room on the pich of the ceiluings may be better. Does anyone have any suggestions? Beck

eevildeeva: That's pretty much what I've done, seems to work. Thanks everyone.