The heat is on...

[Debi]

Here it comes! Our first major heat dome of the summer!

Heat dome will blanket much of the US, with worrisome temperatures in Midwest

Summer will make a dramatic entrance in the U.S. this week with a heat dome that will bring stifling heat and uncomfortable humidity to millions.

apnews.com

How do you stay cool? Do you have A/C? What temp do you keep that at?
How do you keep your pets cooled down? Keep them indoors?
(Remember, if it's too hot for your feet on the ground, it's too hot for their paws!)

What's the worst heat you've been in? Ever had heat stroke?
Any other cooling ideas out there?​

 

[Paulm]

its already hit 90 or so here. we are going into our hottest months of july, aug, and sept......... three months of miserable is coming...lol.... but ya gotta love it down here, no place like the south....we have AC try to keep the house around 70 or so, and keep the animals inside on the worst days, well, all the time, but they and i do go out. i love being outside as much as possible. in the shade. or on the lake.....i can always take a break or just sit under the magnolia............. ive been in some pretty hot places though,. never had heat stroke though that i know of.... probably came close a few times with our humidity level down here

 

[Benway]

I don't envy you. Having survived the north European heatdome a few years ago where temperatures were close to 100F for a couple of weeks in England(!), the worst wasn't the daytime temperature, it was that the dome trapped the heat at night so temperatures didn't drop to below 30C (about 82F) until the early hours of the morning.... and then started climbing again as soon as the sun rose, so the coldest temperature was like a normal afternoon in an extreme heatwave here and there was no wind the whole time (about 2mph max) .... with no aircon for most people in buildings built to trap heat and I live in the top half of a four storey building with an insulated roof, so the heat accumulated with nowhere to go. We were at constant heat stress levels for the whole time.
I spent a lot of time sitting in the bathtub and had fans running with tubs of ice at the base. I think we were all going a little crazy. The only cool I got was the supermarket as late as possible to avoid the worst heat (I didn't go much because it was still hellish outside at 9PM and stepping out into even greater heat was an ordeal after a while) and occasional times visiting the building manager in her air conditioned office which she let people use to cool down, but that was only available during office hours and locked the rest of the time and only for a short while then.
I barely slept. I would check the weather predictions regularly to find out when the outside temperature was going to drop below my indoor temperature and set the alarm so I could open all the windows wide; then another alarm to close them all again soon after sunrise.
It scares me that this is likely to happen again in my lifetime. Current science suggests that temperatures will hit that high again in the next twelve years and I have to remind myself that last time was a freak event and that a daytime high is okay: it's the whole package.. hot nights, no wind and longevity.. that hurts. I hope I never have to experience that again.
I hope you all have a better time!

 

[Paulm]

I don't envy you. Having survived the north European heatdome a few years ago where temperatures were close to 100F for a couple of weeks in England(!), the worst wasn't the daytime temperature, it was that the dome trapped the heat at night so temperatures didn't drop to below 30C (about 82F) until the early hours of the morning.... and then started climbing again as soon as the sun rose, so the coldest temperature was like a normal afternoon heatwave here and there was no wind the whole time (about 2mph max) .... with no aircon for most people in buildings built to trap heat. We were at constant heat stress levels for the whole time.
I spent a lot of time sitting in the bathtub and had fans running with tubs of ice at the base. I think we were all going a little crazy. The only cool I got was the supermarket as late as possible to avoid the worst heat (I didn't go much because it was still hellish outside at 9PM and stepping out into even greater heat was an ordeal after a while) and occasional times visiting the building manager in her air conditioned office which she let people use to cool down, but that was only available during office hours and locked the rest of the time and only for a short while then.
I barely slept. I would check the weather predictions regularly to find out when the outside temperature was going to drop below my indoor temperature and set the alarm so I could open all the windows wide; then another alarm to close them all again soon after sunrise.
It scares me that this is likely to happen again in my lifetime. Current science suggests that temperatures will hit that high again in the next twelve years and I have to remind myself that last time was a freak event and that a daytime high is okay: it's the whole package.. hot nights and longevity.. that hurts. I hope I never have to experience that again.
I hope you all have a better time!

daytime temps in the high 90's and nights in the mid 80's are the norm here for the three months of summer... but the older homes are built for it. open and airy with ceiling and attic fans. the newer homes, 80's and above all have central air.... i know you guys arent used to extreme heat like this and feel for ya when it gets that bad for extended periods... i didnt have A.C until my late teens. and then again didnt have AC through the 90's in an old farmhouse i bought. been in this current house for the last 25 years and only have window units..... sometimes it is kinda rough.....lol...... good luck though and maybe you all wont get a heatwave like that again anytime soon.... i think ive only actually owned maybe 3 cars that had ac, too....lol... my truck now has ac but it dont work any longer.....old truck.

 

[Benway]

daytime temps in the high 90's and nights in the mid 80's are the norm here for the three months of summer... but the older homes are built for it. open and airy with ceiling and attic fans. the newer homes, 80's and above all have central air.... i know you guys arent used to extreme heat like this and feel for ya when it gets that bad for extended periods... i didnt have A.C until my late teens. and then again didnt have AC through the 90's in an old farmhouse i bought. been in this current house for the last 25 years and only have window units..... sometimes it is kinda rough.....lol...... good luck though and maybe you all wont get a heatwave like that again anytime soon.... i think ive only actually owned maybe 3 cars that had ac, too....lol... my truck now has ac but it dont work any longer.....old truck.

I'd always have struggled to cope with that (without air-con). The only time I spent in the Southern half of the US was in high altitude New Mexico in late September/October. I spent a couple of weeks in Greece in summer with no air-con, but that was next to the sea and not in a heatwave. Everywhere used to heat doesn't build houses to trap heat though and that makes a difference. Still, I wouldn't want to be in a car without it in those temperatures..; getting out of the car must have been pretty fantastic!

 

[Lynne]

We only have a small window air conditioner. We run ceiling fans and that’s about it. We just tough it out.

 

[Stevedog]

It got up to 103 here today. We have a swamp cooler and some fans inside. We do have some window AC units but hardly ever use them. Our Swamp cooler is rated for a house that's about 1000 square foot larger than what we have so it does just fine 98% of the time.

 

[Debi]

I don't envy you. Having survived the north European heatdome a few years ago where temperatures were close to 100F for a couple of weeks in England(!), the worst wasn't the daytime temperature, it was that the dome trapped the heat at night so temperatures didn't drop to below 30C (about 82F) until the early hours of the morning.... and then started climbing again as soon as the sun rose, so the coldest temperature was like a normal afternoon in an extreme heatwave here and there was no wind the whole time (about 2mph max) .... with no aircon for most people in buildings built to trap heat and I live in the top half of a four storey building with an insulated roof, so the heat accumulated with nowhere to go. We were at constant heat stress levels for the whole time.
I spent a lot of time sitting in the bathtub and had fans running with tubs of ice at the base. I think we were all going a little crazy. The only cool I got was the supermarket as late as possible to avoid the worst heat (I didn't go much because it was still hellish outside at 9PM and stepping out into even greater heat was an ordeal after a while) and occasional times visiting the building manager in her air conditioned office which she let people use to cool down, but that was only available during office hours and locked the rest of the time and only for a short while then.
I barely slept. I would check the weather predictions regularly to find out when the outside temperature was going to drop below my indoor temperature and set the alarm so I could open all the windows wide; then another alarm to close them all again soon after sunrise.
It scares me that this is likely to happen again in my lifetime. Current science suggests that temperatures will hit that high again in the next twelve years and I have to remind myself that last time was a freak event and that a daytime high is okay: it's the whole package.. hot nights, no wind and longevity.. that hurts. I hope I never have to experience that again.
I hope you all have a better time!

BENWAY! Jad says hi and she'll be back soon. Thanks so much for sharing what you went through. I remember feeling so bad for you! I know you guys don't usually get this kind of heat.

 

[garnetsilver]

How do you stay cool? Do you have A/C? What temp do you keep that at?
How do you keep your pets cooled down? Keep them indoors?
(Remember, if it's too hot for your feet on the ground, it's too hot for their paws!)

What's the worst heat you've been in? Ever had heat stroke?
Any other cooling ideas out there?​

We always have A/C, which we can't be without due to health issues. I usually keep them at 68. Cats usually don't mind heat too much; these guys just sprawl on the cooler floors and chill. If I had a dog, I would keep it indoors!

The worst heat I remember was back in 2002, and I had just had surgery. We had two window units; one upstairs and one downstairs, and they were barely making a difference. Air quality was really bad, and riding the bus was free, to save people from having to drive and add to the pollution.

I don't remember how long the heat wave lasted, but it was awful.

I liked Benway's solution about the ice. Mr. Garnet told me that if you have a fan blowing over ice, it can keep you pretty cool. I also have a vest that has a space on the back for an ice pack. That way if I must leave the house, I can wear my 'ice vest!' Also there are cool baths and resting with the fan on, afterward.

 

[Selectric]

I can typically handle the heat but very hot days working in attics or digging trenches for pools or hot tubs really sucks lol.