Almost everybody here is an environmentalist in some way or another, so I’m wondering how do you beat the heat while trying to be aware of your “environmental footprint?”
I know how to deal with heat pretty well ( plus I generally like hot weather) so it’s not too difficult for me. If I don’t want to turn on AC, I spend as much time as possible in my basement since basements are naturally cool. Another thing that works is shutting out hot air by closing up the house at the beginning of heat waves.
In the southern states A/C is a must but we do have a well insulated home and we keep the temperature up as far as we can stand it. Ceiling fans really help a lot.
We have A/C. I hate it, but with these temps, it’s either feel cold or be way too hot. I can always put on a sweater or a sweatshirt, but cooling off with these temps is almost impossible. That said, it also bugs me that despite having it set on 77 (compromise between my husband and myself, still cold) it runs almost constantly to cool it even to that temp. The except is late at night and/or early in the morning.
One of the reasons I bought my current house is that they built it correctly. I see gabled roofs with lots of glass on houses, then they face toward water, or whatever “front” yard they have. Mine faces south. In the winter, the low sun hits the glass and produces heat. In the summer, the overhang shades the high sun and the house stays cool. I have one window air conditioner that comes out for a few weeks in August.
Like Florida, Missouri has a LOT of humidity and our heat indexes have been over 100 degrees Fahrenheit many days now. Missouri was once swamp land, especially the further east towards the Mississippi River and north towards the Missouri river. Then there is the Gasconade that runs from Missouri River south. We’re full of rivers.
The wind-catcher of Dowlat Abad Garden, the world’s tallest at 33.8 meters, in Yazd | AFP-JIJI
The wind catchers, called badgirs in Persian, are just one of the engineering marvels inhabitants have developed in this ancient city in central Iran — where temperatures reach well over 40 degrees Celsius in the summer.
And unlike energy-guzzling air-conditioners, they’re cost and carbon-free.
Another sustainable architectural feature of Yazd is its system of underground aqueducts called qanats, which transport water from underground wells, aquifers or the mountains.
“These underground aqueducts have great utility,” said Zohreh Montazer, an expert on the water system. “They constitute a source of water supply and make it possible to cool the dwellings and to preserve food at an ideal temperature.”
I don’t know about “desert people” worldwide, but in Iraq they handle the heat by being active at night and early morning. The rest of the day they sleep or just sit around. The pace of life is also much slower than in America or Europe.
