HEAT can we adapt?

[Ikigai]

I'm currently in 95 degree heat with heat index in the 100s. It's been rough. I use a fan, sit in the shade in the afternoon and take a dip in the lake periodically. Driving somewhere is also an option for a brief reprieve. My biggest problem is that my solar/driving can't keep up with my fridge in the hot weather so I need to stay at a place with power. Cold water to drink is also key. Luke warm water from the tap does not do it. Also, fudgsicles, jello and cold grapes are always good. In a week hopefully I'll be in a place with cooler temps!

 

[gizmotron]

If you are building your rig then you could also design for 100+ F temps if you want or need to. Stay in dry arid climate. Don't count on shade. Insolate the top and put solar panels on top that put the top in the shade. If you have rain gutters then attach vinyl polyester tarps to the sides, front, and back. Put the entire van in the shade. Bob Wells has a great video on using heavy duty space blankets with reflectics. Figure out a way to use your roof fan and an evaporative cooler. I have designed my van to use a false wall just inside my cargo doors. That wall includes a traditional standard RV door with a full length screen. I place the roll-around swamp cooler in front of the screen door with a 2" thick solid pink foam blank with a hole in it just where the intake for the swamp cooler fits when shoved up tight. This configuration drops the temperature inside at least 20 degrees. I use it now in my barn 650 sq ft apartment. I found a smaller swamp cooler. The one I have is huge, bigger than a small refrigerator. This smaller one uses the same intake method and tank for the water. It also rolls out of the way when not in use. It uses about the same energy as a fan. But it does need a water source. That's a small price to pay for staying 75 to 80 degrees when it is well over 100f. This feature opens up all kinds of locations in the north west that would otherwise be considered too hot.

Products like this: Hessaire MC18M 1,300 CFM Evaporative Air Cooler 110 volt / 85 max watts.

 

[TravelingZombies]

A few years ago my wife and I were climbing up a mountain in Washington when we ran out of water I gave her the last of it so she can get down to the trailhead however I was suffering heat stroke. It was in the 90s that day and we were the oldest people on that trail should have been a sign.
The wife went down to the bar on the trail where there was a creek filled up the bottle of water and brought it back up to where I was my throat was so dry that it was burning drinking cold and lasted about 4 days. We went up to the same trail on the same mountain two weeks later but this time brought plenty of water and a squirt bottle so we can squirt air onto our faces and arms to help cool us off. We managed to finally get to the top because some great pictures and have never gone back lol. But we do still enjoy climbing up mountains along trails for the last 11 years having learned from our mistakes.

 

[crofter]

...I was suffering heat stroke. It was in the 90s that day and we were the oldest people on that trail should have been a sign.
The wife went down to the bar on the trail where there was a creek filled up the bottle of water and brought it back up to where I was my throat was so dry that it was burning drinking cold and lasted about 4 days. We went up to the same trail on the same mountain two weeks later but this time brought plenty of water and a squirt bottle so we can squirt air onto our faces and arms to help cool...

The right thing to do, make a plan & render aid, not leave your companion who is suffering. In providing aid sounds like your wife saved you. Not like the trained first responder in Phoenix who did not render aid but who left his companion to die. Sometimes you dwellers will have companions who need you to render aid, and to teach them survival skills. You make the world a better place.
-crofter

 

[wayne49]

Whynter's consumption charts show power usage at three temps, 77F, 90F, 107F.

For 39F refrigerator mode the DC power consumption goes 23.4 AH @77F, 28,2 AH @90F, then 40AH @107F.

Quite a jump when over 100F.

 

[crofter]

Almost doubles. I suppose AC and heat does the same thing?
-crofter

 

[Scorpion Regent]

Here's a my 2 cents reposted from Lab-nomads Newcomer thread

I have done a lot of desert camping and here's what I know works.
Invest in at least a pair of Kool Wraps or their equivalent.  The sleeves that hold dry gel that absorbs tons of water that you wear around your neck.  I chill one in a container or zip lock bag full of ice water in my cooler and while I wear the other.  The veins and arteries in your neck pass blood between your heart and brain.  Cooling your neck, cools your blood.  In really cold weather the same rule applies, keep your neck warm. Water evaporates rather quick in the desert, not so much in swamp country.  Even in humid weather where evaporation doesn't cool as much, the temperature difference still helps. Kool Wraps can be used over and over, and be washed.  If you need to store them make sure they are completely dry (mildew, yuck).  You can squeeze some of the water out, but it is best to let them drip dry in the sun. 

A kaffiyeh, a desert scarf, is really handy for hot dry weather.  It cast shade, breathes, and can be soaked in water.  It can also keep you warm on a cold desert night.  It can be worn a lot of different ways.  They don't handle rain well, but otherwise they are invaluable.  Since long before biblical times people have used them and the only way I could see to possibly improving them is microfiber. 

I have also found that attaching bandannas to the brim of a wide hat to hang like curtains casting shade helps a lot.  Does it look silly?  Who cares, when comfort is it's own reward.  Make sure you have a hat that breathes, that applies for the rest of your clothes.  In dry heat cover up as much as possible in loose clothing with minimal layers.  In humid weather wear as little as possible.  No matter what exploit any shade and breeze.

If you are in enclosed space make sure to vent hot air up and out as much as bringing cool air in.  There is nothing worse than being trapped inside a solar heated oven.  My travel trailer has a pop up air vent and side windows.  With the awning deployed I have shade on the side exposed to the sun.  I can vent in air through windows and out through the ceiling.  It's not air conditioning, but it takes a lot less amps and can be driven with a very small solar panel.  Bear in mind that your body also releases heat, by both breathing and radiation.  It may make more sense to stay outside in the shade and then adding heat to an enclosed space.  Of course if you have air conditioning all of this is moot.

 

[maki2]

High heat warning starts tommorow where I am currently camped. Near the south rim of the grand canyon. My 14 day stay in this area is over so I will head to higher elevation near Flagstaff in the morning. That will put me back into the mid 80s for an afternoon high this week.. Those high temps won't last much longer because cooler 70s weather for the afternoon high is just a few weeks away here in Northern AZ. All together other than a few days in the 90s now and again it has been a very enjoyable late spring and summer spent in the area around Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. A bit wet some days but the afternoon clouds and occassional showers from thunderstorm are what keeps it a nice place to be in July, August and September.

 

[Tony's Dream]

I always seem to adapt to the heat whereever I am. For me, the trick is to stay in the heat instead of taking shelter in the AC. If I constantaly get in and out of the van with the AC running, it seems hotter than it really is and you body has to adjuts each time. So keep the AC off as much as possible. Only when the temps get to be 95 or higher does it really bother me. I have always said.....I can be uncomfortable but I can't be miserable.

 

[crofter]

This article on surviving in the outback lists 104 F as the highest temperature tolerated before your body begins to shut down. Also lists the human limits of 3 minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food.
-crofter

BBC News - How long can you survive in Australia's outback?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50654436

 

[highdesertranger]

I want to point out that the 104° is your body temp not the ambient air temp. Highdesertranger

 

[66788]

In 1995 I came down with Dengue Fever while in rural Nicaragua and had a temp of 105° for 3 days.   Oddly enough I haven't caught a cold, flu, or other virus since then.   Yeah, it was not fun for those 3 days.   That was the coldest my body felt ever, which is counter intuitive.

 

[crofter]

What plants can survive the 120F degrees ambient midday temperatures (summer high temps this past season here)?

Consider the lime tree, clip from waterworld movie, caution he is distilling urine may gross you out.
-crofter

 

[crofter]

Besides the lime, any citrus will survive the 120 degree hot days, with a little water. If you like mandarins or kumquats, grow that. You would need to consider a back porch grow box discussed on another thread, and protection from wind when driving. Or stowing inside the van for travel.

Also basil plants, chives or other onion. Goji berry.

Avocado, mango trees? I have not tried these. Probably too large to get to a miniature bonsai size for travel.
-crofter

Note: sweet potato did not survive the high heat.

 

[crofter]

I want to point out that the 104° is your body temp not the ambient air temp.  Highdesertranger

And Mayo confirms this, 104F is the max core temp a human can endure without damage, link to article.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heat-stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20353581

Noted that 66778 did survive 105F core temperature, but may have been damaged though survived. The article lists areas typically damaged include brain & major organs.

We seem to have come up with some upper limits on outside air temperatures to safely be in:

95 F with some humidity
103F with low humidity and shade, use of chillits
110F or over is really past my ability, but some say they have worked at the higher temperatures.

Max for me was 106F on top of coal (black ground surface, some areas on fire) and was an ordeal. Git er done and went back to the shop to recover.
-crofter

 

[user 423]

...My biggest problem is that my solar/driving can't keep up with my fridge in the hot weather ...

Have you added external insulation? That can make a big difference.

 

[Scorpion Regent]

I want to point out that the 104° is your body temp not the ambient air temp.  Highdesertranger

I can't disagree with that.  At 104.1° core, my brain turns to mush, my blood dries up, and my liver is wonders if there is a chance of one last beer. I know I have survived ambient temperatures higher than one 104°. I had to pull out all the stops to do it, not something I would do again by choice. I would only wish it on my very worst of enemies.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

When I lived in CA we used to have regular campouts on BLM land or a nearby reservoir. Both in Lake County CA.
California has a reputation for moderate weather. But when you get away from the marine layer going inland it gets very, very hot.
We had a few campouts with bands and hundreds of people. When things got that big I called a meeting with the other stakeholders as us grownups say. We made sure we had some first aid resources, roped in a caterer friend to do some free food and most important hooked up with a local from Lake county who brought out a huge polyethylene tank full of water with his flatbed.
Not sure of the exact capacity, but I've seen pressure washer guys bottom out their pickups with the same size tank. Hundreds of gallons
Anyway it was 115 or better the entire time the sun was up. For a week.
I just kept drinking water the whole time.
Stuck to the shade.
Walked slower.
And my Ford Econoline had two huge tarps roped above it in an inverted V.
Actually a double V, since they were overlapped.
That way they bore the brunt of the sun and the shade around my van was a lot cooler. That was years ago and that van had the most minimal insulation. Just crappy wood paneling and maybe an inch of yellow fiberglass in a few places. Nothing at all on the ceiling!
None of us had heatstroke or anything. Just vivid sunburns.
My pants and shirt had a very evident salt deposit line every day.
We drained that tank with one day to go and sent people in to town for more water.
Luckily lots of people also brought 1 and 2 gallon water jugs, not knowing we had a supply. So we didn't all dehydrate.

 

[crofter]

Sounds like you have it figured out, calaveras, water, shade, and reduced activity.

I was in a similar heat in Phoenix with a bad outcome. I did not shade up, sunburn, was drinking margaritas: alcohol plus ice slurry is bad in dry heat, no matter what Jimmy Buffet says. Both decrease sweating. No breeze. By evening I had stopped sweating and went down. Fortunately a responsible adult who was there rescued me from the worst of it with ice packs & hydration.
-crofter

 

[RVTravel]

Alcohol increases heat loss because it causes dilation of surface skin vessels. Some drunk people die in the cold due to feeling hot, taking off their clothes, passing out and dying from hypothermia...paradoxical undressing.