non-mechanical ways to keep cool

[Morgana]

Thanks again for all the tips about fans!

Now that you've had your imagination libation... just want to see if I'm missing any ideas.
Ways to keep cool (besides fan/AC):

Dress light
Spray self with water (and sit next to fan)
Find shade
Find swimming hole
Jump in a shower
Get exercise done early in the morning (in case it's 3° cooler LOL)
Drink lots of water

Am I missing anything?

The barista will be passing out iced mochaccinos shortly....

 

[abnorm]

If you are camping.....cover the windshield FROM THE OUTSIDE.......the sloping glass heats up quickly

We use a tarp that gets tucked in the car doors

 

[Tony's Dream]

A couple of ideas....
run fan over some ice
If there is any breeze at all, wet down a screen or net and hang it near you (I use the window screens)
wet down your shirt and hat
If you have access to water, wet down the area around you. It will creat a natural breeze

 

[AmargosaWayne]

I create a temporary swamp cooler by hanging my laundry in my Class C. An Endless Breeze fan blows air indirectly, which passes through the laundry before it gets back to the dinette as cool moist air.

Not an everyday thing. Nice while it lasts. In arid climes some light moisture is always welcome.

 

[Tony's Dream]

It's 102 here today and my grandson wanted to play outside. We were on our covered deck and I found that soaking my feet in his kiddle pool really help making it bearable.

 

[maki2]

Get wet

 

[bullfrog]

Play in the sprinkler, preferably one someone else supplies the water for! Lol!!!

 

[Morgana]

soaking my feet in his kiddle pool really help making it bearable

Yeah, keeping your feet happy seems to be a big part of staying cool or warm...

 

[tx2sturgis]

Soak a bandana, rag, or towel in water and hang it around your neck. Helps if there is a breeze, if not, sit by a fan!

 

[maki2]

S ummer time schedule equals - Long afternoon siesta under a shady tree, hopefully with a breeze blowing. Early bird for work time and evenings for socializing but mid afternoon is literally for "chilling".

 

[Morgana]

So I tried "everything," but it was like the sauna from hell. The fans just pushed hot air. Out of desperation I left the car door open, at least I could breathe then. Moved into motel. Don't even have to use the air con! Plenty cool. Why would that be? What could I have done different? ... Right now I have to be presentable but I have a couple days of pure vacation at the end of this trip where I could try again. Any ideas on things to try? Leaving door open won't be an option at the next place. Ideas welcome! I will get there one fiasco at a time!

PS. Rats, did not try tarp on window. Could give that a shot. Weirdly, it was plenty comfortable til 8 pm then just kept getting hotter and hotter...

Thanks all!

 

[tx2sturgis]

The solution is in your pocket.

Its metal, and might have a vehicle logo on it, and probably has grooves and ridges on the edge.

Remove from pocket, insert into a matching receptacle on dashboard, turn to the right.

Head north. WAAAY North. Activate the air conditioning on the way.

You're welcome.



.......

 

[scaredycat72]

I'm in the South which is hot and humid so nothing with water, like a swamp cooler, works inside my vehicle. It just creates a sauna.

This is what I do:

1. Park in the shade, near or on grass if possible. The black pavement absorbs heat and then releases it as it gets cooler. So does the dash and everything else plastic and leather in the car. It's like your car is in an oven. If I keep my car decently cool during the day, it's way easier to keep it cool at night.

2. Go inside buildings with AC during the day. It's too hot to be in a car when the sun is up, it's 100% humidity, and it's 85 degrees outside. It's like you're in an oven.

3. I have ceramic tint on all of my windows, 5% dark ceramic tint on my back windows, and I use window covers from WeatherTech behind those when I'm not in the car. Keep your car cool as possible during the day.

4. I have rain guards and bug screens on all of my windows, and a bug net on my ceiling, so I keep all 4 windows and my sunroof open during the day and cracked a lot at night. With the dark bug screens, my rain guards, and my dark tint, no one can tell my windows are cracked from looking at them, even if they're standing right next to my doors.

5. I have 5 rechargeable fans, but I've only needed 2 to 4 of them running on medium to stay cool at night. I hang them on my oh crap handles and on my curtain rod behind my front seats.

This has worked to keep me ok at up to 90 degrees during the day and maybe 75 or something at night and I HATE, HATE, HATE the heat. If it ever gets too hot though, I will run my car's AC in a heartbeat. Heat kills and I'm not about to die to save a few gallons of gas.

 

[Morgana]

Yeah, I'm aware that temperature control is easier if you follow the seasons, thanks. Not gonna help me much this week.

I was wondering if managing this sort of heat was flat impossible but I got so many answers to the two questions I posted that it seemed worth a shot. Now I don't know.

The (tent) camp site I'm scheduled to go to next is fully booked in spite of the temps, I could barely squeeze in. Which also seems like some people manage this. And I'm mystified why the motel would be so much cooler even sans AC. Or why the car keeps heating up after the air starts cooling.

Would it do any good to just blast the AC for 10 mins before bedtime?

Trying to decide whether to just cut my losses and go home after the gig is up. I can't afford more hotel nites and anyway the goal of the extra days was to camp. Really don't want to go home early but if theres no way to do this better (yes, by that I mean here and now) I don't want to do Hell Night again for no reason.

Long post sorry thanks!

 

[Morgana]

PS keeping car cooler during day seems worth a shot...

Daytime temps are low100s but it does cool down at night...

 

[tx2sturgis]

I'm just thinking of your health, comfort, and sanity. Don't torture yourself trying to get a few nights of 'free' camping in an uncomfortably hot area.

 

[JDub]

Morgana,

there's a time to tough it out and there's a time to say: "OK, that's enough". Personally, speaking from an ORM (Operational Risk Management) which I (learned in the Mil) always use to evaluate the risk involved with situations just like the one you're in, it's time to standdown. Either head N as Tex suggested to a much higher altitude (where are you anyway (generally)?) or head for the barn.

I'm sitting in a very well insulated concrete house and without AC it gets well above 90 in nothing flat even with the massive shade trees I have cooling the place - It's currently 85F in the home only because the AC is set to that.

Don't risk your health and safety just to validate your plans. It's killer, record setting hot out there...

https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/d...astward-triple-digit-temps-expected-southeast
Stay safe and SANE out there!

Cheers!

 

[scaredycat72]

The motel is cooler because it has thick insulated brick or concrete walls. A car is basically a metal can and metal conducts heat. You car is being heated from the top and the sides by the sun and from underneath by the pavement. I wasn't joking when I said it's like an oven - you're baking in the car and the car is baking in the sun.

The car is heating up because the interior surfaces are radiating heat back into the atmosphere, just like the pavement. Keeping your car cooler during the day will minimize that.

https://bigthink.com/technology-inn...huge,for global average surface temperatures.
Running your AC to cool your car before you sleep and doing the other things I suggested will help you be more comfortable at night; however if it's over 100 during the day, I would definitely stay out of the car during the day and park the car in shade. Temps that high make car camping dangerous. If you don't have to do it, I wouldn't do it.

 

[Morgana]

Yeah I don't want to do anything stupid. Time and budget = can't travel too much farther afield for now, maybe better to save it for later. I'm in Brackettville + Del Rio TX and was hoping to spend the extra time at Garner State Park on the Frio River. I think it's all well within the red zone on the weather maps. Thanks for the decision support guys, I hate quitting -- but this might be one of those times. I will get there to SUV living yet!

 

[JDub]

Still in the D.R area? Good safety decision. "Live to fight another day"...

Cheers!