How do you keep cool in this weather?

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Holly DUK

Holly DUK

Supporter Care Advisor
Hey guys,

So the weather has taken an extreme turn, to say the least!

I'm just wondering if anyone can share their tips for keeping cool? I've found carrying a spray bottle filled with water is a quick way to cool down when I'm out and about!

I hope everyone is managing okay, the UK definitely wasn't built for this 😱
 
I have a cooler running in the living room which is very difficult to get near due to a certain puppy dog hogging it. (don't blame him)
There's also towels in the freezer which I bring out to cool off with and have some ice blocks which are placed around the living room.

Going out and about is not an option as on my sheltered patio it's 50 degrees plus :(
 
Well, the interior of our flat is 9 degrees cooler than outside by the simple technique of closing the curtains in every room where the window faces the sun. All the windows are open to a degree. You don't need the towels in your freezer, wet towels hung around the place will cool the area because they absorb the heat as they dry and evaporate the water.


And if you can avoid going out, then don't do it. Like @Pumper_Sue I have a stone floor balcony, which is as hot - that's how storage heaters work, so the heat is direct or rising from the floor.
 
I keep the curtains drawn if at home, move slowly if out, and I swear by my ice packs. I have normal sized ones and a giant one that I take to bed. Bliss!
 
mikeyB said:
You don't need the towels in your freezer, wet towels hung around the place will cool the area because they absorb the heat as they dry and evaporate the water.
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The towels are for Charlie 🙂 He loves them. Wet towels any where near him means them being shaken like a rat and I do not want the mess in the house lol.
 
Air con in the house.
The hot tub outside with the temperature wound down, with sun cream and a hat on.
Outside, keep the hat on, and stay hydrated.
I've been in my shorts and sandles since Easter, that help as well.
 
I'm envious too @travellor! My son has an air con unit in his room as he is a warm body and sleeps with a 4.5 tog in the depths of winter brrrrr! The rest of us just put up with the heat and a small fan!
I agree the shorts and tee shirt helps...I've been in mine since the end of March so I don't really burn easily. I've been taking water with me on walks though which I don't normally do, and limiting walks to around 30 minutes.
 
Vonny said:
I'm envious too @travellor! My son has an air con unit in his room as he is a warm body and sleeps with a 4.5 tog in the depths of winter brrrrr! The rest of us just put up with the heat and a small fan!
I agree the shorts and tee shirt helps...I've been in mine since the end of March so I don't really burn easily. I've been taking water with me on walks though which I don't normally do, and limiting walks to around 30 minutes.
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I need to stake some tomato plants up, they must have grown a foot in the last few days.
It's keeping until later though, it's still mid thirties outside!
 
Shorts? I recommend a skirt.
I am usually a trouser wearer so you'd think I'd go for shorts but have found skirts allow more "air flow".
I am sure some guys will disagree but as so many of us are working from home, who'll know?
 
Curtains drawn on all windows facing south and windows shut until after dark or first thing in the morning. No point in letting that heat in from outside. Upstairs I have the skylights open to allow hot air out. Downstairs has been the perfect temp all day with no need for fans.
It is absolutely baking out there though and it is amazing me that the plants in my poly tunnel are coping as well as they are although I am watering regularly. They are hardier than me that is for sure. I would have died by now if I was stuck in there all day!
 
helli said:
Shorts? I recommend a skirt.
I am usually a trouser wearer so you'd think I'd go for shorts but have found skirts allow more "air flow".
I am sure some guys will disagree but as so many of us are working from home, who'll know?
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If I could find skirts with patch pockets I would probably wear one, but I like multiple pockets for all my rammel when I'm walking. I don't travel light...you should see my handbag!!!
 
Vonny said:
If I could find skirts with patch pockets I would probably wear one, but I like multiple pockets for all my rammel when I'm walking. I don't travel light...you should see my handbag!!!
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I make some of my own clothes so would add my own pockets.
Hey, I have enough spare fabric to fashion a few patch pockets to a shop bought skirt in a contrasting design 😎
 
I just had to expect to my celler for bit.
 
I get up at around five in the morning and open all the windows and let the cool air through the house.
Then as the sun starts to hit the front of the house or even better slightly before that I shut the front windows and close the blinds. I leave the back windows open as that is in shade until around mid day at which point I close them too.

I do a load of washing on a cool eco wash if I have stuff that needs washing and if I am lucky it is a sheets and towels day. While they are washing I wind our new awning down over the back of the house where our raised deck is and where I have our washing lines.

I also have a sun brella. Between the washing evaporating on the line and the awning keeping the sun off the deck and bottom of the back of the house and luckily a permanently shady airy spot under the deck and the sun brella I move to shade the back window and the closed blinds and blackout curtains on our French windows - we have managed to keep the living room and kitchen nice and cool.

Yesterday I over did it and ended up shivering and I had to do fifteen minutes boxing on my VR app to warm up as I was too chilly.

We try not to do any hot cooking and just eat cold things. But today I made ice cream as the cream was use by today and so I had to heat up the cream and ingredients for that. I have stopped using the gas hob and use an electric induction hob as that is much more precise and saves energy and also does not build up a lot of residual heat as the gas hob does. My ice cream machine blows hot air out of its vents so I placed my frozen fruit near them to thaw - and that cancelled out the warmth from the machine quite effectively.
 
NotWorriedAtAll said:
I get up at around five in the morning and open all the windows and let the cool air through the house.
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Just a heads up the met office are warning people to keep windows and currents closed.
 
Out early, and out late (if the dogs are willing), and avoid going out as much as possible in between.

Fans in the house to keep the air moving. Occasional wet towels / drenches.

One of the best tips I’ve had in recent years is the to keep garden doors shut as as well as the curtains closed in the hottest parts of the day. As @rebrascora says, when it’s that much hotter outside - opening windows and doors just lets hot air in half the time!
 
Bruce Stephens said:
During the day (when it's hotter outside). But when it's colder outside you want to open the windows.
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There no such thing as cooler here it's currently 34 degrees right now and already going to get up to 31 degrees tomorrow by 10 oclock not looking forward to that
 
This heat is my happy place. I'm sure that's a mixture of lots of time in the tropics and more likely my really broken body thermostat. People are melting around me and I don't even sweat.

Of course, that last bit isn't the greatest.
 
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