I know most of the Heat Waves and triple digit temperatures are starting to subside, I was interested in ways to combat temperatures that go extreme. Looking down the pipe as we are getting record temperatures that are getting higher each year all over the world (no global warming topics) I was wondering was around combating the oven style heat environments with temperatures at night time of 98 degrees and triple digits in the day. I know the use of light, loose cloths (like they use in the desert is a start and water laced headbands, or wet rice in bandannas) So the question arises, What are some ways of combating a heat environment with no AC available and limited water sources (no mist fans). Remember you will need sleep at night (like being in a oven)so light cloths won't affect you at night compared to the days when the sun is out.

One long term solution could be subterranean living, no kidding. Dig a deep hole in the ground or into cliffs.
Example here: http://graymonk.mu.nu/archives/2007/12/living_undergro_1.html

Terracotta, build high structures of bricks in buckets or similar, the bricks should be soaked in water, when the water evaporates it will cool the air. (Just how clay wine coolers work) make sure there is a free flow of air.

Short term, like tents, double-layered roofs (tarps or similar) with free flowing air in between. 1/2-1 foot in between.
Stay off the ground.

from a historical standpoint... when I moved to Florida in 1955 home a/c was not common, and "cracker" homes were still around, typically identified as having...wood frame construction..two story thermal chimney height to provide up draft convection cooling, wide "dog trot" main hallway oriented to prevlent breeze NNW..I've seen one that had about 2ft open space at top walls for cross flow vent.... wide 8ft or so covered veranda porch typically on S,E,and W sides....cooking done in a separate out building connected by breeze way... double sash drop windows at corners of rooms, sheet steel roof 4/12 or better pitch (usually connected to cistern), and house was built on pillars 2ft off the ground. Large oak trees for shade. In the concrete block homes of the time most of the floors were terazzo (concrete and colored stone which was ground smooth)which acted as a thermal sink... took time to absorb heat which cooled during day and released at night...

In the Philippines my place down town was not air conditioned, but had a bed and pillow made of thin strips of bamboo that allowed air flow. That and a ceiling fan with a lot of windows worked.... some of the transit barracks at Clark AFB had open screened siding (both floor and ceiling level) with overhanging awnings. regards Les

Good ideas BorkBorkBork, I had new about underground living, even basements help some in the USA, but one thing you reminded me that what I did as a kid growing up was digging underground tunnels and playing in them. This is where my portable sand bag shovel would come in handy I bought years back. http://www.angelguardproducts.com/industrial/ezbagger/ezbagger.htm
I could either go underground or the double tarp idea would be a good start. When my AC went out awhile back I was going in and out of the lake all the time to stay cool, the house was 5 degrees hotter than outside with the windows open. The sun was brutal so I swam and hung out at the lake quite a bit till I got a new compressor. I should have stayed in the tent, it would have been cooler than the house. Anyway good ideas, thanks.

LesSnyder, I know what you are saying, I have one of those cracker houses with the terrazzo floor, louver windows, 10 degree pitch roof and even with the chimney and all the windows open (no insulation in these houses plus shingled roof) it was still 5 degrees hotter. I was in subic bay PI and lived there for awhile and would live most of my time in the jungle where the trees and creek would make life very pleasant. Where I'm at now doesn't have many trees for blocking the sun. On the go however I definitely would stay in the shade as much as possible and try to keep cool with any type of water I could find. I miss those days in the jungles of PI for sure and the third eye near clark great input, thanks.

How about Passive Air conditioning using the buried pipe technique.

http://www.airconditioningrepaircompanies.com/passive-air-conditioning-using-buried-pipe

I hear once upon a time people didn't have air conditioning. That must have been back during the ice age.

:-)

Most American homes are designed and built to impress, not to deal with heat (and sometimes, not to deal with cold, either).

Thermal convection can help, but you would probably have to make some changes in your house. Have intake vents near the floor on the shady side of the house, have cooling shrubbery (preferably kept damp -- use greywater) always shading them. Have high vents near the ceiling on the opposite side of the house.

The more the sun shines, the faster the air in the house/room heats up and rises, escaping out the upper vents, and pulling in more cool air from the lower vents. It stops when the sun goes down.

Many homes in the tropics are built off the ground. If you live in a place that is routinely hot in summer, build a deck off the ground, add an overhanging roof and screening. Or build a treehouse.

The more concrete and asphalt you have around you, the hotter it will be.

Get a copy of Art Ludwig's Create an Oasis with Greywaterfor ideas on how to direct greywater where you need it. The NEW edition contains his branched drains system. Greywater can help cool as well as grow things.

Sue

This is an interesting website covering a wide gamut of passive cooling and solar active air conditioning.

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/passive_cooling.htm#Other

What is really annoying is that many folks are now going for so called low maintenance gardens (folks too lazy to push a lawn mower around) consisting of paving stones and gravel chips and concrete slabs, all of which increase local flooding risk and raise the overall temperature of the surrounding environment due to the heat island effect. All this material radiates back IR at night time causing night time temperatures to be much higher making sleep that much more uncomfortable.

All the heat being produced by the air conditioners pumping hot air outside also raises the ambient temperature for everyone else. The localised heat island effect may raise average temperatures throughout the year by 3-5 degrees C.

With appropriate shading from garden trees (natural air conditioners) and passive air conditioning such as buried heat pipe installations regulating internal building temperatures without costly and expensive to run conventional air conditioning systems it should be able to have zero running costs except of course for the initial installation costs.

Also worth mentioning is reducing the overall electricity load of lighting, entertainment, communications, cooking and refrigeration appliances. All these loads eventually produce heat which needs to be removed from the home. So LED lighting, modern low powered computers, TV and A++ rated refrigeration appliances etc will help considerably with cooling. Even electrical cooking such as using modern induction type hobs will reduce the electricity consumption and subsequent heating internally.

Is it getting warmer during the summer or are folks just surrounding themselves with ever more convenient electrical appliances and covering up gardens with paving slabs and cutting down tress for property speculators to build their poorly designed energy inefficient homes. What happens when antiquated energy grid can't take the load anymore during a really hot spell of weather?

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovat...s&wom=false

Thanks Susan and Am_Fear_Liath_Mor, those links are some interesting ideas, and one of the studies from Lakeland, Fla is interesting as well as it is not very far from where I am at. After the AC loss and having to buy a new one, I'm a little beat down for cash for awhile but I have been trying to combat very high energy bills for this 50 year old non efficient house. The attic has virtually no access to it to put insulation in it since it is almost flat, the walls are all concrete block with no insulation in them and are a heat storage. The terrazzo floors help some in remaining a little cool but as you walk around the house barefooted you can feel the heat from the ground. I have been experimenting with energy curtains and solar tint which has made significant gains in lowering the AC cycle and there are so many louver windows in this house it will cost a mint to replace all. I would eventually like to put a solar system on the roof and have been trying to replace out windows when money comes available. What's kind of messed up is my neighbors house is more efficient than mine and his power consumption (KWPH-Kilowatts per hour) has been the same for 10 years and he was paying $80 per month for electricity a few years back and now it is $230 with no power use change. The electric company keeps claiming that he needs to turn off lights in the day time to save cost, which is a joke because the Kilowatts are the same and the numbers do not lie. Plus they claim the new power meters are reading a more accurate readings and in the old days you were getting away with more because of an analog meter that was inefficient and your new bill reflects your true and accurate use. Man I want to git off the grid so bad but the money factor is keeping me down. In the meantime I just do little things I can to fight it down, but it seams like I do something and it knocks $30 off the bill, the next bill comes and it's back up to the same price.