It's HOT in here. How do you keep the house cool? We have a 1wk old baby. (buying, contractor)

[andyadhi01]

Originally Posted by skubaman

Hey Guys,
We just had a baby 1 week ago. Besides already dealing with sewer/water work outside our house (in Noe Valley) with tractors all week, now it's the weather. We don't have A/C and it's been really hot. Last night at 9pm it was 81° in the bedroom. We had a fan and an air purifier acting as fan on. Baby ended up sleeping ok after temp dropped to around 77° around 11:30pm.

We recently moved so we don't have shades in the room yet, just hanging a sheet on the window. But all my windows are high efficiency. Do I keep them closed all day or open them? I don't know what's worse.

In the kitchen is where we can get the most air flow because there is a deck and skylight, but it's also south facing so it gets the most sun during the day. What to do about that? Keep deck window and skylight closed or open?

Today I am trying a new thing. I open the door from our floor to the garage and open the garage door to backyard. Trying to create an up draft. Not sure it will help if air outside is also hot.

Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks so much

Take the baby to Ocean beach

[itchymonkey]

Originally Posted by skubaman

Hey Guys,
We just had a baby 1 week ago. Besides already dealing with sewer/water work outside our house (in Noe Valley) with tractors all week, now it's the weather. We don't have A/C and it's been really hot. Last night at 9pm it was 81° in the bedroom. We had a fan and an air purifier acting as fan on. Baby ended up sleeping ok after temp dropped to around 77° around 11:30pm.

We recently moved so we don't have shades in the room yet, just hanging a sheet on the window. But all my windows are high efficiency. Do I keep them closed all day or open them? I don't know what's worse.

In the kitchen is where we can get the most air flow because there is a deck and skylight, but it's also south facing so it gets the most sun during the day. What to do about that? Keep deck window and skylight closed or open?

Today I am trying a new thing. I open the door from our floor to the garage and open the garage door to backyard. Trying to create an up draft. Not sure it will help if air outside is also hot.

Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks so much

September and October are basically the only months that are warm in SF. The rest of the year is on the cold side, so a/c in residential homes/condos are very rare. There is not much you can do besides buying a good fan and blocking the sun. The warmth brings out mosquitos too.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by skubaman

How do I apply I insulation to the attic? The spray foam kind?
There is no crawl space. It's like 10" high.
I was told the foam job starts at $2000.
Thanks

Oh, I don't know, then. I assumed the attic had enough room for you to get in and lay the insulation yourself. You should contact several companies, ask them how they do it, ask lots of questions to compare methods and materials, and get bids.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I am in Santa Clara, and have a window unit in my bedroom. It's on the south side of the building. My apt sits on the southwest corner, with my living room having both south and west facing windows.

I like the a/c in the bedroom so I can sleep comfortably. I have a huge fan that blows the cool air from the bedroom into the living room. In this weather, I can only get the living room down to about 80 degrees. When the sun is beating on the a/c unit, the bedroom can get up to about 75 degrees, but quickly cools back down.

The trick here is to open up windows at night, then close them in the morning, and use heavy curtains to block out the sun on my south and west facing windows. For now, just tack up a thicker blanket over the windows.

Get a window or portable a/c unit. Window ones are cheaper and won't take up floor space. You can go pick one up and have it cooling your place in an hour. Way cheaper and faster than blowing insulation into the attic.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I feel so sorry for you with your new baby. I'm sure you're not only hot but exhausted. So, I called the Costco in your area, and they're out of air conditioners. But, the Home Depot has some in stock. You can order one online and pick it up today:

Portable units:

Portable Air Conditioners - Air Conditioners - Air Conditioners & Coolers - Heating, Venting & Cooling*at The Home Depot

Window units:

Window Air Conditioners - Air Conditioners - Air Conditioners & Coolers - Heating, Venting & Cooling*at The Home Depot

[skubaman]

I feel so sorry for you with your new baby. I'm sure you're not only hot but exhausted. So, I called the Costco in your area, and they're out of air conditioners. But, the Home Depot has some in stock. You can order one online and pick it up today:

THanks so much for caring and doing this. So what we tried this time was to leave all major windows open through the night (except where baby sleeps). This morning was a nice 64 inside the house. Around 9am when sun started showing and fog going away I closed all windows. Current indoor and outdoor temp is 70, but it's supposed to go up to 81 today. We will see how it holds up.

If it doesn't work well, I will go get a portable A/C unit today. If it works, I will research better solutions before the next heat wave.

Thanks

[twins4lynn]

We have A/C (and lots of fans), but the afternoon sun hits directly on the side of the house for several hours really increasing the temp inside my son's bedroom. We place a white cardboard fabric cutting board on the inside window frame which really darkens the room and helps keep the temperature down. From outside, you can't tell that there is cardboard on the window.

Wrights Cardboard Pattern Cutting Board - 36''x60'' & sewing station tools at Joann.com

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by skubaman

Thanks for responding Tallysmom. Is your house insulated? I forgot to mention I live in 1940 house w no insulation.

Originally Posted by skubaman

How do I apply I insulation to the attic? The spray foam kind?
There is no crawl space. It's like 10" high.
I was told the foam job starts at $2000.
Thanks

No -- our house isn't insulated. Should be, but for noise more than anything. But our heating bills aren't sky high in the winter anyway... especially since I went into menopause. Our house is kept around 65.... and I'm still reaching for a hand fan several times during the evening.

Insulation for that kind of space can be a blown in cellulose. Should be cheaper than that foam stuff. Supposedly, you can rent the stuff to do that with at Home Depot and do it yourself. Just make sure you aren't covering electrical wiring.

[clongirl]

Try to keep in mind, merely a week ago, the baby was in a 98.6 degree environment! Baby can handle the heat (more than the parents!). Put in a "onesie" and he/she'll be fine.

Now for the grownups...San Francisco doesn't get very many heatwaves...It's maybe once or twice a year...sometimes none. Just open up the windows at night and early morning to let the cooler temps get into the house if you can, then close up all windows when the heat begins to rear it's ugly head again. If you have skylights (like we do) "Blindsgalore" online sells honeycomb blinds that keep the heat out. They are made specifically for skylight windows.

I live in a much hotter climate out here in the East Bay yet don't have an AC either! Nobody on my street does. We do have a "whole house fan" which pulls in cool air from outside and releases outside. It's not expensive, but since you don't have many super hot days out in Noe Valley, I'd just get a couple of freestanding AC units and/or regular fans instead. You can store them away in the garage after the heat is gone.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by skubaman

Hey Guys,
We just had a baby 1 week ago. Besides already dealing with sewer/water work outside our house (in Noe Valley) with tractors all week, now it's the weather. We don't have A/C and it's been really hot. Last night at 9pm it was 81° in the bedroom. We had a fan and an air purifier acting as fan on. Baby ended up sleeping ok after temp dropped to around 77° around 11:30pm.

We recently moved so we don't have shades in the room yet, just hanging a sheet on the window. But all my windows are high efficiency. Do I keep them closed all day or open them? I don't know what's worse.

In the kitchen is where we can get the most air flow because there is a deck and skylight, but it's also south facing so it gets the most sun during the day. What to do about that? Keep deck window and skylight closed or open?

Today I am trying a new thing. I open the door from our floor to the garage and open the garage door to backyard. Trying to create an up draft. Not sure it will help if air outside is also hot.

Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks so much

My heart goes out to you. Is there anyway you could spend a few days in a nearby motel or hotel? As for your wonderful little one, it will do better, believe it or not, than you are doing.

I remember many years ago, living in So CA when we had a really long heat wave and no a/c. One thing that was suggested, other than the usual, was to dip wash cloths in cold water (we used a big bucket) and wrap them around your wrist. It only helps for a while, but anything is better than nothing.

I would invest in a room a/c asap. Even when this heat wave is over, there will be others. I do have to say, unless you live in the east bay, there is so rarely a time you need a/c in SFO I don't think you made a mistake not having A/C put in. It might not have been cost effective considering how rarely these types of heat waves occur.