it's really quite warm here (Portland, Medford: home, movies, office)

[Sprightly]

This is great info thank you all for sharing. Guess I should put my experience out there too. I bought New Air brand portable units which is kind of a generic brand of Amcor. In a small-medium sized room they work quite well, but unfortunately in a bigger space like a living room/dining combo they really struggle. When the unit is rated for 400 sq ft - they mean it, probably even a bit less than that. I got wonderful deals with free shipping online for them - hope it's okay to put the link air-n-water(dot)com but I still think I need something more powerful.

PNW - that mister system sound lovely!

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

For longer term solutions, I'd be looking at a whole-house fan and a swamp cooler.

While it might be hot during the day, as soon as the sun sets the temps drop - a whole house fan will suck cool air into the house and force the hot air out of the attic, which will allow the attic insulation to work better. (You can have an R-50 attic blanket above your conditioned space, but when it's 120 degrees in your attic the insulation can only do so much to keep the house cool.)

I had a whole-house fan in my house in Portland and the two disadvantages of it were that it was noisy and it didn't self-seal, so in the winter it had to be covered by a lid. The news ones are much quieter and are self-sealing.

I also have a mister system (just like drip irrigation) set up on my patio and the cool water in the air really works to drop the temps so that it's comfortable to sit outside during the day.

I put a whole house fan and an attic fan in my house here in the mid-Atlantic. The attic fan is because I have a hip roof so it is hard to get enough air thru. I also replaced all the things that keep the insulation from blocking the soffits. The difference in attic temperature is dramatic and my house temperature is much cooler. My 2nd floor is now as cool and sometimes cooler than the 1st floor all day. If the dew points stay below 70F, I don't really need the air conditioner. Running the fan at night will cool the house down rapidly. Again in the early morning really cools it. Shut up during the day and set the blinds to cut the sun shining into the windows has worked really well.

But none of this works very well with high dew points. It is just too clammy above 70 and it won't cool off enough at night. I thought the dew point is fairly high out there. My friend in Seattle said it was 71 there today. That is really miserable without air conditioning.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

But none of this works very well with high dew points. It is just too clammy above 70 and it won't cool off enough at night. I thought the dew point is fairly high out there. My friend in Seattle said it was 71 there today. That is really miserable without air conditioning.

Well, I live over on the dry side, so today it's 92 F (at 2:00, probably going up to around 95) but the humidity is only 39deg F (around 14%). Logging on to my friend's weather station in Cascade Park (Vancouver, Wa, just north of the airport), I see that it's 104.8F with a dew point of 61degF (around 26%).

Night temps here are in the low 60s and in Portland they are in the high 60s, so it still cools off well, IF you make sure to air out the house at night.

Looking at my friend's weather station near St. Augustine, FL, it's 92 degrees and 80% humidity, which is pretty close to hellish, IMO.

[Wicked Felina]

Springhtly, my friends' rolling A/C is an Everstar. They bought it at Lowe's.

I'm cooling by cats by rubbing them down with ice cubes. They're so hot, they're not complaining. LOL. That's a new one, tigerlilly. I'm impressed! Before I got AC, I would wet a towel with cold water & place it on my dog...it gets very hot in this apt, not much natural air flow. I was offered a job in Harlingen (Harlington?) Texas several months ago. Wish I'd taken it now for the sake of $, but I honestly don't think I could've handled the heat.

People were saying we didn't need it,not to worry about it--ha!! After living in the deep south one learns to worry about such. Very smart move ~~~ Before I got an A/C unit, I slept on the floor in the kitchen when it was very hot. Didn't think an A/C was worth the price because we only have a few days of sweltering weather. Am I ever glad I changed my mind!

If I ever have a house with a porch I would definitely get a mister system. Good info from everybody.

[tigerlily]

Originally Posted by SeeBee

I'm cooling by cats by rubbing them down with ice cubes. They're so hot, they're not complaining. LOL. That's a new one, tigerlilly. I'm impressed! Before I got AC, I would wet a towel with cold water & place it on my dog...it gets very hot in this apt, not much natural air flow. I was offered a job in Harlingen (Harlington?) Texas several months ago. Wish I'd taken it now for the sake of $, but I honestly don't think I could've handled the heat.

I've gone the wet towel route when I had my dear departed dogs. IMHO, Dallas has a better climate than Cleveland, Ohio where I was raised. Sometimes the air just seemed to hang when it was only 75 degrees with that humidity coming off the lake. I thought Dallas had higher temps, but not as humid. I love Dallas around the end of February through May and the fall weather is very nice. My hubby tried to buy another fan today at HD. I told him it was pointless and, unfortunately, I was right. LOL. My husband is tried to simulate an attic fan by placing the floor fan towards the window. Attic fans worked for me in TX. We have an Amana portable air conditioner, but I don't think it's that great.

[Sprightly]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

Looking at my friend's weather station near St. Augustine, FL, it's 92 degrees and 80% humidity, which is pretty close to hellish, IMO.

But I bet your friend has A/C with muscle in every indoor place he/she goes. I grew up in heat and humidity, but the key to it being manageable in hindsight was that it was possible to get cool, even cold, indoors enough to get the body completely cooled off and your core temperature down if it was up. That sense of never getting quite cooled down enough and the internal heat remaining is what really gets me.

[crazylegs5150]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

Well, I live over on the dry side, so today it's 92 F (at 2:00, probably going up to around 95) but the humidity is only 39deg F (around 14%). Logging on to my friend's weather station in Cascade Park (Vancouver, Wa, just north of the airport), I see that it's 104.8F with a dew point of 61degF (around 26%).

Night temps here are in the low 60s and in Portland they are in the high 60s, so it still cools off well, IF you make sure to air out the house at night.

Looking at my friend's weather station near St. Augustine, FL, it's 92 degrees and 80% humidity, which is pretty close to hellish, IMO.

I can say that living an hour from St. Augustine, that yes, it is damn warm though 92 is actually not that bad.Of course on the coast it is so much more humid then inland where we live. I feel sorry for all you peeps in PNW. When Seattle gets to 100, then you know you are in a heat wave! To all the people without AC, just be thankful you do not have hurricanes that come though and knock out power for 6-7+ days in the middle of summer/fall when humidity is near 90% and damn near hellish. No AC for 6 days is the closest thing to hell on earth...not sure how the early pioneers did it in the early days. I cannot wait to get out of Florida all together and call PNW "home"...

[tigerlily]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

While it might be hot during the day, as soon as the sun sets the temps drop - a whole house fan will suck cool air into the house and force the hot air out of the attic, which will allow the attic insulation to work better. (You can have an R-50 attic blanket above your conditioned space, but when it's 120 degrees in your attic the insulation can only do so much to keep the house cool.)

I had a whole-house fan in my house in Portland and the two disadvantages of it were that it was noisy and it didn't self-seal, so in the winter it had to be covered by a lid. The news ones are much quieter and are self-sealing.

I agree. We had an attic fan in Texas. It was noisy, but it worked. That's my husband's complaint about our moveable air condition. My hubby is trying to simulate the attic fan with floors fans pointing out the windows. We have a tri-level, so it's especially hot in our main living area. He turned it off last night because of the noise. I'd rather have the noise. LOL. My hubby is trying to simulate in our house now with fans pointing out the windows. We have a tri-level, so it's especially hot in our main living area.
My sister from Charlotte called me awhile ago to see how we're handling the heat. Portland made national news with our rare heat wave.

[PhxNative09]

Reading from Phoenix, I find this entire thread quite amusing.




...Yes, I know, every single building here has AC. But I'd still take it your way any day. Some of us spend a bit of time outside. You can put off your yardwork until next week when it's back to a high of 87, but my house needs to be painted, and I have to choose which Saturday I want to do it on: 112f, 109f, 110f, 108f, 114f... hmm...



And seeing your nightly lows, I really have a hard time sympathizing!

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Sprightly

But I bet your friend has A/C with muscle in every indoor place he/she goes. I grew up in heat and humidity, but the key to it being manageable in hindsight was that it was possible to get cool, even cold, indoors enough to get the body completely cooled off and your core temperature down if it was up. That sense of never getting quite cooled down enough and the internal heat remaining is what really gets me.

Everything has A/C except, you know, the outdoors. I spend enough time outside that I'd feel very trapped if I had to stay in the house. Here, heat in the summer doesn't really keep me inside (with the exception of a couple of days a year) and the same goes for snow in the winter (also with the exception of a couple of days). When I lived in Portland I'd get grumpy about the drizzle, but it didn't keep me inside the house then, either.