How to keep cool in a house in PR?

[STT Resident]

Originally Posted by ShinaGF

Hi there,
I just moved to Puerto Rico from Texas due to my husband's job. It's lovely here, but the house we chose to rent only has one air conditioning unit in the back room which does nothing to cool the house. I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions for keeping the house cool. Thanks!
P.S. We have fans, but it does not seem to be helping.

I'm pretty gobsmacked by some of the responses from some of the posters on this thread who obviously don't live in PR or who are just occasional visitors.

An A/C unit in one room does not cool a whole house. The fans may be less than state of the art. If you're renting you might offer to replace the ineffective ceiling fans with more ergonomic fixtures at your own expense. If you have other windows which might accommodate A/C units you could also install these at your expense and of course with the OK of your landlord.

Whatever you permanently install stays where a rental is concerned so be aware of that. If you install an AC unit in a window space which has to be adjusted to accept that A/C unit, you will upon leaving be required to put the premises back to the condition of the originally leased premises.

Your electric bill will increase and electricity expense is one of the things you just have to deal with both in PR and the USVI.

Other posters are correct in saying that you will eventually acclimatize but of course I understand your immediate angst.

You moved to this region in the summer months and probably didn't get much of a chance to choose where to live because you were transferred because of your husband's occupation which I presume is with the Federal government?

I'm going to be quite brutal here in telling you that you can either make the best of his stint here, get out there and enjoy something very different than what you're used to - or kvetch and complain about how, "it's not what it's like back home."

The heat and humidity should really be the least of your problems. Getting to slowly know your neighbors and fitting in with local affairs and events will enable your enjoyment of a new culture and different mores. You may well always feel far more comfortable living in your present comfort zone but isn't life all about exploration and aren't you fortunate that your husband happens to have a job which offers you an alternate experience?

[Sandhillian]

I second the suggestion about finding a better fan with the landlord's permission. BTW, I found the weather to be really pleasant here from about November through April, so hang in there a few months more!

[InNeedOfAnswers]

Find an apartment that is facing north-east. This will allow the winds to cool down your place.

[ncc]

Originally Posted by InNeedOfAnswers

Find an apartment that is facing north-east. This will allow the winds to cool down your place.

Also, try and find an apartment that is somewhat elevated
(at least 150ft). My GF's mom's house is 250ft on the east side of the island and the tradewinds feel like a giant fan on her balcony...

[pixeltwistr]

That is one of the things i have a hard time with too....the fact is though that the weather is is truely relatively mild....75 in the winter and 85 in the summer...of course there are those days when its 90 but....anyway the people who have been on this island their entire lives just dont see the need for those things like ACs and hot water heaters....When my husband and i cane here 18 years ago there was no hot ater in the house at all...we had to take stone cold showers....but we moved here about a year ago and now most people have these huge plastic containers on their roofs with a solar panel that provides hot(ish) water.....unless it is raining or at night lol....
Comming from the states where we are completely spoiled i too was used to central AC and hot water heaters and all that. I do think we will get used to the climate after a couple of years and as long as my shower is at least luke warm i guess i can deal.....our living room however does not have any windows and it definately gets ungodly hot in here....i take a shower and then dont dry off....just put my clothes on my wet carcass lol...it feels just like AC for about 20 minutes anyway.....If you notice most Puerto Ricans have a game table of some kind on their porches and they tend to just hang out outside durring the hottest hours.
The only thing that really bugs me about not having hot water though is dishes and laundry....I never feel like my dishes are clean i have to boil water to rinse them.

[mym]

set your bed up against an interior cement wall. i'd lay up against the wall and let it cool me down.

[Trucker7]

Necrothread.