Today’s question is from Jerilyn:
Our children sleep on the second floor and it gets really hot up there! Last year we used several fans but they have since broken and I always worried that they were too hot. I am looking for an efficient way to cool our hot and humid 2nd floor besides a window air conditioning unit .
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We also have a whole house fan and with running it at night and shutting all windows, blinds and curtains during the day our air conditioning hardly kicks on, even set at 80 degrees.
We also used car window tint on our bedroom windows, its about $10 per window and savings for years to come – bonus savings when the kids sleep in past the sun coming up 🙂
During really hot nights, my kids sleep in the basement on air mattresses. It’s always nice & cool down there, and the kids think it’s like camping.
I find a cool shower before bed helps lower the temp, also drinking a cold glass of ice water to lower the core temp.
Use your water hose to spray the roof of your house for a few minutes each night. I’m not sure if this really works or not but I’ve heard it can take 5 – 10 degrees off the top of your house.
There are new units that sit on the floor and come with a window piece that you put in the bottom of your window strictly to vent. The unit I have seen did a very nice job. In our home we have a.c., but we did install a whole-house fan for certain types of weather. I love it.
thanks for all of the comments. we have 1 big room and 1 smaller room and since it’s a cape cod the ceilings are too narrow for ceiling fans. since the a/c is decent in the small room, I got a fan for that room to help circulate the air more. for the big room, we got one of those big a/c units that vents out of the windows but sits on the floor. This covers the entire room- which I doubted with a small window unit… so not sure what the costs will be with our electricity but this seems to be a good fit for the house. plus, once the baby sleeps through the night more consistently, if I leave the doors open up there I think the big unit will help push even more cool air into the little room.
I had never seen a big unit like the one we got so I was trying to think outside of the box more! Thanks for all of the responses!
I don’t know where you are located, but if it cools off at night where you live then one of the whole house fans is a really good option. My folks had one of those in our house when I was a kid, and though it was pretty loud, it didn’t take long for it to cool the house right down in the evening.
I didn’t read all the comments but here are a few ideas:
A whole house fan is great but another alternative is to get a very strong window fan. Have it blowing OUT with other windows open to bring in cool air. That gets rid of the hot air and cools much better. When I was a kid in IA we did this and could turn the ac off a lot.
When my mom/grandma were little and there was no AC, they would hang wet towels in the windows and the evaporation would create a cooling breeze.
Friends of mine make blocks of ice and then use those in front of stationary fans to help cool down there house at night for sleeping. Hope you find a solution.
The ice blocks work really well! I’ve used this technique for years! I freeze water in 2 liter soda bottles, and then just refreeze them when they melt=)
As previous commenters, I live in South Carolina where if the heat doesn’t get to you, the humidity will. I have no trees or buildings around my house so we have full-on sun all day, everyday. I put black trash bags on the top of my windows. I have miniblinds turned where the sun will reflect the heat and dark curtains around the house. I agree with the cool shower before bed and ceiling fans in the bedrooms. Also, close curtains before 11am.
Somethings to keep in mind are to do chores that will heat the house at night when the house is already hot such as Baking, laundry, dishwasher. That way you don’t fight the air conditioner during the day. Also, use a lower wattage bulb. It sounds crazy but some bulbs put out quite a bit of heat.
Fans… And I don’t know if someone has mentioned this or not yet, but when we lived in West Africa, we always showered right before bed. Even if we just rinsed off, it sure helped a lot. Don’t know how frugal it is, but it made our life there much more bearable. Cool water, especially on your head, is welcome relief from 90-100 degree temps. Our day temps there were anywhere from 80-120 degrees. It got down to 70 degrees (freezing cold for the Africans) maybe two times the whole two years we lived there. No, we did not have air-conditioning at all. We were grateful for our electricity, when it was on (we had rolling blackouts), so we could use our fans. The showers helped, as does drinking lots of clean water…a frugal drink!
At the end of this summer or beginning of fall, look into buying fans on deep clearance at Target. They always have fans on clearance at end of season.
I live in Florida. My husband and I use black out curtains on top of our mini blinds, ceiling fans and tower fans. We do run our air conditioner but these seem to help us not have to lower it. When I was growing up in Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Missouri we would sleep in 100% cotton T-shirts and/or shorts and use ceiling, window, or floor fans. The fans really helped a lot as did taking cool showers before bed.
Where do you live? Like the previous commenter pointed out, you may have an a/c. But I know where I live in Charleston, SC, it gets so humid/sticky in the summer that all these suggestions about windows open, blowing in air from outside would help little. Even in the middle of the night, it is 80 degrees and 100% humidity in the summer.
One summer, the school I teach at turned off the a/c to save money. We returned to lots of wasted books, paper because the humidity had warped them. Teachers often spend their own money on such things. Mold was growing on the desks. Lesson learned. Better to run the a/c on 85 or 90 (around here anyway) than to shut it off completely.
No kidding. While I love my ceiling fan, that alone in certain climates, is just not going to cut it!
As someone who lived in SC for 12+ years I totally agree with this. The heat and humidity in the summer there is oppressive. I remember hardly going outside and just going from one A/C building or car to the next. A/C down there is a need, not a want. LOL.
Just out of curiosity.. reading this I did not take it to mean that you didn’t have air conditioner upstairs but just that it was hotter up there which is totally normal especially if you have one system in a two story house. It tends to be warmer upstairs. I would recommend the attic fan too and making sure you are dressing the kids with lightweight clothes. Also if this is the case sometimes closing all the vents downstairs will force the air to blow more upstairs, the unit will also kick on more and the downstairs will still remain cool.
I have a room that gets FULL afternoon sun in the summer……we installed the Gila film on the windows in the room 5 singles and a double and it dropped the temp in the room by 10 degrees on a hot day. It is more expensive than a clearance fan but it will provide constant reduction all throughout the day for no cost after installation. I would recommend viewing the how-to video and having a second person on hand to help.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100015136/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=gila&storeId=10051
I too will second the Gila film. At our previous house, our daughter’s room got full sun for most of the day. It was easily 10 degrees warmer in her room than anywhere else in the house. After installing the Gila film, it was easily one of the coolest places in the house! 🙂
You can pick up a nice window fan for about $30 at Walmart and they are amazing. It takes the cooler air from outside and circulates the air in the room. Works great!
My fiance uses one like that. It’s pretty amazing! It sits in the window sill and then you close the window on top of it. So, the window is only open about 6-10 inches, depending on the size of the fan. Also, the fans bring in the cool are and then the whole window isn’t open, since the window is just about as long as the width of the window.
One thing that helped me with keeping the house cool when we only had a swamp cooler in Texas was to cook in a roaster. It works like an oven, but I was able to keep it on the porch and keep the house cool. My hubby would only go for so many crockpot meals! You can buy a roaster for about $40, or may know someone with one lying around that they never use.
Also, we always opened the windows at night, then closed them in the morning, along with good light-blocking drapes. Made the house a bit dark during the day, but it really helped with the heat. We also used fans in every room, all day long (both ceiling fans and standing fans).
Good luck!
As kids, we used to have to move to a lower level to sleep due to the heat in our upstairs. The main level in the house had air conditioning.
When my husband and I got married, the home we lived in had only one bedroom on the main level and four bedrooms upstairs. That was where our kids slept. It was SO HOT in the whole house but especially up there! During the extreme heat, we put our first born to bed in only a diaper. (She didn’t sleep well in a Pack-n-Play as that would have made the most sense to move her downstairs, although our whole house was hot!) I hated that whole situation! We lived like that for one summer! When we could finally afford a new furnace and central air unit (to cool our whole house) it WAS THE BEST MONEY WE EVER SPENT! If and when you can afford to, please consider getting some type of air conditioning unit. It is so worth the money! You won’t ever look back!
Not taking the time to read through all the comments, so apologies if this is just another repeat. We used to live in an old house, no AC and we have allergies/asthma, all slept on the 2nd floor. We had light colored blinds/curtains in all the windows and kept them and the windows shut during the day when it was over 80. At night we opened the windows and also used window fans. House stayed plenty cool. On desperate nights, we camped in the living room. 🙂 All cotton bedding helps too.
Yes, this works for us as well except on the very hottest days. The key is not to forget to get those windows closed and the curtains pulled fairly early in the morning!
When I was a little girl in Indiana, I used a little spray bottle with water to spray on my arms and legs to stay cool in my upstairs bedroom with no AC. It’s a nice little mist, rather than a wet wash cloth.
Also, for anyone in the market for a new roof, seriously consider getting white shingles or white metal roofing. Before getting our new metal roof, our upstairs was 3 degrees hotter than down stairs, now it is only .5 degree different. White reflects soooo much of the sun’s heat!
When I wash towel I let them dry at the kids room, it helps with the temperature and humidity. I have a little wood hanger that I set up in each of my kids room. They like the smell of clean close there and fresh air!
Wouldn’t that just make the room more humid?
It makes humid with a fresh feeling. Like after rain, it doesn’t get hot at all.
When I was younger, I asked my grandma what they did to cool the house before we had AC, and she said they hung wet towels in the window. It actually cools the air as it blows through, so even if you have moisture, it’s cool moisture, not hot moisture.
Let the kids sleep downstairs when its hot! We love having family room camp outs when it gets too warm upstairs!! We have lots of fans, but all it really does is stir the warm air around since I won’t sleep with windows open.
We bought and installed a ceiling whole house fan when we moved a couple years ago. like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100018252/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=whole+house+ceiling+fan&storeId=10051
Can’t tell in the home depot picture, but the part you can see in the ceiling is white and nice.
We could not live without it! Just turn it on for 10 minutes and it sucks all the hot air into the attic. Worth every penny!
Get new fans. Or new to you fans from a thrift store. Much cheaper than an AC unit.
We use a whole house fan and turn it on in the morning to pull all the hot air our of the attic, sometimes at night if it is really warm.
Also, try foiling the windows in the upstairs rooms. Seems to help in my kids’ rooms.
You can check http://www.freecycle.org to see if there is a group in your area. If so, then you can ask for fans, air conditioner, dehumidifier or an attic fan. (or anything else you have a hankering for) It always amazes me what people are willing to share.
You should consider a window air conditioner. Ours cost $100 and cools are whole house just fine. Granted it’s a medium size house but it would cool one floor no problem. Ours doesn’t add much to our energy bill either. It also has a fan feature so on cool night we just run the fan.
Move here to southern CA! Warm days, very cool nights. Oh, wait….that wouldn’t be frugal; we pay ROYALLY for this perfect weather. (I grew up in Michigan, though, so I do understand your predicament of hot/humid summers!)
Yup, i agree. We pay royally for this gorgeous weather.
We have all our bedrooms on the 2nd floor, and I would agree with those who have already said it, ceiling fan is the way to go. It seems they are pretty easy to switch out if you have a light in the ceiling. Good luck!!
I live in Texas, so I know something about hot. Don’t fool around with the heat, especially if you have any children with asthma or other medical conditions. Look for a window unit a/c and run it judiciously.
Eat p/b every day to pay for the electric bill if you have to.
See if the electric company has any programs you could qualify for. Also, if anyone in your family has a medical condition, make sure the electric company knows about it—there are special programs for those with medical conditions and they are not supposed to turn your electricity off in the event of non-payment. A/c is really not a luxury, it is a necessity. People might have lived without it back in the day, but people also died without it back in the day.
Ask a church or local assistance center if they have any donated fans you can have.
About the window issue, I would suggest putting in a sky light in the hallway upstairs. We had one insatalled with no leaks, no problems at all and in turn has fixed the heat issue. It would get like 90 up there and we live in Michigan. I am so thankful for the person that came up with the skylight idea. It works great! (No fans needed)
I live on the second floor of a 2 bedroom residential home and it gets hot in the summer. I only have one air conditioner installed in one room but the other bedroom and the rest of the apt. is stuffy and hot. So, what I did was bought a box fan and opened the window and just set the fan on the window.(Left the screen closed of course). The box fan pulls the air from the outside in to circulate the apartment. So far it’s cooling the aptment well. Hope that helps!
Do you have a central AC unit? If so, you might need to have it serviced. My husband and I struggled with this for the last two years, and our house stayed at 90 or higher in the summer in GA. We finally installed an attic fan, and it helped, but not enough. we had to have the AC unit serviced. Unfortunately it cost $3000 to have it fixed (an I’m unemployed), but now we are saving a ridiculous amount on our energy bills. It’s better now to check into the service of the unit than to wait until it’s unrepairable. If you are in GA, I would recommend Aames Plumbing, Heating, and Air (the pink plumbers). They are awesome! 🙂 Good luck and stay cool!
I cannot fathom not getting the AC unit for the window but…let that go for now…
The best thing would be hammocks – the air (whatever there is) can circulate all around their bodies and stay cooler than a sweaty bed underneath. REI had the best ones (Eno) on sale recently. Craigslist will def have some, too. There is a reason they are so popular south of the equator.
We lived in a tropical country where there was no such thing as central air and a single window unit could cost a hundred dollars or more to run just at night each month so we experimented with various ways to cool off without AC. The best we found was to make sure you aren’t overheated right before you lay down. If the kids were running around right before bed time they had to drink some water and take a quick cool shower before bed. But then we also did blackout curtains during the day and a fan directly pointed on the bed at night. Other than the days that were overly hot during the summers this worked just fine for us. Also even if you don’t want to have windows open all night it might be a good idea to open them for an hour or two once the sun goes down and the temperature starts to drop too.
My husband installed tinted screens in our upstairs. You can find them at home depot, and they do cool things down a bit.
In addition to the other great comments posted here, I would add:
Does sunlight come through the windows during the day? (Especially a heat-causer with*soputhern exposure*), if so, covering windows with a reflective covering, or even aluminum foil! during the day will keep out a lot of the heat causing sun rays.
We have a cape cod style home and our upstairs can get really hot. We actually invested in 2 cheap window units (1 for each bedroom, I think $99 each) 5 years ago. Our electric bills actually DROPPED by about 30% after doing this. By adding the window units, we drastically reduced the load on our central AC. All that hot air was getting pulled back into the central air system and then had to be cooled before being sent back into the rest of the house. Overall not only are our bills lower, but the whole house is more comfortable.
This is what we did for our older boys bedroom. We bought our home in the fall and decided to covert the mudroom into a bedroom for our older boys. It’s great except that it gets really hot. We bought them a small window unit and it has been really nice for them. They only run it when they are in there. Our last electric bill was not any more than it was before we got the unit.
First, make the room as a cave, not a greenhouse. The old style, pull down room darkening shades at Lowes aren’t very expensive and really work great. We also have hardwood flooring in our house with area rugs. In the summer we usually roll up the rugs, as any carpeting will hold in humidity and make the room feel hotter. Besides, I think it just feels nicer to walk on a smooth floor with bare feet in the summer. So, if it’s possible, I would suggest getting rid of any carpeting in the room. Also, try putting baby powder on before climbing between the sheets. It keeps our family cool and smells nice, too! Oh, and I know a lot of people have recommended it, but a box fan in the window works great.
Not every house is set up for this, but we find we can keep our second floor cool most summer nights by turning off the air conditioning but keeping the fan running. It circulates air through every room of the house and gets the cool downstairs air up into the warm upstairs, so everything is an even temperature. When it’s cool enough out and the weather is good, we open the windows and blinds to let cool air in that way — it gets drawn in more because the air is circulating in the house, I think.
– Make sure to check that you have adequate attic insulation. I think this would be the easiest, quickest, best ROI to help with heating/cooling costs.
We live in a part of the country where we have pretty hot summers (many days in triple digits). Although we do have central ac, we have also done the following cost effective efforts to lessen our use of the ac unit:
– Solar attic fan
The unit itself isn’t very expensive, labor costs to install would be the most unless you are able to install DIY. No on-going operating costs 🙂
– Whole house fan
We installed a whole house fan in our attic access opening. We can open the downstairs windows in the evening when it starts to cool outside, to draw in cooler air. Drastically cools the house within minutes
– Blackout curtains for windows
We hung inexpensive blackout curtain panels we bought at Walmart (approx. $20-30 per window) for windows that receive direct sunlight. This serves 2 purposes: our kids no longer wake up at the crack of dawn :-), and keeps the house cooler during the heat of the day.
– Ceiling fans and/or room fans
The bedrooms have ceiling fans for circulation, and we have a standing fan for the living room.
We open windows at night for cooling, and shut windows & close curtains during the day to keep sun out.
Other options we’ve heard of are:
– window tint (same as what is used for car windows). My dad has put this on his house in AZ – although it does make his house a bit darker during the day.
– plant shade trees around house
– double-paned windows (we haven’t installed yet, due to the cost).
Jerilyn- You don’t mention in your question whether or not you are trying to cool the upstairs while using the house A/C or not using it. I know that there are a lot of house both older and newer that don’t have an A/C unit that can cool down a 2nd floor as well as the first.
If you are trying to cool the 2nd floor without using a/c, then the most cost effective ways would be ceiling fan, window fans, curtains for windows to block out sun, and/or an attic fan. All of which do pay for themselves. If you just don’t have the budget to replace your fans right now I would check freecycle.org to see if anyone has fans they want to get rid of. You can also check craiglist for free or cheap fans. Then this fall watch for fans to go on clearance. We don’t have an attic fan, but do have several window fans that we use. We have bought one every fall on clearance since moving into our home.
NOTE- If you do want to install an attic fan make sure your roof has the ventilation it needs to deal with the added heat. Even though DH and I want an attic fan and have the budget for one, we haven’t installed one yet do to the fact we need to add vents to the roof to deal with the extra heat (which is not in the budget yet).
If you are going to be in the house for a while you may want to look into replacing you’re a/c unit or adding a unit for the upstairs only. I know this is not a frugal fix, but it might be the only way to truly fix the problem. It doesn’t cost any money to have companies come out and evaluate you unit and see what they would recommend (bigger unit or second unit). You would then an idea what it would cost to replace/add a unit. By having several companies come out you can really see what the price would be. Many companies will also price match or come close to price matching.
Strategic planting of trees and shrubbery make a huge difference. Though it took a few years, my landscaping now supplies my home with wonderful shade during the hottest portion of summer days. My home is never warmer than 74 degrees anymore. No need to even turn on the A/C.
I would suggest a whole house fan. You can install it in the 2nd floor of the house. An attic fan is a fan in the attic which blows the hot air out of the attic. A whole house fan can be used to pull cool air in throughout the whole house & up through the attic. We had one installed a few years ago & it has been wonderful & well worth the investment! I can open up the house in the early morning & pull in the cool morning air. Often I can get the house down into the low 60s! Then I close up the windows & drapes to keep it cool for the day. Most of the time it is enough to keep the house fairly cool all day long until the night when I can open up & turn the fan on again. I highly recommend it!
We live in the North East where it cools down significantly most nights and there is little humidity. The climate you’re dealing with makes a huge difference. What we do is keep the house shut during much of the day and then at night, once the sun has set, we open windows all over; one in each room. Upstairs where the bedrooms are we have ceiling fans to move the air. We also have a large box fan that we put in a room and have it blowing out. That works to suck in cool air through the other open windows and blow the hot air out through the fan. Then in the morning we close everything back up again to keep the cool air from escaping. It works best though if gets cool at night. If nights stay pretty hot then it’s not going to do you much good. But the ceiling fans will make you feel cooler.
Also, how hot is your attic, if you have one? You could reduce the temperature upstairs by putting in better insulation in your attic or by adding a whole house fan. This will improve your heating costs as well.
When I lived in the northwest, the whole “put the fans in the windows at night, etc worked fine, but now in Houston, a/c is a non-negotiable. Here during the summer it NEVER gets below 80 outside even during the night, and with the humidity you just don’t open your windows. I would rather pinch pennies in other areas and be able to sleep well with my a/c running. If you live somewhere super hot like me, we put aside an extra $100/month during the cooler months when we’re not running heat or a/c to prepare ourselves for the high summer bills. The extra insulation and attic fan has also helped.
On a similar note, we but aside extra money all summer for our winter heating bills, which are often more than double our summer utility costs. Budgeting is the key!
We live in Louisiana, and I agree, AC is a must! In college I had a car without AC and it was miserable, I can’t imagine my house without it! I believe the electric bill costs even themselves vs. people who live in the north, since in the winter our electric bill is rarely over $100. Most winter months I don’t run heat or AC, although it usually gets cold enough at night in January/February to use the heat. March and November are my favorite months here because we don’t need heat or AC (well except for this year when it was already 80 in March!).
We are fortunate that we live up north so often it cools down a bit at night and not a lot of humidity. Last summer my dad send us one of those dual window box fans that can either blow air in or out. I was amazed at how well it pulled the hot air out upstairs. I am always amazed too at how much cooler it stays just by shutting windows and shades during the day.
My parents always put a curtain up to block hot air and only had a small window air conditioner that was in the main living area. We would all sleep on there during the really hot times of the year. Cheaper than cooling the whole house, but helped with sleep and my dad cooling off after a hot day of work. Fond memories of “camping” in the living area. They would even bring the mattresses if there were going to be some really hot days in a row.
I found last summer that our Cape Cod style home (not especially well insulated) was way more comfortable upstairs if we had even a brief rain. I never tried spraying the roof with water, but I suspect it would have cooled it off a lot.
I tried that once or twice, but I couldn’t tell any difference. Plus, our water rates are high, so I figured I wasn’t saving any money.
Once people start buying air conditioners, there will be lots of fans for free on Craigslist, depending on your area.
You can also consider letting the kids sleep downstairs, opening windows on opposite ends of the house to keep air circulating (better with one fan blowing in and one blowing out, but even opening them will help a lot), or putting an AC unit in ONE room, nights only, and having everyone sleep in there.
We installed a whole house fan a few years ago and have been thrilled with it! My husband installed it so we saved money there, and PECO (our energy company in PA) gave us a sizeable rebate that covered over half the cost!
We have a/c, DH has a medical condition requiring temperature regulation, but before we would use circulation fans, also called twin window fans. They have 2 fans in and the direction of the fan can be changed to suck in or blow out.. Found those to be pretty effective (especially if you can put them in the windows at night, I know not everyone can leave windows open overnight). Can get them at Walmart/Home Depot for $10-20
I’ll see if I can attach a link, http://www.walmart.com/ip/Holmes-Window-Fan/17133777?findingMethod=rr
Also a cool bath right before bed, going to bed with wet hair and a fan blowing in the room.
Another thought is seeing if you can find a window a/c unit on craigslist. Lots of people upgraded to central a/c last summer to take advantage of the energy tax credit so there might be some pretty cheap, functional window units out there. Even if you only use it on those nights when you just can’t take it anymore, at least then it’s an option.
Going to bed with wet hair (after a cold shower) really helps a lot.
Do your children rooms have a balcony? Or is it possible to have plants outside your children’s windows? Modern architects in France are planting bamboo plants in balconies and around houses: these keep some shade during the day and also have the power to absorb heath and keep the room much cooler. It is a very natural way to cool your home and also you do not pollute with emission, but instead you produce oxigen and help the planet. Few years ago lots of people died in France in a heathwave, so now architects are looking at new ways to cool the home, even for people who cannot affort hight electricity bills, or people who care about the environment. Consider that all the energy used to cool down us people it actually goes into heating further the atmosphere.
Right now it is going to be 106 today, sigh. We close the house up real early, today it was approaching 80 by 8:00 am. We close blinds on the side the sun is coming in. We have ceiling fans in every room that run constantly and a floor fan for our great room. We have air but usually it doesn’t kick on until 4 or so in the afternoon. Sometimes it takes until midnight to cool down below the 80 degrees we keep our house and then we turn off the air and open the house up. So far this is the best we have found to do and it is saving us money.
I don’t turn on the oven and most things are either in the crockpot, on the barb-q or sandwiches, salads, etc.
This is the same problem we have – the upstairs gets so warm and we have a hard time getting to sleep at night. I am sure to turn down the thermostat about 1/2 hour or so before bed to be sure it’s cool enough for the kids to get to sleep.
One thing I try not to do is to cook a lot in the kitchen when I know it’s going to be very warm/hot that day. That hot air goes right up to the bedrooms, so keeping the oven off and using the grill or microwave, if possible, helps to keep the house a bit cooler.
Our second floor heats up much quicker than our first floor. When it’s cool outside, I open up all the windows, but upstairs only. It bring the temperature upstairs down quite a bit and keep the bottom level “average.” On warm nights, our kids wear short sleeves and short jammies, and don’t bother with covering them up (especially if they kick off the blanket anyway).
I don’t know how old the kids are, but the rule of thumb for babies is that they only require one more layer of clothing than us to keep warm (as opposed to several layers that overheat the baby). If they’re old enough to tell you that they’re hot, ask them if they are hot at night. Check them one night to see if they’re sweating, or very warm to the touch. You worry about them being hot, but they may not be at all.
I am another vote for an attic fan! Ours was less than $300 and my husband installed it in one afternoon. It makes a HUGE difference. It cools the air in the attic which acts to insulate your home keeping it cooler in the daytime. You turn it on when he air outside is cooler than inside (evening and through the night – the breeze it makes through the whole house in AMAZING!). Our house is always cooler inside than it is outside when we use it. We haven’t had to use our a/c in two years!
A ceiling fan will make all the difference. They are not expensive to buy OR run.
This. I just bought a fan for our nursery at Lowe’s for $25 (no sale, no coupons).
Also, you can get window fans that have two fans – then you can set one side to “in” and one side to “out” to keep the air circulating.
I never had A/C growing up — but my husband did. We have an window unit in our bedroom, so when it’s really hot in our house, our son sleeps on our bedroom floor.
~Kristen @ http://trialanderrorhomemaking.blogspot.com
keep blinds or curtains closed during the day, run washer late at night. turn off drying function on dishwasher and run at night too. use clothesline or run dryer at night. avoid using the oven/stove opting for grill and microwave. shut off not just power down electronics like PCs. if we’re having a heatwave we camp out downstairs on inflatable beds, often let kids run thru sprinkler or take a quick cool shower then jump into bed. the latter often let’s them fall to sleep quickly v. being restless and uncomfortable in the heat. if you can swing the investment install a whole house fan in attic. Fan costs about 250 at home depot, another 250 to install. It draws up and expels the hot air. my brother has one and it’s truly amazing, he seldom uses his central ac.
Other than an air conditioning unit, I’m sorry to say, you’re going to be stuck buying new fans. Unless you let them sleep downstairs where it’s cooler, I’m not sure there’s any other way to cool your kids off. But one at a time every couple of weeks to lesson the sticker shock.
I do find that a cool bath or shower right before bed lowers your body temp enough when it’s hot to make sleeping a little more comfortable. That is unless the room is really hot, then your body temp just goes right back up.
Wow, grammar mistakes galore! That should say “Buy one at a time every couple of weeks to lessen the sticker shock.” 🙂
Can you put in an attic fan? Or get a fan and let it blow out the window to suck out the heat from the room?
We have an incredibly effective attic fan in our apartment. It is a true wonder how it just sucks out the heat and creates a breeze in all the open windows.
I only wish the timer worked on it so it could go on and off through out the day without me having to remember to flip it off to save money.
I would suggest an attic fan as well, or a large window fan. We have an OLD window fan that was my grandmother’s that we put in the window. It is huge and works wonderful for those cool nights to draw cool air in. However, I would also suggest saving for an air conditioner or installing central air. Our upstairs was so very hot (a fan couldn’t touch it on those hot, hot days and nights). Our oldest was going to have to move upstairs and we knew that we were going to have to add duct work and central air. Honestly? It was a great investment. The upstairs stays cool. If possible, I would really look into it. It gives me a peace of mind knowing the boys aren’t in a sauna. 🙂
I live in the deep South, so I know heat! We had no air conditioning growing up, and there were a fre things that worked really well at bedtime. First is a “swamp cooler” — just a bowl of ice placed in front of a fan — it feels so good! Do make sure that the condensation from the bowl of ice does not come in contact with the fan.
Another thing that works on REALLY hot nights is to wet your top sheet in cold water and wring it out almost dry — yes, this is a little messy — and sleep under it, preferably with a breeze or fan blowing on you.
One more thing is to take three washcloths soaked in cold water and wrung out (keep them in your freezer if you can) and place two on the inside of each wrist and one across the back of your neck.
Hope this helps!
these are really great ideas! I might try one or two when my kiddos get hot from being outside playing!
I don’t think the reader was trying to deprive her children, she just wants some ideas! I’m sure she thought of replacing the fans but is looking for other options 🙂 I grew up in Tucson re: 100+ degrees in the summer and I think maybe investing in a cooling fan for 1 room and making that the sleep room if you are really tight on money. Also check with your electric company, I know that some states have programs for low income families with keeping em cool and safe in the summer.
^Agree. It sounds like this reader has her kids best interest at heart and is just looking for some cost effective methods for cooling the home to a comfortable temperature. I’m sure if she can’t find alternative methods she’ll go back to the fans.
My sons love the small battery operated personal fans that I purchased at Walmart for under $10 last year. My older son sleeps on the top bunk and he often complained of feeling hot until we got the mini-fans. I would also say that a window fan is WORTH THE MONEY–pulling in the cool night air is so refreshing. Fans will last for years with reasonable upkeep so it is a good investment. Try keeping the blinds closed when the sun is shining in to keep the heat out to start with.
I just bought some new curtains that have a thermal backing on them. It is supposed to keep the hot sun out. It has helped somewhat. I’ve also heard of a window film that you can apply to windows which blocks out some of the sun.
We use the window film in our front bedroom. It does help, to some degree. No pun intended!
Even cheaper than window film is solar screen… We have slowly been replacing our screen material with solar screen that you can pick up at any of the big box stores. In the winter we can remove the screens from the windows to let the sunlight in for some solar heat 🙂
What we have done in the past is to put fans in the windows. Once the sun sets, the indoor temp is often hotter than outside. So, the idea is to bring the cooler air in. In the evening, we have propped fans in windows. We sit it on the sill and then close the window on top of the fan case. That pressure holds the fan in place. And set on high. It is a lovely thing to lay in front of it on a bed! Just make sure the fan is not placed up against the bed for safety reasons. And with fans, your children need to be old enough not to mess with them.
This is exactly what we did growing up, and what my parents still do. Also, you may not have a “safe” place for this to happen, with the age that we live in now, but sleeping outside can help. That was what the “old timers” used to do — sleep on a porch or something. During the summer, when school was out and it didn’t matter what time we got up, we slept outside on the “top porch” which was at 2nd floor level. It is a very old house (100+ years) and that style is probably uncommon these days. But if you have an upper deck or large gated balcony, this could still work. Just having the airflow and the coolness of the night helps a lot. I slept outside from the end of May until the end of August, every year of my childhood and youth.
Umm would YOU sleep up there without fans?? Just a thought. And this is something I try to ask myself constantly when I tell my kids no- do I deny myself what I’m denying them (a drink when it’s late and I just wish the bedtime routine would be over with already but if it was me and I was thirsty I would sure go get myself a drink 🙂 Hope that makes sense.
I agree, Holly!
We have central air, but there were nights last summer when we turned it off because it seemed cool in the master bedroom. Then I realized that coolness was due to our fan and decent cross ventilation. The kids’ rooms were still uncomfortably hot. Now everyone has their own fan for the cooler nights.
Also, some windows open from the top. If you have little ones that you’re worried might try to climb out a window, that might work.
We use an AirKing 16-inch whole-house window fan. In fact, we’ve liked it so much (=it moves so much air), that we’re thinking of buying a second one to use in our kitchen since we don’t have any kind of exhaust to clear the cooking fumes/smoke/etc. Here’s the one we bought: http://www.amazon.com/Air-King-9155-Window-16-Inch/dp/B002AGZUMA/ref=dp_cp_ob_hg_title_2 but don’t buy from Amazon! I can’t find where we bought ours quickly, but we paid less than $100 early last year, so I know you could find it cheaper. It can be a bit noisy, but there’s no way to have a quiet whole-house fan. Living in the middle of a city, our kids actually sleep better when that particular fan is running. And it’s definitely not cheap, but so incredibly less expensive than running an A/C, and it seems to be built very well. After using it almost every day, all day, when it’s above 60 degrees, it rattles no more than it did the first day we had it. I hope this helps!
I grew up in Kansas where the summers are hot and humid. Yuck! I remember when I was growing up, my siblings and I slept in on the 2nd floor without AC. I was so happy when my parents had an attic fan installed. It really helped to move the air and it did cool it down some.
Why not let your kids sleep downstairs? Where do you sleep? Trade rooms with them and see how hot it truly is. Overheating is a serious health issue in the summer for children and well worth the $20 investment in a fan.
This was an odd question. I find it very odd that all of the fans broke at the same time and her common sense has not told her that she needs to replace them? I understand being frugal but really???? I would suggest that if Jerilyn is truly worried about her children being overheated and cares about their well-being, that she will consider buying or obtaining working window fans. At this time of year, they are always on sale and you can find many variations of them. You can also find inexpensive ceiling fans (if you have a ceiling light fixture) in stores and on CL.
I agree! Don’t be so frugal that you risk your children’s health.
While I agree that the child’s health is a concern, I would not read quite as much into her question. They may not have all broken at the same time or even during the summer last year – we just know they are all broken now, heading into the summer months and that even last summer using some fans she worried it was too hot. I took the author to be asking whether she ought to replace her fans, or if readers would suggest an alternative cooling method (that is more effective or more frugal than a purchasing an AC, or better than the fan method she was previously using).
I interpreted it as worrying the fans were overheating, as in the motors, and not the children?
Geez. The lady is concerned about her children. Don’t look for the bad in people.
I like to close the door to our upstairs room. If I didn’t get annoyed that the kids playing in the curtain I hung at the bottom of the stairs (to keep the heat downstairs in winter) I would leave that up too. It helps keep the hot air from raising and going into the room you don’t want it to.
I would probably do this in addition to opening and closing windows, as PP suggested. However, I loved our attic fan growing up and would recommend that in the long term. We lived for most of my childhood with only a window unit in the downstairs. The door to the basement always stayed shut (this is where we spent the majority of our time) and the attic fan was on at night.
My husband and a friend rigged up a Redneck Air Conditioner….it really works well in our upstairs master bedroom, but you would need more than 1 for multiple bedrooms.
Here’s one link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJQG1VZ3qu4
Well, when I was growing up in the 60’s we had a very hot upstairs also. We would sleep downstairs on sleeping bags or couches with a cool washcloth to wipe our faces. My own children didn’t have air conditioning either – they would head for the family room in the basement and also had small personal fans. We now have central air and it has made a baby out of me!!
Haha! We do this too! We have a big camp out in the family room on super hot nights!
Do you have wind turbines or attic fans already in your roof? These are relatively inexpensive and can be installed with a good handyman. In AZ these can make a great difference. Also check out your local utility site (or ours at SRP.net) for good solutions. Adding a couple of window coolers might help. Other things that can make your house heat up is air ducts that need cleaning. Ceiling fans are great! Look for a Habitat for Humanity store if they have them in your area. These are also are relatively inexpensive. The other solution is to temporary rearrange your house so that your children are sleeping on the lower floor or in one room where you have added a cooler. There are even portable air coolers than you can put in one room. It all depends on what your are able to do with your budget, your location and the structure of your home.
Do you have the ability to put a box fan in the attic to pull cool air up the stairs from the first floor?
My best tip would be windows open at night and closed with shades drawn during the heat of the day. If your home is insulated ok that should keep it reasonably cool.
I would not suggest leaving windows open for safety reasons.
On the second floor?! There’s nothing in the data that Jerilyn has given us to suggest that would be a risk.
I think she means its just a better safe than sorry situation – there have been numerous kidnappings that weren’t on the bottom floor so there is some risk involved.
I worry about open windows on the second floor if the children are small— a toddler might not realize the danger of falling out.
I open the top sash to let in air, but keep the bottom sash closed so my cat doesn’t fall from the window. (Kids are all grown.)
This has always worked well for us. My mom did this when I was growing up too.
A great way to cool your room is to place a bowl of ice or a frozen milk jug in front of one or more fans this causes the air to be colder, and cool your room better.
Using vents in the bathroom and kitchen also pulls the moisture out of the air keeping the humidity down. You can also find a dehumidifier if the moisture is really bad for decently priced.
I agree with the dehumidifier. The dryer the air, the cooler it feels, no matter the temperature. It also helps with air quality and decreases the chance for mold issues.
My husband and I like to put wet towels flat in the freezer for a few hours before then. then you can lay them on your face, pillow, stomach to keep you cool why you sleep. has worked good so far for us.
H
do you have attic fans? They pull the hot air out and away and it really does help cool your house. We live in hot and humid SC.
I was going to suggest an attic fan too. They may be a little pricey to install, but are worth it in the long run!
Yes! I was just thinking the same thing. We lived in Oklahoma and the attic fans were wonderful to use!
We just installed two and it has saved us $ 150.00 the first month on our electric bill. Two more months and they will pay for themselves.
Yes, an attic fan. My parents had one growing up and we used it a lot in humid Jersey. They are getting one installed in their new home for $350. You could probably recoup the cost within a few summers.
our attic fan was just $50, and my husband was able to install it. If you know someone that’s a little handy (knows electrical work), it’s definitely worth every penny!
An attic fan was the answer for us and they will pay themselves off in the long run.