Comments on: I’m Melting, I’m Melting!

By: IrrationalPoint

IrrationalPoint — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:20:43 +0000

I meant a deliberate siesta!

By: Clifford

Clifford — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:56:51 +0000

I do some of that, to some extent. That’s the waking up early part I mentioned. See the sketch for the siesta part!

-cvj

By: IrrationalPoint

IrrationalPoint — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 06:00:46 +0000

Can you adopt a Central American (and other similar-climate-culture) -type schedule, with work in the early morning and late afternoon, and long lunch break + siesta in the middle of the day? Or would that mess with the body clock too much? Or is that more or less what you’re doing already?

–IP

By: Jude

Jude — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:42:33 +0000

This morning, I awakened at 4:30 a.m., so by 5;30 a.m. I was hiking up Storm King Mountain near Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It was wonderful hiking in the cool air. On the way down, I got a little lost and took a side trail, so by the time I worked my way back to the main trail, the sun was fully out. I ran into a man on the trail who asked me about how far it was to the crosses left where the firefighters died 16 years ago. He also wanted to know if it was a round loop trail. I told him that I’ve never found another (good) way down the mountain, and since it was getting late (7:30 a.m.) and I was hiking alone, I’d decided not to try this time. He said, “I wish I’d been on this trail a couple of hours ago. It’s already too hot.” Yes, it was. When I returned home, I napped through the hottest part of the day. I don’t feel guilty about that because I was far too productive during the rest of it. I don’t have AC–just some strategically placed fans.

By: Jonathan Lubin

Jonathan Lubin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:41:08 +0000

In Pasadena, run the window fans all night, then around eight in the morning, close all the windows. By seven at night, it's usually cooler outdoors than in, so throw the windows open and start the fans. No AC, except in real heat waves.

By: Mary Cole

Mary Cole — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:36:20 +0000

We’ve just had a heatwave and I found that sitting in a comfy garden chair with feet submerged in the childrens’ paddling pool sipping a large Pimms worked for me!

By: andrew

andrew — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:16:23 +0000

When I lived in Pasadena, the electric company gave me the advice that it’s actually more energy-efficient to run the AC continuously at a low setting (ie, warmer temperature), so it doesn’t have to work so hard when you do have it on. Well, the last part should be true, but I don’t know about the integrated power — I don’t recall my electric bills changing much when I changed behaviors.

By: Clifford

Clifford — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:15:07 +0000

It is mainly environmental, I suppose. I like trying to find ways to conserve, and don’t like cutting myself off from the environment too readily. Later in the day if it gets too much I do give in and clear out the accumulated hot air that is hanging by putting it on for a little while. Sometimes.

Yes, the kind of humidity you have ocher there means that what I am doing here would be pretty close to being insufficient…

Cheers,

-cvj

By: Excited State

Excited State — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:37:34 +0000

So is the aversion to continuous use of A/C strictly an environmental concern, or is there more to it than that?

I am also adversely affected by the heat, but find that the measures that you take are ineffective, so I go for the A/C.

Also, the Midwestern humidity may be a little harder to deal with than the SoCal dry heat.