Ceiling, portable, and window fans stir up breezes that speed sweat evaporation, which will help you feel cooler.
“Cool roof” coating materials can shed heat but are best in warmer climates, where you need less “heat gain” from the sun in the winter.įlip a fan on. Painting the exterior a light color will reflect heat instead of absorbing it.
Planting deciduous trees on the south side of your house provides shade in summer. For cooking, a multi-cooker, microwave, and/or toaster oven won’t heat up the kitchen the way your oven will.Ĭonsider bigger steps. During the day’s heat, avoid running your clothes dryer or oven, and use the cold-water setting on your washing machine and the air-dry setting on your dishwasher. Stick-on reflective/solar-blocking window film or mesh solar window screens also cut heat and glare.īe appliance wise. “Doing so will minimize the intake of heat that you’d just have to get rid of later,” says Wendell Porter, PhD, senior lecturer emeritus in agricultural and biological engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Close blinds, drapes, and shades, especially when the sun is hitting them. Unsure when your attic insulation was last replaced or whether it’s adequate? A certified or licensed contractor can evaluate it.īlock the sun. To keep sweltering outdoor air from making its way into your home, caulk and weather strip doors and windows. If you can’t cool your home sufficiently, and especially if you’re sweating profusely and/or feeling confused, try to find a nearby cooling center, which can provide a much-needed respite from the heat, by calling your local health department or area officials. Some simple actions, like swapping heat-emitting incandescent bulbs for LEDs or CFLs and routinely cleaning or replacing your air conditioner filters, can help you stay chill without ramping up your energy use (and bills). We’ve gathered the expert advice that will help you stay safe and comfortable at home and during outdoor activities when the temperatures soar.Ī cool room may be the best place to be during heat waves-especially during the middle of the day, when temperatures tend to be at their highest. But right now, you can take steps to find relief from the heat without driving up your energy costs or exacting a high toll on the environment. Global action to control these emissions is critical, as is the continued development of more efficient cooling methods. This will further increase emissions from the power plants that supply electricity to run our air conditioners. It accounts for about 10 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.Īnd as we try to stay cool in the warming environment, the demand for air conditioning is going up, projected to triple globally by 2050. It sickens tens of thousands more, often the very young, the very old, the already ill, and the poor.Įven if your locale doesn’t experience a record-shattering heat wave, you may well notice that it’s simply hotter and more humid than it used to be.Ĭlimate change due to greenhouse gas emissions from cars, factories, and anything else that burns fossil fuels is largely at fault. “The projections are that this will continue across the U.S.”Īt this point, heat-often in tandem with the high humidity that can increase the risk of dangerous conditions such as heatstroke-kills up to 1,300 Americans annually. Ebi, PhD, MPH, a climate researcher and professor at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the University of Washington in Seattle. “It’s definitive that we are already seeing an increase in the frequency, intensity, and duration of heat waves,” says Kristie L. Nationally and globally, the drumbeat of high-heat advisories is quickening. Almost 200 people perished, and there’s some suggestion that the number was grossly underreported. In the U.S., little has been more emblematic of these rising temperatures than June 2021’s string of 110° F days in the Pacific Northwest, where temperatures are typically in the 70s at that time of year. Unless you’ve been living in a deep, cool cave somewhere, you’re probably aware that our world-or at least many parts of it-is getting hotter.