Cooling the house - what to do when you don't have AC?
 

Here's the deal, we don't have AC and I don't really want it. We live near the beach and are generally under 90 on most hot days. When it's bad in July/August it is usually because of the humidity.

Our house is newly well insulated and heats up slowly during the day if we keep the windows closed. Today and yesterday were somewhat stupid hot (having lived in the desert in my youth I feel somewhat ashamed that I apparently can't stand the heat) so we have been able to see how our new windows and insulation are working out. We got those last year, they were great through the winter - especially the new furnace but I didn't spring for AC. The windows/insulation was a gift from the FAA since I live so close to LAX. They would like to cram as many cans of people through this small space as possible and they want me to be okay with the noise (another thread entirely) but I digress. The thread is about the heat...

So what normally happens is the house heats up to about 80 by 3pm in the afternoon and then all bets are off by 5 it is 85 inside and cooling off outside. The problem is that the house just holds the heat in so as it cools down quickly once the sun goes down in the house it is still 80 and somewhat stifling (for me - the wuss). Plus the wife is knocked up and going to have a nice hot summer pregnancy...so if I can do something to make the house nicer that'd be cool.

So - how can I get this nice cool air outside my house INSIDE where I can use it in an efficient way?

Shade devices would help. Either vegetation (trees) or awnings of some sort over the primary points of heat gain (windows).

We have the same problem in our place - back bedrooms face east so they get baked with the morning sun in the summer months. By afternoon the living room exterior wall (and window) which face west are getting direct late afternoon sun and the temp. in that room will jump 30 degrees (no joke) without a/c running. I've put foil on the window with a 1" backer of rigid insulation (okay it looks a little ghetto, but it works). Cross-ventilating the entire place only works to a point, given how hot the air coming in the front is (gets warmed by the "thermal mass" effect of the patio which is just a solid mass of concrete/stucco which soaks up the heat during the day so by afternoon, it's just heating any air coming in the front windows).

Add to that the fact this building was built in 192X and has an "R" value of probably pretty damn close to "0" and you'll understand. . .

In any event, I'd look at shade devices. Or just suck it up and get one of those roll-around a/c units with the "snuffeluppagus" elephant trunk thing coming off the back to eject the hot air. At least your wife could put it in whatever room she's in, be comfortable and not have the cooling bill be too outrageous.

They're old school, but a whole-hosue exhaust fan is really nice. We have one in our place, built in '69. It pulls a TON of air from the house and up into the attic. Sounds like you need a good fresh-air ventilation system to pull the hot air out in the early evening.

Grew up working class with no AC.

-- Fans
-- Showers.
-- window AC units (<100USD)
-- wet towel in the back of your neck
-- BEER
-- Cold water in the frig; to drink.

-- MAIN one - Stay out of your house and go to an Airconditioned place: THE MALL!

etc...

Grew up working class with no AC.

-- Fans
-- Showers.
-- window AC units (<100USD)
-- wet towel in the back of your neck
-- BEER
-- Cold water in the frig; to drink.

-- MAIN Option- Stay out of your house and go to an Air-conditioned place: THE MALL!

etc...

Been thinking about the whole house fan for a couple of years now - may have to pull the trigger on that. We do get a lot of the western part of the sun in our main living area which is the dining room, kitchen and living room. I can't really put a tree up there that would be tall enough to shade my house unfortunately. The west wall of our house is almost as tall as a two story house...

absolutly the best thing you can do to save money and energy is to install a whole house fan. My dad installed one when I was young and they work great. One was already installed when I moved into my house and it works good too.

You won't regret it...not too hard to install either.

I just mildly prod and insult my GF until she gets up and starts running around waving her arms around in a fit of anger. I don't know how effective it is, but it can be highly entertaining nonetheless.

Very very easy! Get a whole house attic fan. Draws the air through the entire house up into the attic and exhausts it out the vents. You open a window or door where-ever you want cooling air and it cools that area. It also cools the attic so the entire house stays cooler.

I installed one in my house 3-4 years ago and it cuts my A/C useage by 30%, and in Phoenix thats a lot.

When I was growing up, my folks didn't like AC so they did the whole house fan thing.

They put a giant fan in the attic and I can't remember if they ran it during the day (I do not think so) but once it started cooling off outside, you cranked up the fan, opened all the windows and the house cooled pretty fast!

For the use where you are, it should work ok but you will lose your sound deadening when the windows are open.

A few points on WH fans,

They are not silent,in fact quite noisey put away from bedroom
Make sure you have near the right amount of vent sq. feet recommended on the box otherwise you can get back pressure and they get noisier, I think they make variable as oppoesd to three speed ones now. Technically require a permit.

We used ceiling fans and shutters/awnings to keep out house cool before we got central A/C.

You can add a ridge vent also - this is a passive system that will do a lot of the same things a WHF will do, only it's passive. I believe it can be installed without a permit (but check).

Those WH fans are cool when you turn them on and doors start slamming all over the house and the cats are hanging onto the furniture to keep from being turned into kitty parts.

It's like the Wizard of Oz, only indoors.

A dehumidifier would help too.

We just got an attic fan installed -- not a whole house fan, but a quiet thermostatically controlled fan that vents the hot air in the attic out the roof. I don't have a ridge vent in my attic, but have vents on either side of the house, allowing cooler, outside air to enter the attic. Just got this installed, but it should help significanly cool the attic, which in turn will help cool the house.

During the hot summer nights, we use a small window fan in our bedroom at night. We have two windows, so we suck in air via the fan in one window, and the air circulates out the other window. The room is significantly cooler using this fan.

At night, we also use some other fans in the living room / kitchen. As long as there is some type of circulation/venting of hot air out the house, it helps.

We do have a couple of window A/C units, and on really hot days, we do run them, but prefer the fan / circulation method greatly over the A/C.

BTW: While my daily driver has A/C, I often just roll down the windows even when driving home in 80-90 degree heat - I guess I prefer the wind in my hair. :)

-Z-man.

Ridge vents are a BIG help.

Interesting how this works. Like a refrigerator, a well insulated house warms up slower and cools off slower. Insulation is just a stalling process, but it works because the stalling effect saves on energy, if it's done right. Doesn't matter whichever you are using at the time, heat or cooling. However, when you don't have one or the other, the effect is opposite. To counter, and as mentioned, you need to "stall" heat gain some more, if you can, and try to accelerate the removal of the gain. Now, you are trying to undo what the insulation has done to you.

Before springing for a whole house fan, try a couple of box fans in the windows. Maybe one in and one out. Remember, you are sucking in all the dirty air outside and it won't do any good until the temps drop a few degrees below the interior temps.

I live in an original SoCal Spanish stucco and it's like a museum. Pretty much all original inside and out and not a bit of insulation anywhere. You'd be amazed how quickly I can cool down the house after sunset. Except for the last 3 days. When it gets to record heat like we've just had, everyone w/o A/C just boils.

I do have a couple of window units so I can have at least a cool area. You might get one of those.

:D:D:D funny...

With WH fans, make sure you also get a contract for "Merry Maids" or local house cleaning service. Your partner will hate the pollen and dust that is sucked in and lands on the floor and fabrics-your bedding. In the dust bowl of major Arizona cities, the pollution caused by builders and cars keeps our sky hazy. I drive north to Flagstaff or Payson the sky is actually blue! The WH fan I installed on my home is not used. It may work in some areas but if you have humidity in the summer maybe not.

John_AZ

I've used 2 box fans on a rare couple of occasions as Milt describes - 1 blowing in, the other blowing out. This creates a gentle breeze of outside air through the house. Close all the windows except the 2 where you set up the fans.

In a 2 story I'd put the exhaust fan in an upstairs window and the intake fan in a downstairs window on the opposite side of the house.

I keep all the windows closed during a hot day and also keep them covered - I've got plantation shutters so it is pretty dark (but cool).