Beating The HEAT!

[hillbillyken]

I was wondering when the joys of summer comes what many of you do in-order to beat the heat.

I try to cook outdoors as much as passable. That way I enjoy the smoky flavors and keep the heat in the house down so the AC doesn't have to work harder. Which in-turn uses more electricity.

Give me some ideas that you all do in-order to beat the HEAT?

And I already know about drinking cold beer..thanx

[johnporter]

I cook every meal outdoors.........We set our AC on 80 and its plenty cool enough when the outdoor temp is in the 90. AC stays on all summer as it takes more electricity to cool the walls and living space if you shut it down every night.

[Admin]

We cook a lot outdoors as well but when we need to bake something indoors we bake it in an oversized toaster oven. The breaker to our kitchen range is turned off until we need to bake something large. The oversized toaster oven will accomodate a whole chicken or average sized casserole dish. The thing I like about this is it doesn't need any preheating time and really doesn't use much electricity. Our full sized range has a clock and all sorts of crap that burn up standby power even when not cooking so we flip the breaker when not using it. The toaster oven has none. If it's really hot we can put the toaster oven near a window to let the heat escape or even set it out on the porch so we're not heating the house up. We rarely ever use our kitchen range anymore, it's an energy hog and heats the house up.

[dennis78]

I cook outside and use fans. At night I put the fan in the widow. I turn the a/c on maybe 3 times a year. ;D

[patricimo54]

If using the toaster oven or rotisserie we set them out on the porch to cook. We do what ever we can to keep as much heat as possible out of the house. We have hopes of building an outdoor kitchen in the future.

[hillbillyken]

Been trying something new this year and wanted to share...I have been putting on baby powder after my NAVY shower before I go to bed. ...Man what a difference it makes in cooling you down quickly and keeping you from getting sticky in the night....Powder is very cheap and all i do is put some powder in an old sock, tie the top off, then I can simply patt it on my body...Try it I think you will be presently suprised. ;D..Just some words from the Ole' Hillbilly

[ninedeer]

When and if we run the A\C it is just a small window unit that is in our bedroom,ceiling fans help lots.We to cut the power to the stove.My wife purchased one of those NuWave ovens that they show on TV.That thing is awesome.You can cook fresh or frozen food in it in way less time.We took 2 T-Bone steaks right out of the freezer put them in the NuWave oven and was sitting down to eat in 20mins.Freezer to table in 20 mins.You can cook up to a 16 lb turkey in it ,too!Other then that I just sweat it out.

[maritimer]

We run the a/c once in a while. But if it's real hot, we had to the shore. It's around 5-10 degrees C cooler. And that nice ocean breeze is always a treat.

[cam]

I'm a fatboy so, I HAVE to run the AC.

I can only take so many articles of clothing off before the people down the lane start to call the law. Luckily my bungalow is only 800sq ft, so it cools pretty quick, and stays cool.

However, during these last few days where its been hitting 103 at 4pm, even my place wants to heat up. The first thing I do is keep all my lights off during the daylight hours. This helps considerably.

Also..I have some windows that face west, and those rooms get seriously hot like a damn dutch oven. I do the most white trash thing EVER....I cover them windows with aluminum foil.

I know...thats some serious brush ape decor, right there. My mom HATES coming to visit me because she says it makes my place look like a meth house. (It does deter unwanted visitors, doorstep preachers, and girlscouts) But, it does make quite a bit of diffrence in the cooling costs!

[patricimo54]

I use foil on the windows on the upstairs bathroom. They face to the east with no trees for shade, hey it works wonders. When your morning low temperature is hovering around 80 degrees you do what you can.
We run window units only when we are home. One in the bedroom and one in the living room/kitchen area. The house is well insulated it seems to work well for us. The south and west sides of the house are well shaded with trees this is a big plus.

[chevy]

Jul 1, 2009 23:08:38 GMT -5 cam said:

I'm a fatboy so, I HAVE to run the AC.

I can only take so many articles of clothing off before the people down the lane start to call the law. Luckily my bungalow is only 800sq ft, so it cools pretty quick, and stays cool.

However, during these last few days where its been hitting 103 at 4pm, even my place wants to heat up. The first thing I do is keep all my lights off during the daylight hours. This helps considerably.

Also..I have some windows that face west, and those rooms get seriously hot like a damn dutch oven. I do the most white trash thing EVER....I cover them windows with aluminum foil.

I know...thats some serious brush ape decor, right there. My mom HATES coming to visit me because she says it makes my place look like a meth house. (It does deter unwanted visitors, doorstep preachers, and girlscouts) But, it does make quite a bit of diffrence in the cooling costs!

:)lmao....Too funny Cam

[maritimer]

Jul 2, 2009 9:51:41 GMT -5 chevy said:

Jul 1, 2009 23:08:38 GMT -5 cam said:

I'm a fatboy so, I HAVE to run the AC.

I can only take so many articles of clothing off before the people down the lane start to call the law. Luckily my bungalow is only 800sq ft, so it cools pretty quick, and stays cool.

However, during these last few days where its been hitting 103 at 4pm, even my place wants to heat up. The first thing I do is keep all my lights off during the daylight hours. This helps considerably.

Also..I have some windows that face west, and those rooms get seriously hot like a damn dutch oven. I do the most white trash thing EVER....I cover them windows with aluminum foil.

I know...thats some serious brush ape decor, right there. My mom HATES coming to visit me because she says it makes my place look like a meth house. (It does deter unwanted visitors, doorstep preachers, and girlscouts) But, it does make quite a bit of diffrence in the cooling costs!

:)lmao....Too funny Cam

Hilarious cam