Understanding the Importance of HVAC Services

During the hot summer months, it is important to keep your body cooled and hydrated with air conditioning and plenty of water. When you are in a hot environment and your body cannot cool itself, your body temperature can rise to bring on heat-related illnesses: you could begin to experience heat exhaustion at 98.6 degrees F or higher, or potentially-fatal heat strokes at 104 degrees F. When your home's air conditioner is not working or nonexistent, here are some alternate ways you can cool the temperature inside your home.

Install an Evaporative Window Cooler Sheet

If you don't own a box fan or portable swivel fan, you can always make your own window evaporative cooling system with a sheet and some tacks.

First, open up a large window in your home to allow a slight breeze to come through your window. Next, soak a bed sheet in the sink until it is saturated. Ball the sheet into a clump to gently squeeze out any excess water. Be sure the sheet is still pretty saturated with water.

Tack the sheet up along the wall above your window, inside your home. Use as many tacks you need to hold the sheet up on the wall, as it will be pretty heavy while it is wet. As the breeze blows through the wet sheet, it will cool the air coming into your room. 

Keep an eye on the sheet so you can rewet it when it dries. You can rewet your sheet without removing all the tacks to wet it under the faucet. To do this, fill a pitcher of water and carefully pour it across the top of the sheet until the water wets the sheet again. It may be helpful to lay a tarp or a vinyl or plastic table cloth on the floor below the sheet to catch any drips when you rewet your sheet.

Build a Fan-and-frozen-water-bottle Air Conditioner

If you don't want to hang up your bed sheets to cool your home, you can use frozen water bottles to cool the air in your home. First, fill up three or four plastic water bottles with water. Squeeze the bottle slightly, then attach the lid. This will allow a bit of space inside the bottle when the water freezes and expands. 

Freeze the bottles for several hours, then place them in front of a fan on a table. As the water flows past the frozen bottles, it will create a cool breeze. It can be helpful to keep three or four extra water bottles waiting in the freezer to swap out when the water bottles in front of the fan thaw and melt.

At the end of the day and the sun sets, watch the outside temperature until it is cooler outside than it is inside your home. Then, open your home's windows. Select two windows in your home, on opposite sides of your house, so you can create a cross breeze with two window fans. To create a cross breeze, place one fan in the window facing inward to pull cool air inside your home. In the window on the opposite side of your home, place the second fan facing outward to blow air outside.

Construct a Styrofoam Cooler Air Conditioner

You can create a single-room homemade air conditioner using a styrofoam cooler, a small portable tabletop fan, a sharp knife, ice, and duct tape. First, place the face of the fan face down onto the lid of the styrofoam cooler. Trace the outline of the fan face with a pen, then use the knife to cut the circle shape from the lid of the cooler.

Place the face of the fan into the circular opening and tape the edges of the frame of the fan onto the styrofoam lid. Make sure the fan sits aligned inside the styrofoam opening. On one side of the styrofoam cooler cut out a two-inch diameter hole for the cool air to vent out. 

Fill the cooler with bagged or blocks of ice from the store, or freeze your own by filling and placing several large plastic bowls a water into your freezer until they are frozen. Remove the ice from the bowls and place the chunks into the cooler and turn on the fan.

Use these tips to cool your home and help keep you cool to prevent heat stroke when your air conditioner is broken or you don't have one. For more assistance, contact services like Universal Refrigeration.