Dealing with the Heat Wave
 

Just wondering on how your are dealing with this heat wave hitting the southwest part of the USA? I am noticing the heat that comes from my Ott lamps but it is hard to sew in the dark. What is your A/C set to?? I just hope we don't have a power failure in Southern California because I don't drive anymore. It is going to be 109 today and 112 tomorrow. Where is the cool June gloom gone to?

It's in the upper 90- low 100 the last week here with lots of humidity. Our AC is set at 72 for it to be completely comfortable for doing things in the house. We'd be uncomfortable at 76.

We feel the same but we're only getting to mid-80's today. Not as bad as many.

I experienced 118 for the first time in my life several weeks ago - we try to stay inside when it gets that hot. Keep the AC around 75. Take a cold shower to cool off or jump in the pool which has a shade tarp over it. We are very fortunate to have a generator which kicks in when the power goes out which happens daily and sometimes for hours.
Humidity is not too bad, but monsoon season will start next month.

Heat here in Midwest not nearly as bad as west coast, but I find as I get older, my tolerance for being outside in hot weather is lessened....so I cacoon in a/c house (75)..... So now I cacoon in dead of winter with snow( hate) and freezing and below freezing temps, and now also in summer......boohoo! Feel like a recluse! Need to find a place where temps are moderate year round - hints please!

Iced tea, Dr. Pepper, Lemon water, cherry Kool Aid....and AIR CONDITIONING. Only go out if the dog needs to.

The Phoenix area is expecting 119-120 today with 117 on Monday through the remainder of next week. To prepare for this heat - we have sun screens on all our windows and also pull down huge sun shades to block the sun on the south side. It does darken the house a bit but makes several degrees difference in the house. Also we cool the house down to 72 (hey - when you are used to such high temperatures your blood thins tremendously) overnight and minimize opening/closing doors so the house will stay cooler longer. We are also on a time of use power plan so it cost 4x as much to use power during the peak hours 1 pm to 8 pm. By pre cooling the house it will stay pretty good in the house until about 7:00 pm. At temps this high we may have to use a little bit of air conditioning tonight before 8:00 pm. We also try minimize driving in the heat of the day - at around 117 to 119 the asphalt on the roads begins to melt so your tires sink into the road bed and it kicks up tar on you car.

I do do use LED lights in the house as they are super bright and don't heat up!

We had our mini heatwave earlier this month. Temps got up to around 91 to 94 degrees 4 days in a row. People weird out here if the temp gets above 75 degrees here.........lol

August is usually our hottest month with the temp getting up to 97 for a few days.

We run the AC about a month or so total for the year. Our house is so well insulated sometime we don't even turn the heat pump on at all for week or more. The use of ceiling fans and those portable fans is usually what we get by with for most of late spring/ summer.

Winter is a different story, our bill for the winter averages about $250 - $300 a month. We have 3 heated dog houses as well as keeping the shop around 45 degrees so the pipes don't freeze. We also use battery tenders on the tractor and the 53 Ford pick up.
From late March till mid November our bill averages about $125 a month.

During the day, my thermostat is set on 75, but at nite 72 so that the upstairs is cool enough to sleep. This makes the downstairs nice in cool in the a.m., to the air conditioner does not usually come on till the afternoon.