What temperature is it outside right now? If you live in the southern hemisphere the answer might be VERY HOT. Over the past two weeks some parts of Australia have been experiencing record-breaking heat spells with consecutive days of over 40 degrees (104F) and a temperature of nearly 47 degrees (116F) being experienced in the far Southern States. These are temperatures extreme for even our hot dry country and have recently resulted in our most devastating bush fires and loss of life in our history. We here at www.beforeourtime.com wish to convey our deepest sympathies to those who have lost so much.
If you are in Australia over the summer you might be thankful that you are in one of the 60%* of Australian homes with some form of air conditioning to beat the heat. But what if you don’t have an air conditioner? Or what if the extreme heat has severed your power supplies? How did those who lived before our time beat the heat and keep comfortable in hot conditions at home?
First, consider your notion of keeping comfortable. With air conditioning commonplace in cars and workplaces and, increasingly, in the home our idea of what is a comfortable heat may have changed over time. Instead of embracing warm weather by sitting on a shady verandah in light-coloured cotton clothing sipping a cool drink we have become accustomed to trying to bend nature to our needs rather than adapt with the seasons.
How soon do you turn on your air conditioner? Do you want a year-round temperature of 22 degrees or can you cope with a 25 degree room temperature in the summer?
Confused about celsius vs farenheit? Use our handy chart!
Our house in Sydney has no air conditioning and despite a week or two each year when the temperatures reach into the late 30s and early 40s we find that we can cope quite well without it. We are lucky to live in a house built in 1919 which was designed with the local climate in mind.
Our house is solid brick, two stories high with 3.3m ceilings and small windows to the west side of the house. The house stays relatively cool, even on the hottest day of the year – with a top internal temperature of around 27 degrees on those days.
We have found that the only areas of the house to cause heat build up are the parts that have been altered since it was built. The original design had two upstairs patio/verandahs – one off the south side of the house and one off the north. Both of these verandahs have been filled in (one is now my office, one a bathroom) and they are the hottest parts of the house. In the original design these rooms would’ve been open to the elements and provided shade and cooling breezes. Now, enclosed in glass, these rooms magnify the heat which then radiates to the nearby bedrooms.
We are not saints. On those 40 degree days we wish, along with the rest of Sydney, that we had on- demand air conditioning, but on the whole I prefer to live with the windows open rather than closed which would be the case with the refrigerated air-conditioning that is needed in our region.
We are fortunate to live in the house we do however many people live in hot boxes designed with economy or fashion in mind rather than suitability for the local climate. If you are in such a house without air conditioning or a well-designed house how do you cope? Here are some ideas from before our time:
Quick fixes – when electricity is down
- Keep your windows and doors closed, your blinds down and your lights and appliances off. The key is to prevent heat from entering your home and from the relative cool of the evening from escaping. Electrical appliances radiate heat and use should be kept to a minimum.
- Drink plenty of water
- Allow yourself to sweat – sweat is nature’s evaporative air conditioner
- Wear light colours, a hat, natural fibres, loose clothing.
- Fan yourself
- Dab water on your wrists and other pulse points
- Wet towels or sheets to lie on
- Get wet! Swim, take a cold shower or bath, play water games.
- If water restrictions allow – sprinklers on outside act as a natural air conditioner
Quick fixes - power available
-Get the air moving – ceiling fans, portable fans
-Get air moving over water – have fans operate over a tray of ice or water, or through a wet towel
-Use your freezer to make ice - for your drinks or as an icepack.
Longer term fixes – optimise your house design
- build verandahs and patios which act as a solar clock – shady areas at each point in the day
- build water features near the house (for evaporative air conditioning effect)
- plant shady trees under which seating can be placed for hot days
- have soft rather than hard landscaping near the house
- install smaller windows on the west side of the house
- create breezeways through the house
- install roof and wall insulation or build your house from naturally insulating materials such as mud brick.
What are your tips and tricks do you have from before our time for keeping your cool on the hottest days?
*Source: abs.gov.au
Newspaper House, (247 Collins Street)
David Jones, (294-296 Bourke Street)
Australian Natives Association Building, (28-32 Elizabeth Street) 