How to Keep Cool in the Summer Heat

Summer ends around the end of September, but the heat can last much longer. Our house is pretty old, which means no AC. From the beginning of June, to the middle of August, the only salvation from the summer heat is the pool. But when the pool closes, the heat seems unbearable. Around this time of year is forest fires too. Every August, it gets smoky. That seems to make it hotter, but it also effects how my family cools down our house.

The nice thing about where I live is that it cools down at night. It can be 90 degrees in the daytime, and it can drop to about 40 degrees at night. We use this to our advantage. Every night, I take our giant fan, and put it in an open window so it blows in cold air. We only have about three giant fans for the summer, but we also just open the windows up. In the morning, we take the fans out of the windows, and close them up. That way, the hot air doesn’t get in.

In the summertime, my dad and my stepmom mostly cook on the grill outside. But sometimes, the oven has to be used. That heats up the house, so my dad puts the fan in the window to blow the hot air out.

When August comes, it gets really smoky. We cant really open up the windows because the smoke gets in. This is where it gets really hot at night. We still get the fans running. To help the fans cool off the house faster, we put damp washcloths and towels over them. We make sure to leave a space, so the air can still get out.

Even though we don’t have AC in our house, we can still cool it off in the evenings.