How to stay cool during a heat wave
With the scorching heat wave upon us in the American Southwest desert-dwellers pay the price for the near-perfect weather we enjoy the rest of the year. It’s possible to survive this sort of heat, but it’s essential to recognize it for the potential threat that it is and adapt accordingly.
The first thing is to adapt your schedule, do any shopping or work outdoors before 9 am or after dark. Taking a walk first thing in the morning, and in the evening after dinner is a great way to keep the cabin fever at bay and keep moving. With few exceptions there is nothing so critical that it can’t wait until the evening or the next morning to go out and do.
Bring coolers with ice bricks into the grocery store. I finally learned this after having bags of spinach wilt and rot from the time I left the store to when I unloaded the grocery stores at home.
Drink water before you are thirsty, cut down your caffeine and alcohol intake, they dehydrate you. I recommend in general but especially in the summer months have a glass of water or two when you wake up, before your first cup of coffee.
The pool is one of the best places to escape the heat, but remember to stay in the shade and continue to drink plenty of water. Remember that your head is still out of the water and cooking in the hot air.
Cool refreshing pool in Manitou Springs in the Indian Wells Country Club
Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, especially ones with high water content like melons, cantaloupes, and greens. Eating dense, hearty foods like meat will raise your internal temperature so it will be easy to eat a salad every night because you won’t crave much else.
Chill your plates and glasses. They often come out of the cabinets on exterior walls warm to the touch. Keep your drink cool in a frosty glass, and your salad from wilting on a cool plate.
Keep a cooler with ice bricks and water in the car along with an umbrella and sun hat. If you are unlucky enough to have a breakdown and need to wait for a tow-truck that umbrella, hat, and cold water could very well save your life. In the extreme heat small events can quickly become life threatening.
Adapt your home to keep cool:
First make sure the windows with south and western exposures have exterior shutters. The most effective variety has metal louvers that move up and down and reflect the heat rays back out before they enter through the glass.
Fans are essential: They help your ac work better by distributing the cool air, and if you can keep your house dark with the air moving you will be able to keep it cooler in the first place before the ac starts working. Sitting under a fan will help your body keep more comfortable as well.
Have your air conditioner serviced before the summer and consider a service warranty. That way should you have a problem, you already have a service provider in place and you won’t have a surprise expense.
Install a foam roof and make sure if you have an attic it is well insulated.
Install double or triple paned windows and sliding doors and make sure everything is sealed correctly.
Install heavy-duty drapes or cellular shades. Wooden shutters are so popular in the desert that people take it for granted that they are the most effective for keeping the heat out, but having been in many homes in the summer with them I would disagree. There are so many gaps and spaces in a set of shutters that heat and light still enter the room and they can take up almost a foot of space in the room, making it seem smaller. If you have fabric drapes, it’s essential to have a white blackout and insulating backing. You can buy this material by the yard relatively inexpensively and it can even be added to existing drapes. You have to use the white material, because a dark material will absorb the heat instead of reflect it.
Get creative with summer drapes; they might as well be colorful and fun. You can layer several curtain panels into one insulating panel for an extremely effective heat barrier. If you have some odd-sized windows that normally do not have any window treatments on them, use some scrap fabric to make simple panels that will stay shut all summer and use old towels or bedding as an insulating layer between the curtain face and lining where no one will see it. Some people who have clerestory windows in irregular shapes cut out foam panels and cover in decorative fabric and put them up 3 months out of the year.
Even if the house seems dreary and dark it’s amazing how strong the sun is, even with every single shade, shutter, and curtain closed at home there is still enough visible light to read a book.
UV-blocking sunshade installed on south-facing courtyard
Put up sunshades outside in an area that gets the full afternoon sun. Again, if you can keep the sun off the windows before it hits the glass, you are already way ahead. Have fun with your sunshade fabric choice, you can buy Sunbrella fabric by the yard relatively inexpensively and a sunshade is an easy, beginner’s level sewing project.
Consider shutting down unused rooms for the summer. Close the vents, put the most insulating window coverings you can on the windows, remove anything that will melt or spoil in the heat, records, photographs, book-bindings, essential oils, perfumes, cosmetics, leather goods, oil paintings, candles for example. If you have wooden furniture in the room, put a bucket of water in to keep the wood from drying out. Keep the door closed and put a towel under the door to keep the room sealed. Most people have fewer houseguests in the summer, and why pay to air condition a space you aren’t using?
Take breaks from the heat:
Leaving the heat for a weekend, a day, or even just an afternoon can make all the difference to your mental state in the heat. Here in the Coachella Valley we can simply go up in elevation into the mountains in search for cooler weather, and the Pacific Ocean is only two hours drive away. Don’t go hiking down here on the desert floor; people die every summer, all summer long. I can’t understand what makes people think it’s a good idea to hike this time of year, especially when Idyllwild, and Big Bear are an hour to an hour and a half away and 30-40 degrees cooler on average.
Soaring mountain peak in Idyllwild (1 hour from Coachella Valley)
Towering pines and mountain peaks of Idyllwild
Mountain babe Kat Granados Hoffmeister hiking the Ernie Maxwell Scenic Trail in Idyllwild. Check out her art at http://kathleengranados.com/
Charming, artsy, and eclectic village of Idyllwild
Big Bear Lake (1.5 hours from the Coachella Valley)
La Jolla as seen from the cliffs of Torrey Pines. (2 hours from the Coachella Valley)
Take special care of your pets during the heat:
Make sure your pets are safe during the heat, keep a close eye on them and give them extra cool water. Change their water bowls several times a day because they are little petri dishes of bacteria during normal weather and more so during the heat. If you have cats keep them inside and if you have wall-to-wall carpet in your home put out a smooth cotton sheet or tablecloth on the floor so they have something besides the hot carpet to lie on.
Be extremely careful with your dogs taking them out on a hot day. The pavement heats up quickly to a temperature that can severely burn your dog’s paws. Even the grass can get scorching hot. The best thing to do is to carry your dog if possible to a shaded area of grass after the sprinklers have just run. As much as it is great remove turf in order to save water and cut down on maintenance if you have a dog or a cat that likes to go outside, it makes sense to keep a small patch of grass for this purpose. Artificial turf is fantastic but it does get incredibly hot in the summer.
Prepare for a power outage:
If the power goes out you won’t be able to stay in your home during the day. Have a plan in place before that happens; think of where you can stay where you can bring your pets until the power is restored. If the power goes out at night, make sure to keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed, and put ice packs in the refrigerator to keep it cooler longer. Rather than keep opening the door put a cooler on the kitchen counter with whatever you will need for the rest of the evening. Make sure you have plenty of flashlights, lanterns and batteries. In the heat, burning even a couple of candles will quickly heat up the house to an unbearable temperature.
For everyone out there who is suffering through the heat, my overall suggestion is to use common sense and don't underestimate the lethal power of extreme heat. Stay safe and keep an extra close eye on your pets and loved ones. Any changes in behavior or appearance such as confusion, glassy eyes, rapid heart-rate or panting should be considered urgently serious.