How do you stay cool in the summer?

[Bill Murray]

Last night was a little sticky and warm in the house so this morning I took a quick look at the A/C unit outside. Cleaned away some leaves and whatnot and then set the thermostat to have it kick in, all hunky-dory. But its almost the middle of July and that's fairly late in the season for me to be start to cool down the house.....that said adding central air was one of the best decisions for a home upgrade.

How do the rest of you stay cool and keep your balls or lips from sticking to the furniture?

 

[Jltnov22]

I live in a house that was built in the 50s and the central A/C is about that old and doesn't do anything to keep it cool. I have a portable unit in my bedroom (don't like the aesthetics of a window unit) to keep my old, fat ass cool enough to sleep. Need to upgrade central unit but they are overly expensive. Probably need to re-insulate attic and walls l, too.

 

[(G.O.A.T.) Tubemonkey]

I installed a couple mini-split systems this year. cool as aa cucumber!

 

[mrln]

have central a/c installed when i bought the house.
kept the heat original though. wasnt changing that on a dare!
had window units and fans my whole life.
as a kid,we couldnt afford a/c. just had fans. the old ones. with the metal blades.

 

[Jessiehorror]

This weather has been a huge annoyance. I ordered some fans called wind machines but now I gotta move for my apt to be updated I basically about to turn psycho and I might be on Goregrish one day soon.

 

[Illusive_0ne]

I took a que from Walt Disney. I have a cryogenic chamber.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

The two bedrooms upstairs each have their own window units and the downstairs has a big portable that cools the whole floor. And about 5 fans. Haven't got the big summer heat wave yet but good so far.

 

[Gone crazy back soon]

100° F today, my natural suave coolness is only good for about 65° on a lucky day. House has central ac, even with that I'm lucky to finish the day with a dry shirt.

 

[Pangolin777]

Since I live in one of the hottest and most humid states in the US, central a/c and portable fans are a must!

 

[IExist]

I have rabbits so I need to keep the house cold. Good thing we have central heating and air.

 

[Bill Murray]

I have rabbits so I need to keep the house cold. Good thing we have central heating and air.

Rabbits need to be kept cold?

 

[mrln]

dont want to spoil the meat now

 

[PinkE]

My house is under construction and then

finally I can stop over heating like you peasants

 

[Sweet Death]

I rent in a house that is over 100 years old. There is no insulation, and the walls are sheetrock. I live on the 3rd floor, and if I didn't have an air conditioner in my bedroom, it would be about 120 degrees fahrenheit when it's really hot outside. I need to move BTW lol

 

[DokraOwl]

I cut open large cold-blooded animals and sleep inside their hollowed out stomachs. But less about my daily hobbies, the question was how to keep cool? An AC unit, duh.

 

[Rick James]

Speaking of Air Conditioners… read the case summary below the pic. When i see articles like this I save them

 

[Mateo1]

Last night was a little sticky and warm in the house so this morning I took a quick look at the A/C unit outside. Cleaned away some leaves and whatnot and then set the thermostat to have it kick in, all hunky-dory. But its almost the middle of July and that's fairly late in the season for me to be start to cool down the house.....that said adding central air was one of the best decisions for a home upgrade.

How do the rest of you stay cool and keep your balls or lips from sticking to the furniture?

View attachment 598828

Well since you asked...

I actually just had to deal with this issue a few weeks ago. I have a very old heat pump (central A/C unit) that works fine in the winter but does not generate very cold air in the summer because it leaks the refrigerant gas called R2 in my case. In the past, I would normally call an A/C technician to add more R2 gas once every two years or so. I have used this method to keep my old heat pump operational for the last six years despite the leak. I could buy a new heat pump, but I don't think this problem warrants replacing the whole system. The guy who refilled my unit last summer really pissed me off because he sold me this additional additive that he claimed would seal the leak, but instead my unit is back down to 60% to 50% this summer ahead of schedule. This means the air coming out of the heat pump is only slightly cool and it freezes itself trying to reach the target temperature set in the thermostat. Instead of calling any more A/C scam artists this year I decided to handle the problem myself.

I initially bought two portable units (see first photo above) and installed them in my living room toward the back of my house (I don't spend much time in my living room so the additional noise is not an issue) and in my exercise room (where the noise from the portable unit doesn't bother me). Unfortunately, those portable units just create pockets of cold air and even with fans, I could not distribute the air evenly throughout my house. So I decided I needed to have heat pump working at least some of the time so that at least it could help distribute the cold air even if it is contributing very little cool air. After removing the thermostat cover and probing around, I figured out how to hack into the thermostat. I connected my own 8-bit microcontroller to it (ATMega328, same type that is used in Arduino Uno) and had the microcontroller use a timer to turn on the unit for 30 minutes and shut it off for 40 minutes in a loop. The microcontroller controls two transistors, which I soldered to the buttons on the thermostat. The transistors simulate pushing the buttons. The buttons normally allow you to raise or lower the target/desired temperature. The microcontroller sets the target temperature to 90 degrees to effectively turn off the A/C and sets the target to 45 degrees to turn it on. The timer prevents the heat pump from freezing. This worked out very well. The heat pump and the portable units work very well as a combo.

For those whore are into electronics, yes that left-most red wire on the little green breadboard is not connected to anything in the second photo. It normally supplies power to the microcontroller, but I disconnected it when I took the photo. The green and blue breadboards and the wires coming out of them is what I added to the system. I made my own little cover out of some white poster boards to cover up the modified thermostat and make it look pretty.

I watched some Youtube videos and I am pretty sure I can add the R2 gas to my central A/C unit myself. I already ordered some equipment and the gas and now just waiting for them to arrive.

 

[Bill Murray]

Well since you asked...

I actually just had to deal with this issue a few weeks ago. I have a very old heat pump (central A/C unit) that works fine in the winter but does not generate very cold air in the summer because it leaks the refrigerant gas called R2 in my case. In the past, I would normally call an A/C technician to add more R2 gas once every two years or so. I have used this method to keep my old heat pump operational for the last six years despite the leak. I could buy a new heat pump, but I don't think this problem warrants replacing the whole system. The guy who refilled my unit last summer really pissed me off because he sold me this additional additive that he claimed would seal the leak, but instead my unit is back down to 60% to 50% this summer ahead of schedule. This means the air coming out of the heat pump is only slightly cool and it freezes itself trying to reach the target temperature set in the thermostat. Instead of calling any more A/C scam artists this year I decided to handle the problem myself.
View attachment 598870


I initially bought two portable units (see first photo above) and installed them in my living room toward the back of my house (I don't spend much time in my living room so the additional noise is not an issue) and in my exercise room (where the noise from the portable unit doesn't bother me). Unfortunately, those portable units just create pockets of cold air and even with fans, I could not distribute the air evenly throughout my house. So I decided I needed to have heat pump working at least some of the time so that at least it could help distribute the cold air even if it is contributing very little cool air. After removing the thermostat cover and probing around, I figured out how to hack into the thermostat. I connected my own 8-bit microcontroller to it (ATMega328, same type that is used in Arduino Uno) and had the microcontroller use a timer to turn on the unit for 30 minutes and shut it off for 40 minutes in a loop. The microcontroller controls two transistors, which I soldered to the buttons on the thermostat. The transistors simulate pushing the buttons. The buttons normally allow you to raise or lower the target/desired temperature. The microcontroller sets the target temperature to 90 degrees to effectively turn off the A/C and sets the target to 45 degrees to turn it on. The timer prevents the heat pump from freezing. This worked out very well. The heat pump and the portable units work very well as a combo.

View attachment 598871


For those whore are into electronics, yes that left-most red wire on the little green breadboard is not connected to anything in the second photo. It normally supplies power to the microcontroller, but I disconnected it when I took the photo. The green and blue breadboards and the wires coming out of them is what I added to the system. I made my own little cover out of some white poster boards to cover up the modified thermostat and make it look pretty.

I watched some Youtube videos and I am pretty sure I can add the R2 gas to my central A/C unit myself. I already ordered some equipment and the gas and now just waiting for them to arrive.

Your nerd talk made me plump up a little bit

 

[Dolly]

My house is a few hundred years old and the walls are 2 foot thick, even interior walls, Im fortunate it stays reasonably cool in summer, and stays super cosy in winter. Not many homes in the UK have AC but summers usually a quick thing here anyway. I am one grumpy bitch when its hot, I do not do heat at all.

 

[Bill Murray]

My house is a few hundred years old and the walls are 2 foot thick, even interior walls

Are you a hobbit? Or did you jack some poor hobbit's crib?