tracking down the heat, investigation

[Zoe Girl]

Okay I am still struggling with this heat, and the basement is fairly cool which helps. The kids at least sleep there. Last night it cooled and they kept the doors open until they went to bed and I kept the swamp cooler facing into my room. Then I woke up and went into the little kitchen and it is hot considering that we have not cooked in it and ran the dishwasher once yesterday in the middle of the day. I even made my tea outside on the camp stove. I can feel the floor is warm just waking up. I am doing a load of laundry (in the room below the kitchen) however it was warm before I started that (we do not use the dryer).

I am ready to next try moving all the food in the fridge to the extra fridge outside on the porch. The landlord left it and I have wanted to make her take it since we do not need an extra fridge for just drinks but maybe this will work. So the idea is to move everything out and unplug the fridge inside the kitchen to track down what is producing such heat inside.

Any ideas along with this please feel free to share. Just an FYI there are no air conditioning units anywhere, and my windows are very odd old windows so anything window mounted is impossible. We just have the free standing swamp cooler.

[SteveinMN]

Zoe, do the dishwasher or washing machine require warm/hot water? Some dishwashers can be plumbed to cold water because they heat the water themselves to the temperature you select. But if either machine requires hot water, your water heater (the old standing-cylinder type, I suspect) is keeping water warm for whenever you call for it. Heat rises, so maybe hot water in the pipes is warming things in the kitchen.

Another consideration is how much warm air is leaking *into* your home. Here in the U.S. during the winter, many people use a plastic film which stretches over the window and acts almost like another pane of glass with an insulating blanket of air behind it. They're not used so much in the summertime because people like to open their windows, but if you don't open your windows, might that be something to try? Or maybe an inexpensive "low-E" film you could apply to the windows to reject the heat but capture the light?

[Gregg]

Sometimes the compressor on a fridge will run hotter than usual if the coils are dirty. You may try pulling it out and vacuuming the coils on the back and all the guts under the fridge before you transfer everything to a different one. Dust and lint and cobwebs always build up over time and add heat and cost money because your fridge runs less efficiently.


ETA: Just heard we're supposed to be at or over 100* most of this week and humid to boot. This may be a long summer.

[small & friendly]

Is it possible that there is heat build up in the walls from the sun shining on it? (some homes and rooms hold heat more readily than others, due to orientation to the sun). And that it is maybe being transferred into the room?

It does sound odd, though, that the floor would be warm.

[Zoe Girl]

I pulled out the fridge, I am not sure about these coils. I didn't see the coils like I expected, So I pulled out the backing and vaccuumed. I put the thermometer behind the fridge to see how much heat it gives off.

It was supposed to be 97, but it was 103 again. Inside the school it was above 90 I think. We used the fridge thermometer and it only goes up to 90. In teh afternoon they took the kids outside with chilled spray bottles to squirt down kiddos and jsut keep cool. It won't cool down below 90 until the 3rd or 4th. I am losing it due to the heat, my mom brought the cot from when I was a kid and I may sleep on the back porch. I already put on bug spray 3 times a day for the lack of screens.

Okay as a buddhist I am totally respecting the buddha for sitting with no AC or bug spray.

[SteveinMN]

I pulled out the fridge, I am not sure about these coils. I didn't see the coils like I expected, So I pulled out the backing and vaccuumed.
Zoe, many refrigerators now have the coils underneath the cabinet. There will be a kickplate/grille at the bottom of the 'fridge that you can remove (it's held on by a couple of pegs or clips) and you can vacuum underneath the fridge. If you have a mop or such that you can use to dislodge the dust, that will help. Hardware stores and appliance-parts stores sell special brushes which really are the right tool for the job, but if you don't want to buy what is pretty much a one-trick-pony tool, you can use a pole and a mop or towel.

[Zoe Girl]

thankyou, I saw the kickplate and took it off. i was able to vacuum a little but I think a damp paper towel will work better. Under the fridge wasn't bad since I move it and clean under 2 times a year. So I am going to see what the temp is like tomorrow am. It is still almost 100 outside at 9 pm therefore I am NOT opening the doors to cool off. Just the swamp cooler and fans.
My mom brought the old army cot so I can go downstairs if needed, my kids stay up all night which makes that limited. If I can survive to Friday then we are sitting in an airconditioned movie theatre for awhile!!

[Tradd]

ZG, I know you said window-mounted a/c units are out, due to your specific windows, but what about something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202332300/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=portable+room+air+conditioners&storeId=10051

It's a portable a/c unit. It vents out the window with a flexible hose, similar to the type used to vent clothes dryers. To even cool one bedroom would be good. I couldn't cope without a/c in weather like we're having this spring/summer.

They're not cheap - about $350, although there are 1-2 a bit less on Home Depot's website - but maybe something to think about.

[San Onofre Guy]

The source of your heat problem is called the thing that allows life.....The Sun!

[ToomuchStuff]

Wet towels on the back of the neck. Past/late neighbors, used to call the old porches, sleeping porches (the back ones, not the front ones), which I wish I still had. Fan's don't work in humidity, they just make you cook. Getting up in the morning and taking naps during the hottest parts of the day, then getting other stuff done in the evenings. (change of sleep schedule due to tempeture)

Going out to a public place, like a library, or finding local cooling shelters, staying with friends/relatives when it gets real bad (I have some breathing issues and have lived without a/c for 20 years now).
About four years back, one of the last people I knew without a/c passed away at 90. Turned out he had skin cancer but probably died from a stroke as he started acting funny and was put into a home for less then a week before passing.
I also try to work as much as possible. Overtime and staying in their a/c. If I had pool access, I probably would stay in it more.

Yes I am new here.

EDIT: Some of the newer refrigerators don't like being in a unheated and uncooled space. Watch for problems.