Sustainable Ideas...
Green Home Building Jul 23, 2008
Carbon-free cooling
Don't be afraid to turn off the air conditioner
The dreaded triple-H's are upon us (hazy, hot & humid for those not from here).
There was a brown-out this weekend in Brooklyn that stopped half a block from where we live so we decided to try and NOT use our air conditioning to see if we could remain somewhat comfortable.
What even allowed this possibility is that we finally rigged up the vented skylight (pictured above). It was installed 2 1/2 years ago but we finally hooked up the electric rain sensor cable which supposedly closes the skylight if it starts to rain. We have yet to confirm that it works. The idea is that as hot air rises, it exits the house at the top which pulls in cooler air from the windows on the floors below.
We opened all the windows and turned on all the ceiling fans (we have one in each room) and it wasn't too bad. In the mornings, it was downright delightful to hear the birds out the open windows and feel a cool morning breeze.
However, on those beastly days that are so hot that your bed is warmer than you are when you get in, no amount of moving air around will keep you cool without air conditioning.
Here is a site full of good ideas to keep cool. I don't know about showing up for work in a wet shirt though....
[brooklyn green] www.ehapc.wordpress.com
