How can I keep my bedroom cool in near-tropical temperatures without an airco?

[Kaleredar]

Assuming you don't have an air conditioner, close up your house early in the morning and open it up when it cools down in the evening.

Or you can buy a floor air conditioner and set it up; they aren't particularly large. You could even set it up in your doorway if you're that strapped for space.


I would not recommend "hanging wet towels" to absorb heat. All you'll end up with is a wet floor.



Source: Living in San Gabriel Valley my entire life. (Where it gets a lot warmer than just 86 degrees.)

[IntellectuallyChallenged]

Where I live, the humidity is just oppressive. I absolutely had to buy a Window AC unit for my bedroom. Cost me a hundred bucks and I've been using it for three years now. I just take it down when it stops getting hot.

[Ticj]

This entirely depends on how hot your house gets when in direct sunlight.

If it becomes EXTREMELY hot, then keep your windows open at all time.

If it is bearable, get a fan, and put it on your window at night to blow the cool air in.

Be SURE to stay hydrated. If it gets bad, try to stay out of your house.

In my opinion though, get a damn A/C unit, maybe borrow one from a friend. Its going to be hell for you if you don't.

[Kaleredar]

This entirely depends on how hot your house gets when in direct sunlight.

If it becomes EXTREMELY hot, then keep your windows open at all time.

If it is bearable, get a fan, and put it on your window at night to blow the cool air in.

Be SURE to stay hydrated. If it gets bad, try to stay out of your house.

In my opinion though, get a damn A/C unit, maybe borrow one from a friend. Its going to be hell for you if you don't.

86 degrees is hardly "hell." Frankly, if it came to that, I'd just drink cold beverages to stay cool.

But if the OP finds that intolerable, I'd say getting a small portable AC is the way to go. Or if they don't want to spend the money and know they'll be at a computer... frankly, just get a fan and point it at your back.

[ringpriest]

Have to agree with previous posters. Even with tropical humidity 30°C is definitely hot but not unbearable. So if it's just something you're not used to, don't worry about it too much. Drink plenty of water and have some deodorant handy.

Anyway if you really want to make your own cheap air conditioner you just need a fan and something frozen.

Yep 30 degrees C is readily survivable if you're smart about keeping hydrated and stuff - when it gets up around 35 with high humidity, that's when it starts getting downright dangerous.

[Anyael]

Before we got central air in my house, my family used to buy ice and leave it around everywhere in bags. When the ice was mostly melted, we would stick it in the freezer and repeat. We had fans but kept the windows / doors closed during the day, opened them at night. We didn't want it to get more humid so that's why we kept them in the bags, but the fact that they melted shows they did suck some of the heat out of the air.

[GennGreymane]

You would be surprised though

a relatively large bucket of ice or 2 can really cool down a room

[Nyoken]

Well, have a fan in the room directed towards your bed all the time and keep the windows open, and your door open, that way the wind is gonna be blowing through your room always. Or you can do what I do, sleep on the floor, just take your pillow and blanket and lay down on the carpet, and fall asleep. Since heat rises, its gonna be cooler on the floor. Or if you got a bathtub you can sleep in there, I do it sometimes aswell, really good for my back.

[kritisk]

Some good advice earlier. Fans, swamp coolers (they DO work well in some cases,) and other things like keeping things closed more in the day and open at night. Also, make sure your window coverings are light colored so they reflect the heat back out rather than absorb it. If you have the possibility for cross ventilation, use a fan to blow from the coolest area towards the warmest (and out of) area. Wear natural fibers rather than man-made fibers for your clothing and your linens and bedding. They wick away heat more effectively than many, if not most, man made fibers. A slightly cool shower, tepid really, can help. Drink lots of fluids, ice water, etc. really helps. Ice isn't as common in drinks in EU as in the US but shouldn't be a problem for you to get really.

[Zenotetsuken]

You can just make a small Air Conditioner for just a few dollars.

[endersblade]

I'm currently suffering in the heat now as well. My apartment bedroom faces the west, so when the sun starts to set, it beats the hell out of my room with heat for about 5 hours a day. I currently have, in the entire apartment that is, two window unit ACs, a swamp cooler at the kitchen/living room divide, and 6 fans. The internal temperature of my apartment is about 76, and my room is a wonderful 95...and it's only 89 outside. No matter what I do, I CAN'T get this room to cool down until long after the sun sets.

[Voraliska]

By a window fan that is able to reverse. put the fan in your window, put another fan/open door in another part of the house. Have the fan blow out of the house of a daytime, blow in of a night. Higher elevation helps with this method, so knowing how high above sea level can play apart. I live in Pennsylvania, US where is gets hot and humid.

[zephid]

Is central ac not a thing in Europe?

It really depends on where you live. In northern Europe it rarely gets hot enough for it to be worth installing a central ac.

[Relimash]

Ice/cold water + fan blowing on it = profit

That's legit the struggle package.

[Kokolums]

Best option is to just buy a smaller air conditioner.

If not that, the next best option is

1. Buy a window fan, something you can install in a window. Install that in one window pane.
2. Buy a custom-made window screen to fit in another window pane. Install that.
3. Secure a wet towel (with small holes / slits cut everywhere) over the screen.
4. Buy a bottle with a water sprayer nozzle you can refill with water.
5. Set the fan to blow air OUT of your room.
6. Keep door closed.
7. Add more water to the towel using the bottle every so often to prevent it from drying out.

The fan will push air out of the room, and force air to pass thru the wet towel to fill the vacuum. The wet towel will cool the air dramatically (unless its very humid). If you live in a very humid area, this won't work well. If if its a dry climate, you can drop the temp to 70 degrees fahrenheit doing this.

If you only can open one window pane, then this probably won't work either. Then just buy the AC unit.

[ringpriest]

Best option is to just buy a smaller air conditioner.

If not that, the next best option is

1. Buy a window fan, something you can install in a window. Install that in one window pane.
2. Buy a custom-made window screen to fit in another window pane. Install that.
3. Secure a wet towel (with small holes / slits cut everywhere) over the screen.
4. Buy a bottle with a water sprayer nozzle you can refill with water.
5. Set the fan to blow air OUT of your room.
6. Keep door closed.
7. Add more water to the towel using the bottle every so often to prevent it from drying out.

The fan will push air out of the room, and force air to pass thru the wet towel to fill the vacuum. The wet towel will cool the air dramatically (unless its very humid). If you live in a very humid area, this won't work well. If if its a dry climate, you can drop the temp to 70 degrees fahrenheit doing this.

If you only can open one window pane, then this probably won't work either. Then just buy the AC unit.

OP said he's in Belgium - humidity there tomorrow looks to be >90%, so low humidity solutions (like swamp coolers) probably won't do them a lot of short-term good.

[glo]

It's somewhat sad how many people here don't understand what evaporative cooling is. Hanging wet towels or cloth in low to moderate humidity has been an effective means of cooling for thousands of years. The process of evaporation cools the surrounding air, when a breeze blows over said towels, it introduces cooler than ambient air into the room. A few wet towels are also not going to increase humidity when he has his windows open.

[Kaleredar]

It's somewhat sad how many people here don't understand what evaporative cooling is. Hanging wet towels or cloth in low to moderate humidity has been an effective means of cooling for thousands of years. The process of evaporation cools the surrounding air, when a breeze blows over said towels, it introduces cooler than ambient air into the room. A few wet towels are also not going to increase humidity when he has his windows open.

Oh I understand it. I also understand that, when it's damn hot inside your house, like, in the 90s because it's 103 outside, you aren't going to want to wait for a towel to work its evaporative magic as you also have to turn on every fan in your house to try and circulate the air properly.

It's the kind of thing that will passively lower the temperature of your air so slowly you don't ever actually notice it and just continue to feel hot even if it does lower your air temperature three or four degrees.

[glo]

Oh I understand it. I also understand that, when it's damn hot inside your house, like, in the 90s because it's 103 outside, you aren't going to want to wait for a towel to work its evaporative magic as you also have to turn on every fan in your house to try and circulate the air properly.

It's the kind of thing that will passively lower the temperature of your air so slowly you don't ever actually notice it and just continue to feel hot even if it does lower your air temperature three or four degrees.

You may understand it now after I explained it. However, you clearly demonstrated that you didn't with your earlier reply in the thread.

There's also absolutely no reason why you can't run a fan at the same time, not sure why you're even bringing that up as if they're exclusive from each other. Further, "running every fan in the house to circulate the air" isn't going to cool anything down unless you have some magical sub ambient temperature air floating around. Fans are useful in hot weather because moving air on your skin feels cool, because of you know... that whole evaporative cooling effect.

[Rusken]

I guess 30 degrees is especially hot for Belgium? A pedestal fan and boxer shorts are all you need for 30.