To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
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Last year we were at a very hot outdoor event, and we took our big golf umbrella, and rigged it up to our folding chairs. It made all the difference.
A little girl of the precocious sort came by, stopped and said to me as if I was an idiot, "It's not raining!"
She'll learn.
@suearcher Apparently she will, sadly.
Umbrellas really do help if you have to spend much time in direct sun.
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@Eetschrijver It has, on very rare occasions, hit 43 in Malaga. Even in Cordoba the highest temp ever recorded was 47. And they are used to heat.
Please take care of yourself and your wife and your lovely kitty. 47 is very dangerous territory.
@Remittancegirl Trust us, we're being extremely careful. And Pushkin, fortunately, turns out to be a very smart kitty.
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@Remittancegirl problem for the UK and Northern France for example is that our buildings and general infrastructure was never built to withstand this. Places that experience it every summer have more appropriate designs.
We die in the temperatures others have had for decades because there is no escape for many
Not to say your advice, and many other tips circulating, isn't good! ThanK you for this (I'm taking the shower one on board as I'm prone to an ice rinse).
@noodlemaz I agree with you. The places where the temps are soaring are just not prepared or built for them.
Also, especially elderly people need acclimatisation to live with heat. The radical change to the body is really hard on fragile bodies.
Regarding the showers. Believe me, I know the lure of an ice cold shower. It seems like it's going to make you feel good, and it does for a short time, but the body's re-heat response kicks in and you feel worse than before you got in the shower
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To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl > eat and drink things that trigger sweating.
Do you have any tips? I don't really know what sort of things that is?
Do you mean spicy curries or something?What do you think about eating salted stuff (e.g. peanuts) to replace salt? Is that a thing?
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@Remittancegirl Trust us, we're being extremely careful. And Pushkin, fortunately, turns out to be a very smart kitty.
@Eetschrijver Cats have very good instincts for keeping themselves cool. hehe.
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@svenscholz Can we stop with this?
There is theory - and science - and then there's just living in thick, hot soup for 6 months a year.
And they're fundamentally different things. Which sounds annoying because theory should be absolutely the truth.
Lived experience just exceeds expectations. That's all I'm saying.
@Remittancegirl @svenscholz yeah, that's extreme.
BTW, do fans still help at those temperatures and humidities?
I'm always surprised how big of a difference sitting next to a fan makes in the somewhat less extreme 35C with low humidity, maybe even a bit better (but very localized) than just AC.
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@Remittancegirl > eat and drink things that trigger sweating.
Do you have any tips? I don't really know what sort of things that is?
Do you mean spicy curries or something?What do you think about eating salted stuff (e.g. peanuts) to replace salt? Is that a thing?
@ebel All I can say is that the whole of Southeast Asia eats spicy stuff and curries, and I think there is method to this madness. It makes you sweat. Same with drinking hot chai and hot tea - which seems just so nuts in the heat.
As to salt... I didn't mention it, but it's important if you're sweating.
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To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl Thanks for the advice! We're not quite there with the heat, but largely have the humidity, and luckily for now we're only looking at a few days of heat wave at a time.
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@Eetschrijver Cats have very good instincts for keeping themselves cool. hehe.
@Remittancegirl They do, I'm really marveling at her.
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@Remittancegirl @svenscholz yeah, that's extreme.
BTW, do fans still help at those temperatures and humidities?
I'm always surprised how big of a difference sitting next to a fan makes in the somewhat less extreme 35C with low humidity, maybe even a bit better (but very localized) than just AC.
@vriesk
Yes, absolutely. They help evaporate sweat, even if just a little, even if they're not cooling you down directly.I notice that fans really stop helping at about 40. But it never got that hot in Vietnam where I was. But when I was in Cordoba, which is very dry heat, I noticed that fans started to feel like a hair-dryer on hot at 40C. If anything, it made it feel worse.
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@Remittancegirl @svenscholz yeah, that's extreme.
BTW, do fans still help at those temperatures and humidities?
I'm always surprised how big of a difference sitting next to a fan makes in the somewhat less extreme 35C with low humidity, maybe even a bit better (but very localized) than just AC.
@vriesk Actually, I think the combination of AC and a fan is really quite important. Because the cool air tends to hover at floor level, and a fan helps move it around a bit. @svenscholz
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@vriesk
Yes, absolutely. They help evaporate sweat, even if just a little, even if they're not cooling you down directly.I notice that fans really stop helping at about 40. But it never got that hot in Vietnam where I was. But when I was in Cordoba, which is very dry heat, I noticed that fans started to feel like a hair-dryer on hot at 40C. If anything, it made it feel worse.
@Remittancegirl @svenscholz oh, that's interesting - I would have thought it's the opposite.
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@Remittancegirl @svenscholz oh, that's interesting - I would have thought it's the opposite.
@vriesk Logically, it doesn't make sense. If it is very humid, why would a fan pushing humid air help? But every old structure in semi-equatorial countries has old ceiling fans. These people aren't stupid. They have them because they work. Even in the height of the rainy season. @svenscholz
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@vriesk Actually, I think the combination of AC and a fan is really quite important. Because the cool air tends to hover at floor level, and a fan helps move it around a bit. @svenscholz
@Remittancegirl @svenscholz yep, that makes sense. Some top-mounted AC units have this mode of pushing the air horizontally all over the ceiling, which then somewhat uniformly falls down and mixes well, and the effect is much better than just blowing it down (with the same unit).
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@Remittancegirl @svenscholz yep, that makes sense. Some top-mounted AC units have this mode of pushing the air horizontally all over the ceiling, which then somewhat uniformly falls down and mixes well, and the effect is much better than just blowing it down (with the same unit).
@vriesk Yup. While it feels good at first to have the cold air blowing down on you, in the long run the whole room gets more comfortable if you have it blowing high across the ceiling and having a fan aimed at the floor to kick it back up and circulate the cold air once it falls. @svenscholz
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@vriesk Yup. While it feels good at first to have the cold air blowing down on you, in the long run the whole room gets more comfortable if you have it blowing high across the ceiling and having a fan aimed at the floor to kick it back up and circulate the cold air once it falls. @svenscholz
@Remittancegirl @svenscholz Which makes me really wonder why on Earth the floor-mounted internal AC units are so popular in the US.
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To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl You can also create a simple kind of AC by placing a fan in front of wet laundry. That will make your rooms more humid, though.
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@Remittancegirl You can also create a simple kind of AC by placing a fan in front of wet laundry. That will make your rooms more humid, though.
@VerenaRupp What a good tip! And it dries your laundry too!
It is very good for high, dry temps.
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@Remittancegirl @svenscholz Which makes me really wonder why on Earth the floor-mounted internal AC units are so popular in the US.
@vriesk I know, right? Do they not understand that hot air rises?@svenscholz
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@Remittancegirl You can also create a simple kind of AC by placing a fan in front of wet laundry. That will make your rooms more humid, though.
@VerenaRupp @Remittancegirl I was told this only works up to a given air humidity.
In those cases Putting a bottle of frozen water in a bowl in front of a fan seems to work better and also dehumidifies the air (again, hearsay, still need to try that)…
