Baby it's (not) cold outside

[ShooShooBaby]

So now that winter is mostly over and I've gone broke from my winter oil heating bill (http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=24322&highlight=baby+cold+outside), I'm trying to figure out how to best manage summer air conditioning.

Does anyone have experience with using a portable air conditioner as opposed to a window unit? I see the newer indoor portable units don't need to have the water dumped but instead it gets recycled. I'm looking for the most efficient and effective way to keep cool, and also the least noisy! The new window unit I bought last year is advertised as "whisper quiet." Yeah, like 23,456 people whispering. Hmph.

Any suggestions?

(I rent my house so installing central air is not an option).

i grew up in southern california and have never had any sort of air conditioner, but here are a few non-air conditioner cooling down tips. i'm sure people have other ones as well...
- identify spots where you can direct air through the house with fans
- keep blinds closed during the morning and open things up at night.
- wear less clothing in the house
- drink lots of cold water!

 

[SamMarlowPI]

got 2 inches of snow here the other day
i suggest opening all your windows...or getting a swamp cooler
in your car too...even though it reduces gas mileage...its very minimal though...

 

[Brinybay]

here are a few non-air conditioner cooling down tips.

- wear less clothing in the house

...and send us pictures when you do! (Oh, I'm a BAD boy!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Electric fan behind a bowl of ice cubes.

Cold washcloth applied to the back of the neck.

Cold lettuce leaf worn on top of the head under a straw hat.

They all work, and they're all cheap!

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Cool. And thanks. But I'm definitely going to be using a/c, it's just a question of which is the best unit out there is anyone knows. Even in Maine we have days that are above 80 complete with air quality warnings. I like that new a/c units have air filters to help with that. The thermal curtains I bought this winter will work great for keeping the sun out to reduce the heat inside to help keep power usage down.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Cold lettuce leaf worn on top of the head under a straw hat.

Pic!!!!!!

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Winter over? According to the calendar, yep, it's been spring for a month and two days...but Seattle's gotten snow as recently as YESTERDAY...at least here in the suburban foothills (roughly 500').

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Cold lettuce leaf worn on top of the head under a straw hat.

Wasn't this in a wretched old horror,(comedy) movie? lol "Plan 9 from Outer Space" maybe?
I remember a dude that had been zombified by alien invaders and forced to wear a lettuce leaf on the back of his neck. Uhhmmm,..for some weird reason. I assume to distinguish him from the rest of us normal non-alien possessed humans.
He was always trying to call some guy named "Zontar" on Venus via a short wave radio.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

Winter over? According to the calendar, yep, it's been spring for a month and two days...but Seattle's gotten snow as recently as YESTERDAY...at least here in the suburban foothills (roughly 500').

same here at 2800'...

 

[Hondo]

Feels like spring time, allergy season is here (Ah-choo!)
cold one day, then warm the next (low 80s) Spring is here!
I hated those window mounted A/C as they were nice, cool air,
but loud and gave me a head ache.

Nice title for this thread, I was just thinking about that song.
Baby its cold outside, who was it first Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra,
And Doris Day? I enjoyed that girl in ELF movie singing it, sweet

 

[rebelgtp]

Winter gone? HA....HA I say! I woke up this morning to snow on the ground, winter still has its cold steely grip firmly on us and I doubt it will go down without a fight!

 

[warbird]

80 here today and all this week. A bit overcast today.

Monday brings a cold snap with temps in the mid-60's.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Monday brings a cold snap with temps in the mid-60's.

Oh, in Maine that's what we call "summah." lol

 

[carebear]

It was in the 40's 3 days ago. 90% of the melt-off was done.

Yesterday morning the snow started and we ended up with over a foot in <24 hours.

Of course all the snow-removal equipment had been warehoused and the street-cleaners brought out.

:eusa_doh:

 

[PrettySquareGal]

It was in the 40's 3 days ago. 90% of the melt-off was done.

Yesterday morning the snow started and we ended up with over a foot in <24 hours.

Of course all the snow-removal equipment had been warehoused and the street-cleaners brought out.

:eusa_doh:

That. Rots. Seriously. I'm kind of thinking that can happen here. In May. It's happened before!

 

[SamMarlowPI]

Winter gone? HA....HA I say! I woke up this morning to snow on the ground, winter still has its cold steely grip firmly on us and I doubt it will go down without a fight!

no kidding...same here...

 

[dhermann1]

I believe the flaw in the logic of the ice cube theory is that you'll still use electricity making the cubes. As far as the portable a/c units, my recollection is that the portables are decidedly less energy efficient.
In my new place in Da Bronx, where I finally moved last Thursday, they have a fairly old circa 1939 heating system. The result is that the other night, when it was 50 degrees outside, but extremely warm inside, the heat just came POURING out of the radiator. The valves have obviously not been touched in decades, so I couldn't turn them off. For a while I had the a/c blasting, with the windows open at the same time. Luckily the heat finally went off. I guess I'll have to have a plumber in some time this summer to address that.

 

[nobodyspecial]

Move to Minnesota, it's snowing today.

 

[carebear]

I believe the flaw in the logic of the ice cube theory is that you'll still use electricity making the cubes. As far as the portable a/c units, my recollection is that the portables are decidedly less energy efficient.

Steal the ice from a neighbor or buy a bag at the store.

Actually, your freezer runs 24/7 at a constant temperature whether you are freezing water or not. Water for homes up here is not metered but is a flat rate.

Making ice is basically a sunken cost already, with a homemade swamp cooler, you are also humidifying.