These tips can help you save on energy bills, improve your comfort in times of extreme heat, and even avoid heat stroke and heat exhaustion in extreme weather - which may become more frequent due to climate change.
Preparation
Planning well ahead gets the best results - prepare the home or office with passive solar design.
If the building is already built, apply passive solar renovations, which include some relatively easy changes:
- painting in a different color,
- Planting shade trees
- Applying heat-resistant film to windows,
- thermal curtains
- awnings
Personal protection
- Improve the efficiency of air conditioning by applying it to a smaller space. Curtains around a bed or across a large room can reduce the effective size.
- When other measures are not enough, applying cold water or ice to areas where blood vessels approach the surface:
- wrists
- side of front of neck, under the jaw, where the carotid artery may be visible.
- tops of feet if circulation is good.