Keeping Cool in the Summer Without Power

Keeping cool in the summer without power can be very hard. Being stuck in your home with no electricity in the middle of the summer can feel like you’re baking in an oven. It might even feel like what you picture hell itself is like. How can you possibly survive such desert-like temperatures long enough to tell the tale?

While this scenario certainly bites, there are a few measures that you can take to help keep your family cooler and remaining less irritable. Here are a few ways we’ve come up with to help you to keep cool in the summertime when you’re in a power outage. 

The Items I have Stocked

• Cooling Towel Neck Wrap Chilly Mini Frogg (Size 3″ by 29″)
• Frogg Toggs Chilly Bean Cooling Hat
• FROGG TOGGS Chilly Pad Cooling Towel (Size 33″ x 13″)
• Mission Cooling Neck Gaiter (I stock these for people who come to visit me because I live in the desert, hikers must have these)
• MISSION Cooling Bucket Hat- UPF 50
• Indoor/Outdoor Battery Camping Fan with LED Lantern 
• Cooling Pads for Adults
• Cooling Pads for Pets
• Cooling Pads for Small Pets

Keeping Cool

Wear a Wet Bandanna

One of the most effective ways of staying cool and lowering your body temperature is by cooling off your head. Your brain has a section called the hypothalamus that actually works like a thermostat. Wearing a wet bandanna will work wonders by cooling not only your head but trick your hypothalamus into cooling off the rest of your body.   

Drink Plenty of Water

Don’t take lightly the importance of drinking plenty of liquids in the summer. Drinking plenty of water is not only good for your overall health, but actually works as a coolant in your body. It helps bring your warm body temperature back down to a normal temperature more quickly. 

Put a Damp Towel in Front of a Portable Battery-operated Fan

Since there’s no electricity in the near foreseeable future, how about making sure you have several battery-operated fans on-hand for when the power goes out? Hanging a cool damp towel in front of these fans will help circumvent cool air instead of just blowing hot air around. 

Build a Wind Tunnel 

Having only one battery-operated fan will prove a struggle to cool down a room in the summertime. If you have two to tango, now you’re getting somewhere. Put one in a window on one side of the house and have it blowing in from the outside, while the other one is facing outward in a window on the opposite end of the room or home. This will create a wind tunnel that will help the air flow better, instead of sitting stagnant. 

Close Off Warm Rooms

If there are rooms in your home that are holding a lot of heat and are not used regularly, close off the room from the rest of the house. This includes attics, storage rooms and other rooms in the house that might not have good insulation. Keeping the doors open just invites more heat for your home to take on and absorb 

Avoid Opening Up the Outside Door as Frequently

This one can be a battle if you have children. Kids love going in and out all summer long, sometimes leaving the door ajar. Make sure everyone in the home understands the importance of keeping doors and windows shut during the heat of the day. 

Black Curtains Come in Handy

While black or dark curtains might not be your color or shade of decor, having an extra set during the summer might not be a bad idea. Keeping rooms darker will block out the sunlight and help absorb the rays. Sticking with white or lighter colors allows the sunshine and heat in. Certainly, something you don’t want when the power is out for days at a time. 

Open Your Windows at Night

When the sun has disappeared behind the horizon, the temperatures outside generally begin to go down as night comes on. Take advantage of this and open up all your windows of your home. Besides, you can’t sleep in a house that has no airflow. You’d be miserable. When the sun begins coming back up in the morning, it’s time to shut them again. Consider getting window screens, if you don’t have them already. Also, be sure you feel safe before you expose your family to the outside world with open windows, it may not be in the cards even though you want to do it.

Don’t Sleep Upstairs

In science class, everyone learned that hot air rises, while cooler temperatures settle to the bottom. It might be unfortunate for you if all your family members’ rooms are on the second level. Temperatures might be a whole 10-15 degrees warmer in your bedroom than on the first floor or basement when you have no power. Your family might have to camp out on the couches for a few nights. 

Sleep Downstairs

Under normal circumstances, you might never even consider sleeping down in your basement. But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. Most basements remain pretty cool, even in power outage situations.  

Get a Cooling Pillow and Sheets

Another way of getting a good night of sleep when your house is a hundred degrees is by having a cooling pillow and sheets. Now that’s a great way of staying comfortable. 

Cook Outside

With the power out, you won’t have a lot of ways to prepare your food that needs to be served hot or warm. So cooking your food on a grill outside to keep the heat out of your home won’t be hard for you to consider. 

Wear Lighter Clothing 

During a power outage in the summer, you want your clothes to be as light as possible. Stay clear of polyester clothing during a power outage. Choosing clothes made with cotton, linen or silk are your best options for staying cool. 

Get Naked 

Hey, you’re trying to get comfortable here. While you might not find yourself getting down to your underwear and walking around the house on normal occasions, this power outage might be the exception. Take off those socks too, which hold a lot of heat on your feet. Be sure to cover the windows so you don’t scare the neighbors!!

Use a Spray Bottle for Instant Refreshment

Having a spray bottle filled with water would be a huge relief to spray on your skin when you’re trying to beat the heat. 

Try Using Peppermint Essential Oil

Last,  but certainly not least, try using peppermint essential oil to cool down your skin. It has a cooling sensation that will leave your skin feeling minty-fresh. 

Final Word

These are several ways of staying cool in the summer when you run into a power outage situation in your home. Tell us about your power outage story, if you have one. If you’ve been left without power in the summer before, what other ways did you find for staying cool when your AC was not an option?  Keep prepping, my friends. May God bless this world, Linda