DIY Keeping Cool During a Power Outage

With Florida’s notorious storms, a power outage seems to happen every other week. However, the stormy weather shouldn’t force you to sweat through a night in your home. Learn DIY tips for keeping cool when the power goes out, from your trusted HVAC friends at A+ Air Conditioning & Refrigeration.

Common Causes of Power Outages

A power outage can occur anytime there is an interruption in the energy company’s system or equipment. This happens most frequently during weather-related incidents such as lightning, ice, wind, tornadoes, hurricanes, and rain or flooding. Vehicle or construction accidents and animal mischief can also cause power outages. Electrical blackouts can also happen, however, these events are not very common as they are mostly due to a major energy company electrical equipment failure.

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Ways to Keep Cool in a Power Outage

A power outage during summer in Florida can turn deadly quick. According to the CDC, 31 percent of the 2,000 U.S. residents who died from weather-related incidents were due to excessive heat, heat stroke, sun stroke, or all. Moreover, 63 percent of those deaths were due to excessive natural cold, hypothermia, or both. (The remaining percentage died due to other weather-related circumstances). This is why we want to help you stay cool when the air conditioning goes out with the electricity using these DIY ideas!

• Stay hydrated! We know this may be obvious, but sometimes we forget just how important our hydration is to our body temperature. Drink cold water, if possible.
• Close off the warmest rooms. If other rooms in your home are normally warmer than others be sure to close them off as much as possible to ensure that the hot air doesn’t seep into the rest of the house.
• Try this DIY Solar Powered Air Cooler! If you’re reading this before a power outage occurs, run out to gather the materials for this do-it-yourself project.
• Create your own “swamp cooler.” (Perfect for Gainesville, and only if you have a battery-powered fan!) Fill a cooler or ice bucket of some form with ice, then strategically place the fan behind so that the air blows cool air into the home or onto a person’s sweaty body.
• Wear thin, loose fitting clothing. This is another maybe obvious tip to keep cool when you lose air conditioning, however this tip will definitely help. Try a bathing suit for optimal breathability!
• Hang wet sheets. Hanging wet sheets as a method for staying cool dates all the way back to the ancient Egyptians. Damp sheets or towels hung throughout a home, or even placed on the bed for sleeping at night, cool through evaporation.
• If the sun is out, be sure to close the shades. Avoid direct sunlight on yourself and your home as much as possible. Also be sure to open all windows in the home at night.

Contact A Plus Air Conditioning and Refrigeration

Stay safe and cool out there, friends, especially during a power outage. Contact us anytime for more DIY keeping cool tips or to schedule service for your HVAC or refrigeration systems.