• Home
  • About Off The Grid
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
Saturday, May 17, 2025
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
No Result
View All Result
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
No Result
View All Result
Off The Grid News
Home How-To

12 “Cool Ways” To Survive Off-Grid Without Air Conditioning

by Tricia Drevets
in How-To
Print Print
off-grid without air conditioning

off-grid without air conditioning

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on TruthEmail Article

Since I am living in a century-old home off-grid without air conditioning during what is shaping up to be the hottest summer on record in the Pacific Northwest, I am learning some lessons on staying cool.

First, we need to take heat seriously. Heat can be a killer. Heat waves kill more people each year in the United States than all of the other natural disasters combined. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 400 Americans die from heat-related illnesses in a typical year. That number is more than deaths from winter storms, extreme cold, floods, lightning, tornadoes and hurricanes put together.

So what are some low-cost, low-energy ways to keep cool– or at least somewhat comfortable – during a heat wave, off-grid without air conditioning. Here are a dozen “hot” ideas:

1. Change your activity schedule. Whenever possible, perform chores and other outside activities during the coolest part of the day. You may need to start earlier or end later, depending on when you get your cooler temperatures, but it will be well worth it.

2. Stay hydrated. Your body gets dehydrated much more quickly during extreme heat. Sweating, the human body’s main cooling mechanism, uses your body’s water. Our perspiration does not evaporate easily when the air itself is full of moisture, so we feel hotter on humid days.

Get An Endless Supply Of Free Electricity From The Sun

To compensate, you need to drink more water in hot weather and even more in hot, humid weather. If you feel thirsty, you are already on your way to becoming dehydrated. This summer, I have gotten into the habit of taking a water bottle with me pretty much everywhere I go.

3. Use a spray bottle. And fill it with water or a damp washcloth, damp bandana or commercially-sold “cooling towels” to help reduce your body temperature. Apply them on your forehead, behind your neck and on your feet for quick relief.

4. Wear loose, natural-fiber clothing in light colors. According to Cotton Council International, loose cotton clothing allows air circulation, which helps absorb perspiration and helps keep your body dry and cool. Light colors help light to pass through the fabric instead of being absorbed by the fabric. This is one of the  off-grid without air conditioning methods.

5. Use window coverings. I love summer sunshine, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing this time of year. Keep shades and curtains drawn to reduce heat in your home when the sun is out.

Heat Wave6. Create cross ventilation. Keep windows open – especially windows that are on opposite sides of the home – to creates cross breezes. Install screens on windows and doors to keep insects out. As the day heats up, shut some windows to retain some of the cooler air. This is a off-grid without air conditioning method for survival.

7. Use fans. Window fans, ceiling fans and room fans don’t cool the air, but they do help air to circulate and therefore, provide relief. To cool the air a bit, try making an old-fashioned “swamp cooler” by placing a bucket or pan of ice or ice water in front of a fan. Invest in some battery-operated fans.

8. Minimize use of appliances. Your oven will heat up your kitchen. Limit its use by having cold suppers or by grilling outdoors. Dry your laundered clothing items on a line to reduce use of your clothes dryer. Hand wash and let dishes air dry as well rather than running your dishwasher.

Emergency Backup Power That You Can Depend On. 

9. Reduce use of certain bulbs and lighting fixtures. Halogen bulbs, for instance, can generate a great deal of heat. LED lights and compact fluorescents will keep your home cooler.

10. Cool off in a pool or bathtub. Even a child’s wading pool can be effective in cooling you off considerably. If you feel silly sitting in a plastic pool, you can feel results by soaking your feet in the cool water for a while.

11. Eat lighter. There’s a reason we like to eat more fruit and salad during hot weather. They help hydrate us. Leafy greens, cucumbers, celery, tomatoes and watermelon are about 90 percent water, so they can help keep your body cool.

Also, you may want to turn up the heat – in your mouth, that is. Curries, chillies and other spicy foods can enhance circulation and cause you to sweat, which helps to cool the body down.

12. Let yourself build up a tolerance. Do you ever wonder how people have survived heat waves before air conditioning? By confining ourselves to air-conditioned homes, offices and stores, we have changed the way our bodies respond to heat. When you allow your body to experience heat and sweating, you can actually become accustomed to the heat. (It doesn’t mean you enjoy it; it means you can tolerate it.)

Here are some other quick tips for off-grid without air conditioning:

  • Take cool showers.
  • Decrease bathroom heat and humidity by running the bathroom fan after you shower.
  • Let your hair air dry for a cooling effect.
  • Close your fireplace flue to avoid losing cool air or introducing more hot air from the chimney.

Finally, here’s a word to all of the iced tea and iced coffee lovers out there. While the time-honored advice has been to avoid caffeinated beverages when the mercury soars, that thinking has changed.

According to the Institute of Medicine, caffeinated beverages supply us with more water than their caffeine causes us to lose. So if they help you stay hydrated this summer, drink up!

Do You Know The Trick To Keep Food Cool When The Power’s Out? Read More Here.

12 ‘Cool Ways’ To Survive Off-Grid Without Air Conditioning

ShareTweetShareSend

Related Posts

Safe And Effective Ways to Defend Your Home From Ants Without Using Poisons

Safe And Effective Ways to Defend Your Home From Ants Without Using Poisons

by Bill Heid

As warm weather rolls in, so do the ants—marching through your kitchen, marching along baseboards, or trailing across patios and...

The Secret Lives of Ticks: How They Find You and Natural Ways to Fight Back

The Secret Lives of Ticks: How They Find You and Natural Ways to Fight Back

by Bill Heid

It's a common experience to return from a day outdoors and discover a tick nestled in your skin or your...

How to Use Diatomaceous Earth This Spring As A Powerful Natural Insect Shield

How to Use Diatomaceous Earth This Spring As A Powerful Natural Insect Shield

by Bill Heid

When Spring Wakes Up… So Do The Bugs With longer days and warmer temperatures, spring brings a welcome burst of...

Next Post
Home Loan Strategies For First-Time Borrowers

Home Loan Strategies For First-Time Borrowers

Please login to join discussion

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

The City Slicker’s Guide to Bushcraft Methods: It’s What’s For Dinner

The City Slicker’s Guide to Bushcraft Methods: It’s What’s For Dinner

12 Aluminum Foil Hacks That Will Make Your Life Easier

12 Aluminum Foil Hacks That Will Make Your Life Easier

Celebrating the Real You

Celebrating the Real You

TRENDING STORIES

  • bubonic plague

    Is Another Bubonic Plague Pandemic On The Horizon?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Waco Fertilizer Plant Explosion & A Look Back On The “Waco Massacre”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Make Yourself 3 Times More Likely To Survive A Heart Attack

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • AI Surveillance Of Shoppers: Walmart’s Newest Tool To Grab Your Data

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Apocalyptic’ Microchip Implants Are Here – And Being Inserted Into People’s Hands

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Subscribe to our Insider Newsletter

Huge discounts on off-the-grid gear and life saving supplements.






‘Off The Grid News’ is an independent, weekly email newsletter and website that is crammed full of practical information on living and surviving off the grid. Advice you’ll never hear from the mainstream media.

  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Extreme Survival
  • Survival Gardening
  • Off-Grid Foods
  • Worldview
  • Natural Health
  • Survival Hunting
  • Privacy
  • Financial
  • Current Events
  • Self Defense
  • Home Defense
  • Pain-Free Living
  • Miscellaneous
  • Off Grid Videos

© Copyright 2025 Off The Grid News.  All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
  • Videos

© Copyright 2025 Off The Grid News.  All Rights Reserved.