10 Off Grid Ways to Beat The Heat
Morgan Rogue 07.13.22
We lived off the grid in an RV in the high desert of AZ for a while and learned a lot about staying cool. The nice thing about living in the high desert is, even though it did get hot, we rarely had 100 degree days. Even so, the desert is still hot, no matter how you slice it.
The intense heat has been hitting just about everyone, even in places it shouldn’t be that hot and in places where it should be hot, they’re breaking records. It’s brutal temps and without air conditioning, it’s simply not bearable for many people.
Not to mention plenty of electric companies have warned of rolling blackouts because of everyone using their air conditioners and overloading the system.
It’s wild to think there would be blackouts right when we need the electricity the most, but that’s the truth of our infrastructure.
I want you to be as prepared for intense heat as you are for extreme cold.
Here are my best tips for surviving hot weather without electricity:
Get a generator – listen, just because the grid you’re tied to isn’t working, doesn’t mean you have to be completely without power. Start looking into solar generators and gas generators or even whole house generators or whole house solar power. Keep in mind that air conditioners do take a lot of power, so the type of generator or power supply you run will dictate whether or not you can run any type of standard air conditioner, even the portable types.
Fan up – get all the fans, hook them up to a generator. Or get battery powered fans and have plenty of batteries on hand, or rechargeable batteries and a solar panel. Moving air is better than still air.
Make an air conditioner – I’ve made a swamp cooler, which is good for dry areas, and another type of DIY air conditioner made from a cooler that is good for humid areas. You can make your own that takes a little bit of wattage, but can provide at least a little bit of relief. Take it to the coolest room in your home and close the door.
Be active in the morning and evenings – The morning and evenings are the best times to be active. The rest of the day should be as inactive as possible, chilling in the shade outside or…(read the next tip)…
Get in the water – even if it’s a little kiddy pool, fill it up and just chill out. Even better if you have. river or lake nearby that you can just chill in.
Drink lots of water and electrolytes – water is more important than food during extreme heat. Even more so, because you’ll most likely be sweating a lot, you’ll need electrolytes.
Cotton is good – while cotton kills in winter, it’s a savior in summer. As you sweat, the cotton absorbs your sweat and keeps that water against your body to help cool you down.
Black out curtains – install blackout curtains on anything with glass to keep the sun out as best as you can. You could also install little awnings over your windows to act as shade, which can make a huge difference.
Insulation – if you can invest in some extra insulation for your home, along with double pane windows, these are going to be huge assets to your home keeping a little cooler than the outside. Sometimes just 10 degrees can make all the difference.
Adapt – most people go from one air conditioned space to the other, not allowing your body time to adjust to the hotter temps. If you live in a hot area, I recommend spending as much time outdoors as possible to adapt to the hot weather. Because even though it’s hot, you’ll be far more able to adapt to conditions without air conditioning if you are already experienced with spending time outdoors in the heat. Our AC is set to 77-79 in the summer because of how adapted we are. It’s fine to enjoy the air conditioning, but we should also be spending some time outdoors a few days a week, to properly adapt to those conditions, even if it’s just sitting outside in the shade, that’s perfect.
People lived thousands and thousands of years without air conditioning and they found clever ways to figure it out, mostly because they had to as AC wasn’t even a consideration. If you want to take the extra mile, look into stone and rock homes, as well as earth homes, as they’re some of the most efficient homes you can have in hot areas.
Stay cool!
