Heat Beating Tips
- Maggie Shayne
- Jun 30
- 5 min read
It's hot. I know. Here are some tips for staying cool. Bonus! I dropped a cute new mini-trailer for one of my thriller series at the end.
We are entering a heat wave in the northeastern USA, and here at Casa-Shayne-Lewis, we’ve learned a few ways to keep the house a little bit cooler. So to set this up, we do not have central air in our century-old farmhouse. We do have two freestanding air conditioners, one in the living room, one in the bedroom. I run them as seldom as possible. One thing I know for sure is that the temperature near trees is always several degrees cooler than it is not near trees. Trees are nature’s air conditioning unites. They take in the hot air. It travels all through them, down into their roots deep in the cold earth, as that take what they need. When they exhale it again, it’s not just oxygen, it’s oxygen that’s been cooled by the earth. So the spaces under and around trees are the coolest places to be.
Here’s how to keep the cool air in and the warm air out.
Cover the windows. Close the curtains, blinds, drapes, and shades if you have heavy, solid ones. In the master bedroom there are double glass doors with built-in blinds, but even when closed, a lot of heat and light come through. So during heatwaves, I tack a heavy blanket right over that door from the inside. Keeps the room at least 5 degrees cooler. And we don’t use those doors anyway.
At night, LATE at night, when the temperature outside gets a few degrees lower than the temperature inside the house, OPEN all the windows. I opened mine a little after midnight last night, for example. I could feel when I opened them a refreshing breeze blowing in. BUT REMEMBER to close them again as soon as the sun rises, and close the curtains too. Also, be aware this does not work well when the humidity is high, because you’re letting the humidity in, and that makes it feel hotter even if it’s not.
Curtain off unused spaces. I am alone in the house all day, and have no reason to go upstairs. So during the day, to keep the area I’m actually using cooler with less energy, I drape a bedsheet in the staircase. Heat rises, so anywhere it can go up, it will do so.
If you use AC, you can add an electric fan right in front of the device to spread the cold air further through your space.
If you have an outdoor grill, try to do as much of your cooking on that as you can. If you have to cook indoors, and have a fan/vent overtop of your range, make sure you run it while cooking. It vents heat right outside.
Lights and televisions, and even computers, give off a lot of heat when they are turned on. So keep them turned off when you don’t need them.
Drink more water. And if you live where there’s not a shortage, take more showers. Don’t dry your hair. It’ll keep you cooler if it stays wet.
Outdoors, cover your skin, particularly arms, shoulders, thighs and the tops of your feet. A thin, white cotton shirt with sleeves is an excellent idea. If your feet are exposed and you’re out in the sun for a bit, the thin skin on their tops will burn faster than almost any other body part, so wear shoes that cover them on those occasions.
Hats, hats, hats. We must protect our heads and our faces! Heatstroke is a very real thing we don’t want to risk. So wear lightweight hats with brims that shade your face. Baseball type hats aren’t the best choice for this, because they only shade the front, so your face is okay, and your head stays cooler, but the neck and ears and nape are fully exposed.
Oh, ear sunburns hurt!
Zinc Oxide Ointment is a miracle skincare product. I got pretty badly sunburned at a graduation party Sunday, because I wasn’t paying attention to how long I exposed my arms/shoulders. I came home and slid into my short, silky little robe I wear around the house, and it hurt where it rested on my shoulders. Went and looked in the mirror and they were very red and starting to hurt. I immediately found a tube of Desitin. Yes, the stuff they use for diaper rash. It has more zinc in it than zinc ointment does. I smeared it all over my shoulders and upper arms. When I got up the next morning, they were barely sore at all, and the red was already fading. I smeared on a second batch, and that took care of it. You can use zinc ointment or Desitin BEFORE you get the sunburn too. It protects the skin from the sun, and its white color reflects it away to boot.
Do your outside work before noon, and then get in out of the sun. The hottest part of the day is always in the afternoon. Here where I live it tends to peak around 3 p.m. If you can make it work, do your outside stuff at night, or in the wee hours. Try to stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day, from noon or one p.m. until sundown. I know that’s not possible for everyone.
If you have to work outside, have lots of water, take frequent breaks in the shade if possible, or in a vehicle with the A.C. on to cool your body down.
Seek out public spaces that are cool. Public libraries, malls, small businesses, diners, anyplace you can get away with taking a break from the heat.
In France, this heatwave has killed 1000 people. Few have air conditioning in their homes there, and some residents were checking into hotels that did have A.C. just to escape the burn. That’s an extreme solution, but if you can afford it, it’s better than sweltering.
Know the Signs of Heatstroke
You start to feel a little bit shaky, queasy, and/or light-headed. It can feel similar to a sudden drop in blood sugar, if you’ve ever experienced that. Your speech can be slurred, you might feel confused.
As things progress, your body temperature will rise but it’s unlikely you’ll be checking it. 104º Fahrenheit / 40º Celsius or higher is the official “heatstroke” number.
Heat Exhaustion
This comes before heatstroke, but it’s that same thing, your body temp is getting too high. Same symptoms, dizziness, sweating, weakness, nausea, with headache and a high body temp, under 104.
Dehydration
Dehydration is less serious yet, but can lead to heat exhaustion and heatstroke if you ignore it. Your mouth feels dry and sticky. You’re extra tired. You’re not peeing as frequently as usual and when you do it’s dark yellow. Your BP is low, and you might experience muscle cramps and/or chills. Also notice if should be sweating but you’re not. If dehydration gets severe, the symptoms amp up to dizziness, rapid heartbeat, or fainting.
If you work in the heat you need a ten minute break in the shade or A.C. for every hour you work, and you need a drink of water every 20 minutes, whether you’re thirsty or not.
They used to say to avoid caffeinated drinks because they believed caffeine was dehydrating. Turns out that’s not the case. It’s been disproven. HOWEVER, the best way to stay hydrated is to drink WATER.
How to Help Mitigate the Warming Globally
Use as little electricity as you possibly can.
Burn as little gas/coal/fuel oil etc. as you possibly can.
Eat as little animal protein as you possibly can.
Use as little AI as you possibly can.
Elect leaders who believe in science.
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