Prepping for hot weather

[CandlelightGlow]

Hey, wondering if anyone has any advice about prepping for hot weather? Just thinking about how to cope in the growing extreme temperatures, especially for any suggestions about what to do in the event of no power/no water supply. We live in a gardenless maisonette so rely heavily on fans and would be interested to know if there are any prepper solutions to getting through high temperatures

For the hottest few days last year we managed to hang an old sheet over a south-facing window.
Low-tech, no-power solutions are all about keeping the heat out: exterior shutters, canopies or just sheets over the windows along with keeping the windows closed and curtains drawn until the temperatures cool in the evening.
Get a good through-draft of cool night air when possible.

There were some good threads last year. Worth looking up what people did.

There were some posts from flat dwellers.

Tell us more about your home..

Can you open windows in opposite sides of the flat to get airflow through? Keep windows closed and blinds/curtains drawn until the sun is the other side of the flat, then only open windows when the air is cooler outside than inside. Open all windows when the temperature drops in the evening.

I find it easier to adjust without a fan as a fan just makes me feel hot if I move away from it. Though I usually cope fine up to about 35 degrees.

Store a few days drinking water per person at least. If the power goes out then keep fridge and freezer shut unless absolutely necessary, the freezer will stay cold for a long time, I've had power outages in 40+ degree heat and it was fine.

I bought a balcony awning which is basically a heavy duty outdoor roller blind that can be flat or angled on ‘arms’ to cover my front window, which is 10ft wide and gets the sun from 12.00 to sunset.

I put a white sheet over a sprung pole against the glass of my bedroom window and it made a huge difference in the mornings.

We have an east-west facing house but lots of trees. Windows and curtains closed in the day, everything open once cooler at night, shut again early morning. The house generally feels cold in the summer when you walk into it.

If you use a fan put a wet towel over it and a bowl of melting ice in front.

I've just purchased a second hand Daewoo air con unit from eBay, 9000btu and it was £51. In great condition. Last year my bedroom ( third store with glass windows on two sides that get full sun) hot 48c and the Apex roof was actually hot to touch. So this year I am putting white vinyl directly onto the inside of my glass windows. Then my black out blind and then closed curtains. I will suck up the costs to run the Air con for 3-6 hours a day/evening. We also have a wall mounted fan in that bedroom too. Last year b and q did a huge black plastic air mover for £34 and we got one for the living room. It is BRILLIANT. We call him hurricane Harry and people were visiting us just to sit in front of it 😂

Yes I do love to do this, we have a hallway with same size windows on either end so I can make a lovely breeze!

@glasshole thank you, that sounds brilliant

Baggy Clothes - Oversized t-shirts, skirts, shorts (not tight ones) etc from the charity shop.
Window Coverings - Non-fitted bed sheets to cover windows that help to reflect and block the sun, unless you can afford and/or are able to apply UV window film and stick it to your windows.
Flannels/Small Towels - That you can wet and then put in the freezer to give you a nice cooling compress.
Air Con - Better to buy it before the summer as you have a better choice of stock before they run out. AppliancesDirect.co.uk do refurbished ones with a warranty for good prices.
Bottled Water - Super easy if you do online food shopping from a supermarket, as you can just add a multipack, or a big 5L bottle of water to your shop for £1.50 - £2.00 each time you do a shop. Space permitting in the house of course, but you can utilise places like under beds etc.
Tinned Food - Try to add a few extra tins of food into each food shop. Ideal for prepping in general, but if you're thinking for the hot weather, then focus on fruit and veg that are known to be "cooling" foods, such as tinned new potatoes and tinned pears.

I'm not prepping for water/electric loss specifically in the summer. Mine is more concerned with:

Keeping my house cool: extra blinds/curtains to keep the sun out; hanging a wet sheet over the back door; I've bought a portable aircon unit for my son's room; keeping cold water in the fridge; bought a new paddling pool; window blinds bought for cars; .

Keeping my garden watered: Water butts and more water butts; burying a sump in every pot so I can have a reservoir of water available as shown on Gardener's World last week.

Things I still need to do:
Buy a cheap gazebo.

Best thing I did last year was scour the shops in the midst of the heat wave and snag a pet cooling mat. Slipped it under my sheet so I was cool in bed at night. It was lovely and cold.

Dh is talking about getting an awning this year for the back door/window as it's a wall of south facing glass, similar to what Borgqueen mentioned.

We open windows on ground floor on north side and on top floor on south side to get airflow through the house. And close curtains/blinds on rest of south facing windows. Also, try to dump heat in morning from all windows open and then close most until the cooler evening again.

Make salads or cook outdoors on bbq to avoid adding heat.

Good call if you can. We keep our curtains closed on our south facing back. My in laws had one of those freestanding awning things during the pandemic so we could pop around for a socially distanced outside cup of tea during the pandemic. I've been mulling over getting one (or buying theirs off them) so I could cook in our little back garden a bit shielded from the elements.

Last year I hung an old super king size duvet over the outside of my patio doors, and stood the garden brolly in front of the kitchen window, until the sun had gone to the other side. It made a big difference.

I have a HUGE awning and I love it. I think it's classed as more marquee than awning though. It's 6mx4m and stays up for the vast majority of the year. Roof Only comes off in extreme wind. Really helps for drying clothes all year round and is really like another room outside. We do cook outside all year round too. Got a lovely cane suite out there too, great for napping on in the summer! It really helps to reduce the heat that comes into my living room as it covers two windows from the sun.

Just looked at portable awnings to put in front of our huge s facing windows and they aren't as expensive as I thought they'd be. We cant have fixed ones as we are in a conservation area.

Think I'll be getting one of those for the summer- just closing the curtains didn't help as the room just got stuffy.

Two sets of drink bottles for everyone. Fill one set 1/4 to 1/3 full and freeze overnight. Add cold water for school/work in the morning.

Separate set of hot water bottles that are filled frozen for night time.

Windscreen reflectors or emergency blankets to reflect heat out of the windows.

Extra Large made for purpose refillable water bottle with insulator cover that goes in the car on weekends in case of breakdown or flat tire in the heat.

Pet cooling mats are good under the bottom sheet for restless toddlers/preschoolers but need to be removed once they're asleep

Ice pack behind the pram liner if you need to take the dc out (not tiny babies obviously)

Mini freezable lunch bag that you can take those stick ice blocks for school pick up or just out an about when everyone reaches their limit

Cook early in the day before the temps get too high

We've just a had a couple of heatwaves with a few 38-40 days 🥵

Proper cooler towels (bought some in Florida). Best thing ever, for humans and pets. Dip them in cold water, but they feel dry and cold for a very long time.

There's a great podcast all about water, called Waterfall, which has an episode (episode 3) packed full of tips to beat the heat! Waterfall is on all the main podcast players. Here's the link to the episode on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/3-heat-beating-tips/id1535453330?i=1000576104392
Hope you find it useful!

Does anyone use solar powered fans, even really small ones?
I was thinking of keeping one in my car in the event of a break down but I don’t know if they’re any use

I would say the best thing for that situation is an umbrella in case you can't get to shade.

You can get things designed to shade the car from sun. Or keep something in the car you can throw over the windscreen and rear glass held down by the windscreen wipers.

A through draft is good.

If on the motorway you would need to get out so stuff to help with that when sitting on an embankment etc. Waterproof mat and brolly. Coats etc. Sun spray. Sun hats. Baby parasol for car seats? Kids reins.

Incidentally I have discovered that I can keep my shopping cool for a lot longer than expected by wrapping them in several layers:Wool blanket, acrylic blanket, winter coat, fleece, waterproof coat.

I live in a hot place and we had a power cut the other night. It was very hot and uncomfortable without the air con.

I’m planning to get a couple of battery operated fans in case it happens again.

Putting a flannel in a bowl of water beside the bed and wiping it over your arms and legs from time to time helps if there’s no con. Or a spray bottle of water.