I was wondering how this heat wave it affecting people here. I hope everyone's alright.

I was especially concerned about greg living in his remote, solar powered dome and having to do a lot of outside work. I hope his power system lets him run a freezer for cold water and an AC enough.

Also, I'm hoping the heat doesn't frak up his crops he depends on.

BTW, if you've got any special tips on beating the heat, share them. I just bought a couple special "sweat wicking" shirts that, honestly, seem to make me feel cooler in the heat. I guess that special sweat wicking effect might work.

I'm not getting a kickback for advertising them, just trying to help my fellow EABA fans.

BTW, having HAD to run my AC constantly lately, I'm actually afraid of my electric bill...

Air conditioning. Unless I'm planning to shower anyway. Nothing like a brisk 4 mile walk in 105 degrees...

Solitude (aka BTRC home base) is not air-conditioned. Solar panels can't handle that much extra load, and evaporative coolers won't work in the humidity (I checked). So, it has literally been 100°F (and humid) in the house for the past few days, even with a white roof and fans running full blast. As I am typing this, it is 9am Saturday and my office is 90°F and humid. I have two fans less than a meter from me, and that makes it tolerable, though I still go through about a gallon of Gatorade a day. More if I have to do outside work.

Fortunately, the new tower being built has one sub-grade level, and even though unfinished, I can go there for a respite. Plus, we have an above-ground pool and its water temperature does not reach boiling until at least mid-afternoon. I hit that about 5x per day. Not having neighbors means I don't have to worry about a swimsuit, I just jump in, get my body temp down to 2 digits (F), and then go back in front of the fans.

Even with this, it is still brutal and cuts way back on my intellectual output. I actually have a very poor heat tolerance, though it has improved (I bought an Experience). It's just hard to think in the heat, and some of my computing requires the increased horsepower of the desktop unit, whose cooling fans have managed to keep CPU temps in the 60°C range.

Anways, I'm off on a weekend trip to an old friend's place for some gaming. And he has a/c...

admin wrote:


Greg. I think you may have just managed to single handedly kill the idea of solar power as a practical alternative energy source. "No air conditioning with solar power?! Fuhgeddabouddit!!!
admin wrote:


Thanks for that image.
admin wrote:


Hope you have a good time.

I don't know if you considered it, but I think there are things called dehumidifiers that take humidity out of the air. Could you use some of those to lower your indoor humidity to a more bearable level if the solar system can handle the load?

The funny thing is I was wondering if the higher heat had actually driven you into your dome where you were working in the what I'd assumed was the AC environment, which is why you were getting so much done lately. So much for that idea.

I hope the heat and drought hasn't hurt whatever you plant and harvest. I really can't imagine surviving this heatwave without AC.

I also hope you notice I quoted you very minimally.

Man, you totally have my sympathies.

With the design of your place, I don't suppose a window unit would be an option, would it? Even if you can cool a room or two, that would help.

I grew up in an older home in east Texas where it regularly hit 100-110 in the summers. We had a window unit in the living room, and later one each in a couple of the bedrooms and in the kitchen. But when I was young it was just the one in the living room. There was nothing that felt so good as coming in from playing in the heat and just standing right in front of the nice cool air...

Hmm, I never realized a dome would be hard to put windows in until now. I know it could be done, but it would be harder than puyting them in normal walls.

Hmm, I've always wondered about external thermal insulation designed to be easily flipped over so that in summer you flip the reflective side outwards to reflect heat away, and in the fall you reverse it to let heat in but reflect it back inward when it tries to leave. I guess if it were feasibly greg would have it, so it must not be.

Edit: BTW, I just saw this and thought it belonged here:

Judge Death wrote:


What is this "Heat Wave" thing?



We're worrying about the wettest July in 60 years or so, and some of the coldest days I can recall in recent years ... and my classroom heater isn't working



Phil

So what planet are you posting from?

Northern Beaches (Manly Vale, specifically) of Sydney, NSW, Australia, Terra, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy, the Universe



I remember when I was in the US this time last year I kept on reading about this or that city/state having terrific heat waves ... either ending just before I arrived or starting just after I left.



And, of course, we have hotter weather here when its really summer



Y'know, just about the time Greg's place is covered in snow and he has to use a snowlplough <grin> to keep the road clear



Phil

Rain? I don't remember this...rain...

"A prolonged stretch of exceptionally dry weather is causing the drought across Texas and the lower Colorado River basin to intensify.

The nine months from October 2010 through June 2011 have been the driest for that nine-month period in Texas since 1895, when the state began keeping rainfall records. Across most of the Hill Country and the Austin area, rainfall since last October is between 12 and 16 inches below normal. Across the eastern counties of Central Texas and the middle Texas coast, rainfall is running more than 20 inches below normal."

We're currently in a "D4-Exceptional Drought", which is the highest category. Apart from the occasional brief shower, we've really had nothing since October. It was 104F yesterday.

But at least we have air conditioning...(even if we've had to have it repaired twice.)