5 Tips For Staying Cool When Your AC Won’t

Summer is winding down, but it isn’t too early to start thinking about keeping your home cool for next year! Here are 5 ways to stay cool when your AC won’t.I’m sure we’ve all been there. Your AC is running and running and running, but the temperature in your home isn’t getting any lower. We’ve had this happen a couple of times in the past and it was always a quick fix, until THIS YEAR.

My husband can fix just about everything, but our AC had him stumped. It ended up being a combination of two different parts going out at the same time. My brother in law used to repair AC units for a living so between the two of them, they were able to figure it out through a lot of trial and error.

Not everyone is a mechanic by trade and can problem solve on their own so it is important to have an excellent repair service to go to as soon as you sense a problem.

Living in California where the summer (and even early fall) temperatures reach in the triple digits, it is easy to become overheated fast. I know I’m not alone in dealing with this and would love to know what other have done to beat the heat when this happens in their home.

Here are 5 things we did the two weeks that our unit was on the fritz.

1. Box fans and ceiling fans. We have ceiling fans in every room of the house and a box fan in one of the bedrooms that blows throughout the upstairs hall. If we happen to have a breeze of any sort on a summer night this combination is pretty good at cooling off the house while we sleep.
2. Be aware of windows and doors. My kids are fantastic at leaving the sliding glass door open, not only letting in mosquitos and flies, but the heat too. Reminders about only opening the doors and windows when necessary is a good idea.
3. Water. Drink lots of water! We have a water cooler in our kitchen that we rent and have water delivered to it each month. It comes out cold, ice cold. It’s amazing how quickly a glass of cold water and sitting under a fan can cool you off.
4. Avoid heating up the house during the afternoon. This is a big one for me since I use my oven pretty much every day! Salads for dinner, quick dinners on the stove, and less baked goods keep the house cooler. We also did a lot of grilling outside for summer dinners.
5. Cool treats and pool time. We have a chest freezer in the garage that I keep stocked with popsicles throughout the summer. The kids love the cool treats as they run through the sprinklers and playing in the kiddie pool outside. I’m pretty sure that if I had just put on my big girl panties and sat in the kiddie pool with them that I cold have kept cooler those two weeks, ha! Instead I’d take the kids to the local pool if I was in the mood to swim too. I’m very envious of those of you with built in pools in your back yard!
6. Bonus tip: Turn on you AC early in the spring to see how everything is working. Chances are if there is a problem, it will show up then and you can schedule a tune up or repair before the heat hits and they become swamped with customers in the same boat as you!

Did your air conditioner go out this year as well? How did you stay cool? Comment below to help others prepare for next summer!