enduring the heat wave in germany
I live in an apartment that first gets heated up on one side before noon, then later from the other side. My kitchen is especially hot each year because it has a huge bay window with no shutters installed.
My strategies for keeping cool have been to air out everything at night, and if possible draw in and circulate air via a fan during some of it. Then as soon as the sun is coming up, closing windows, lowering the existing outside shutters so the sun can’t heat up the glass or insides, and always keeping the kitchen door closed so the heat is contained within. I avoid opening the windows during the day to not let heat in, except if I really need fresh air or the humidity is too high.
Humidity is the thing that is wrecking us the most in this, which is why it is often futile to ask people elsewhere how they deal with these high temperatures when those people live in very dry climates. The humidity messes with your body’s ability to exude heat, and in worst case, results in the wet bulb effect. That is also why even people from hotter countries can suddenly struggle elsewhere (like Europe), together with the angle at which sunlight hits Earth at that area being different (a lower sun angle spreads the same amount of energy over a larger area, making it feel cooler, while a higher angle concentrates energy on a smaller area, increasing warmth).
This is why fans with water cooling and tips like hanging a wet T-shirt in front of a fan, constantly misting yourself or wearing wet clothes etc. can sort of backfire and make your home a bit more unbearable, depending on the circumstances. I also have a fan with water cooling with optional cooling bricks/batteries, and it’s currently on because we hang out in front of it, but I’m mindful of when I turn that mode on and for how long.
In the next few weeks, we are planning to add sun protection foil to some windows, and when the extreme demand is over in fall, I’ll buy a Midea Porta Split and install it in the living room.
Good tips in general, some summarized from above:
Hydrate a lot, even before you are actually thirsty. Stay inside if possible.
Keep the added humidity to a minimum.
Know what you are trying to do with drinks and showers. Cool drinks and showers offer relief, but can make you heat up after. Hot beverages and showers can make everything feel cooler after and help you sweat. I like both, depending on the situation.
Wrap ice packs or similar stuff in a towel and put them under your feet or in your armpits.
If possible, lower shutters so the sun cannot heat up the interior and the glass.
Maybe install sun protection foil on windows (most are plant-friendly). I’ve also seen others provisionally use those reflecting covers for cars on their windows, or aluminium foil. Make sure that if it’s behind the glass, the heat won’t be trapped and make the glass crack, so preferably attach it on the outside.
Sunscreen, wide breathable and covering clothing, sun umbrellas and hats.
During fall/winter, maybe during Black Friday sales, get a portable split cooling system. Portables do not need structural changes to the building, which is why they tend to be allowed in rental units as they can be removed without a trace and aren’t in use all year. Shitty landlords might get mad to see it in your window, but in many countries, there already is positive case law about them and the usual AC dismissals don’t apply to them.
Set out flat bowls of water in the shadow for wild animals and refill. Consider different ones for different sizes (a flat one with stone pebbles for insects, a relatively flat but water-only one for hedgehogs etc., one bird bath…). Use cool tiles and cooling mats for pets.
Keep an eye out for baby birds who flee their overheated nests too early; maybe you can save some of them. Especially bitdd who live in attics and roofs are dying right now (swifts etc.)
If possible and you can plan the shipment, avoid deliveries. Keep water around for delivery personnel.
Eat smaller snacks and portions spread out throughout the day instead of big meals so your body doesn’t heat up as much during digestion.
Don’t:
Leave the windows open all day.
Let the sun heat up your interior, if possible; try at least covering windows with blankets if there are no shutters.
Set out water for animals where it heats up drastically, or in a beverage where they might become trapped and drown.
Walk your dog when the ground is heated up - asphalt burns happen quickly past 25 degrees Celsius.
Fall for scalpers, scammers and increased prices for ACs and fans who are using the current demand and availability issues for profit. The Porta Split I mean to get can be bought for 550-750 Euro under normal circumstances, now during the heat wave, prices have exploded to over 1.4k. Only buy that if it is an emergency.
Think fans or ACs can make you sick. This is a widely held belief especially in older generations in Germany at least, together with the myth that any wind can cause a cold and stiff neck. It is bullshit. It’s a big reason why this country is not prepared for this heat and there’s a 20% adoption rate for ACs here.
Think you need to keep the fan off or not buy one at all because of the electricity bill. The increase is lower for newer models and for the few days you need to use it (more) (for now). You are also not meaningfully contributing to climate change with this increased energy use. Like, come on, they wanna build entire data centers eating away gigawatts, your heat protection is not the issue here.
Still, all of these tend to be hyperindividualistic solutions, just like when Covid happened, and we need more widespread, structural solutions.
Not everyone can stay home; many people still have to work and commute.
You might tell people to hydrate as much as possible, but their work doesn’t offer free (or extra) water to them, and many places like restaurants and cafés still don’t.
We tell people to invest in ACs and fans, but landlords and workplaces don’t want to install any, forbid the use, or don’t cover the price of these things.
It’s like heat management is still an incredibly personal thing where everyone has to feel like they are fending for themselves, investing their own money into stockpiling resources and tech, and utilizing the privilege to avoid a lot of the heat by working from home/working inside, taking time off, calling in sick and so on.
More collective heat management can look like:
Free water in establishments everywhere, and drinking fountains spread throughout cities, with signs pointing to the next one.
Designating libraries, community centers, schools, transit hubs and big shops like huge supermarkets as cooling centers during heat waves.
Keeping trees, bushes, grass etc. intact and adding more. They help keep cities cooler, together with reflective roofs and lighter pavements.
Legally mandating landlords to install ACs in rental units, especially ones directly below the roof (attic/loft/penthouse apartments), and cover specific windows in protective foil or external shutters. Requiring new(er) buildings to have specific insulation that helps in summer as well as winter, ventilation strategies, ACs, etc. and updating building codes so new housing remains habitable during prolonged heat waves, even without continuous air conditioning.
More shaded areas in crowded places, waiting spots (public transportation), shaded pathways between major destinations.
Rollout of functioning and resilient AC in all public transportation, hospitals, schools, universities, elderly homes etc.
Extending opening hours into the early morning and late evening during extreme heat, with closure inbetween (or at the bare minimum, siestas). Temperature thresholds that trigger additional protections or suspension of certain work or studies.
Preparing railroads, normal roads and other parts of the public from the intense heat effects or making them more heat resistant; otherwise you risk bent rails, melting bitumen etc.
Distributing fans or subsidizing cooling equipment where appropriate.
Strengthening electrical grids to cope with increased cooling demand, subsidizing electricity costs during declared heat emergencies, expanding renewable generation to reduce the emissions associated with increased cooling needs.
And likely more I forgot.
Yes, people will cry that this costs soooo much money. But remember that we have no problem investing that money into wars, AI, data centers, expensive proprietary software licenses, politicians’ money schemes and making billionaires richer. Landlords need to invest the rent into the property instead of enriching themselves and getting other people to pay off their mortgage.
These aren’t one-time events, it will continue to get worse. Earlier in the year, longer, higher. Many people and animals will die. Everyone has to start preparing and learning from it now, and stop buying into the bullshit that “it was hot when I was a child too, we are just complaining more!!1!”.
Your government is failing you if they are not acting now, and it is intentional, as the heat affects vulnerable and powerless groups the most.
Make sure you check on old, sick, disabled people and people you know who take medication that makes them more vulnerable to the sun and/or heat. For example, diuretics, beta blockers, anticholinergics, and some antidepressants and stimulants.
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