#Life hacks how to#

Life Kit How to stay safe and cool in extreme heatĭuring the hottest parts of the day, try not to burn energy or exhaust yourself by going out, exercising or standing outside, because the scorching sunlight and hot air will make you hotter. Or we'd fill a tub with water and splash it on each other in the backyard. When I was a kid in India, I'd have water balloon fights with neighborhood kids. This wet garb is omnipresent even now among men in the hinterlands and small towns. Or take a light towel, called a gamchha in Hindi, dampen it and wear it around your neck or on your head like a scarf.

You can even make one yourself.Įven if you don't have khus curtains or a swamp cooler, you can find other ways to use water to regulate your body temperature. These devices are cheaper than air conditioners and use less energy. Also known as an evaporative cooler, this electrical device passes a room's air over water-saturated pads, which cools down the air, then blows that air back into the room. And the ubiquitous swamp cooler, which works best in low-humidity settings. The curtains convert the dry wind outside into a fragrant, cool, damp breeze as it blows into the house.

#Life hacks windows#

That includes khus - grass curtains hung over doors and windows and sprayed with water. In India, we have a number of contraptions to manage heat without an air conditioner. Some of the advice is just what you'd think – like drinking lots of liquids and staying out of the sun – but others might surprise you.Ī boy jumps into Dal Lake to cool off on a hot summer's day in Srinagar, India, on July 18. And so, I'd like to share a few tips on how to stay cool that I've learned from my upbringing and elders in Uttar Pradesh. Yet people in India and in other countries across the Global South have long figured out ways to deal with the horrible heat. Severe heat has already killed thousands of people this summer.

Pacific Northwest and Europe, where many do not have air conditioners. That's a question that people are asking themselves as the world faces unprecedented heat waves, including in the U.S. With a per capita income of around a $1,000 a year, many people in this part of the country can't afford to buy an A/C unit or pay the power bills that come with using one. But very few people have access to an air conditioner. In Uttar Pradesh, India, where I grew up, temperatures can soar as high as 120 degrees in May and June.