Summer heat

It seems that the traditional summer heat and humidity of south-east Queensland has finally set in for the summer. The timing is about right, with January through to February being the hottest and most humid months here.

Today it is looking to reach 34 degrees (celsius) in Brisbane, Queensland, 31 degrees tomorrow and 34 again on Wednesday. The shade is hot, the sun is hot and the humidity is pervasive!

I have cracked and just in the last half hour have turned on the air-conditioner. We have a wall-mounted unit in our lounge-room and with a generally open plan living space this means that energy and cool air can be easily wasted. But things I have done as many things as I can in an attempt to get the best efficiency out of the air-conditioning unit, bang for my buck and the coolest temperature I can get without making the temperature out of the unit cooler than it is has to be. The measures I have taken are:

• close all the doors to other rooms, where possible
• close all windows and doors to the outside world
• turn on the fan to circulate the cool air down quickly (not sure how effective this one is)
• set the air-conditioner to 24 degrees (celsius); and
• I will be turning the air-conditioner off in about 15 mins when I leave the house.

Hopefully with these measures I won't waste money cooling rooms and spaces that I am not occupying, I am not allowing warm/hot air coming in from the outside which then requires cooling and I will experience some relief from the hot temperatures outside.

This midday measure hopefully won't be required later this afternoon when we return home. At this point I will be opening as many windows and doors on the non-westerly side of the house as possible, turning on the fan in the living areas, and I might even pull down the shades on the verandah which is on the western side of the house (I will actually do this before we leave in an attempt to prevent additional heat entering the house before the sun starts to shine directly through these windows as its sets).

Bring on the ice-blocks, cold drinks and salads for dinner!

Pin It