Cooler in the Shade
I don???t know if it???s hot as you???re reading this, but it is HOT while I???m writing it. In Oberlin, the days we use the most electricity are the hot ones ??? everyone has their air conditioning on, and the refrigerators are working over time to keep things cool. As the planet heats up, we are going to have more and more hot stretches to make it through. But we can be smart about how we do it.
My family survives most of the summer without using AC ??? and the house never gets above 78 degrees (80 degrees is my freak-out point, and no one wants to go there!). We have two main strategies: The first is keeping heat out of the house in the first place. The second is to get in as much cool air into the house at night as we possibly can, then lock it in during the day.
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