Heat waves and summer! I loved them. They were like my favorite comedy duo – always able to put a smile on my face whether I was lounging in the sun, enjoying a light evening stroll or just relaxing with a beer at a BBQ.
But then my wife and I welcomed a sweet little boy into our lives with open arms, and within a few days, that love for sunny days had turned to hate.
So, okay, hate is a strong word. Summer is still full of fun and you can’t resist gathering with family and friends around one The best grills? But heat is a big problem when you have a baby, especially when you’re trying to cool him down at night. According to the Lullaby confidenceThe safest room temperature for children is between 60 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit (16 and 20 degrees Celsius). And our bedroom was even warmer than that!
Panic sets in and increasing levels of anxiety lead to Steele’s determination to tackle the problem and keep the room as cool as possible! After all, overheating in babies can cause dehydration and has even been linked to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
As such, the idea was to switch to technology while still keeping a close eye on our baby, making sure her skin didn’t get hot and sweaty and removing layers of clothing or bedding if needed. These are always important first steps to take when temperatures rise.
Sort out the basics
One of the first investments was a thermometer. Without one, it wouldn’t be possible to tell how warm a room actually is. I bought Tommee Tippee GroEgg2 Digital Color Changing Room Thermometer and Night Light Which clearly displays the current temperature using a digital display. She let me look at the color of the soft silicone dome to see if I needed action (glowing orange when good and red if not) and I was so impressed I bought another one for my living room.
If you’re not squeamish about the cost of these, don’t worry — there are plenty of them for less alternativesdigital and traditional. Once you have the thermometer, the next step is to prepare and arrange the room so that it is more efficient at using heat.
For me, this necessitated keeping the crib out of direct sunlight; leaving the bedroom door open to increase airflow while closing the doors to unused rooms; Keep curtains and windows closed during the day, but open them all in the evening when it’s cooler.
Get a fan
My go-to when trying to cool down a room was simple: Get a fan! Unfortunately the one I had to deliver was randomly hidden in a cupboard and the blades broke off so I bought Russell Hobbs 9″ Portable Desk Fan as an alternative.
It required assembly but seemed to work just fine – at least at first! Neither speed was too loud and both settings sent a cool breeze across the room. I was careful not to point it directly at where our baby was sleeping. After all, it would only make it too cold for the babies to regulate their temperature very well.
However, the room temperature didn’t seem to be dropping. Even worse, after about 15-20 minutes, the fan suddenly became so noisy, that it was a distraction—and didn’t exactly set the stage for a good night’s sleep. Time for another replacement, I think, repack the fan in the box and put it back.
alternative – Honeywell Turbo Force Power fan – It cost me more fractions but it looks more powerful. The design constantly reminds me of the device used to send Batman’s signal to Batman as it tilts up and down on its stand. But while a Honeywell fan wouldn’t make Bruce Wayne’s alter ego get in your way, this one helped me. It’s a pretty die-hard fan, as you can see, which lives up to the TurboForce name. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have downsides.
Upon researching the fans, I realized they don’t actually cool the air. They move around any air in the room and that just makes you Feel cooler. There is nothing wrong with that to an extent. In fact, when it’s really hot, a fan will help evaporate sweat more quickly and help you lose heat by convection. But there is actually a little trick you can do that should make it more effective.
If the air outside is cooler than inside, placing a fan next to a window can bring cool air in and warm air out. The problem is that the Honeywell stand and the bulk of the actual fan make it somewhat difficult to place this particular device on a windowsill. It also has a special working method. The first setting after “off” is the loudest, most blowy and noisy setting. You have to keep spinning to make it less puffy and quieter. However, after a bit of fiddling, the room temperature dropped by 34 degrees.
Turbo Boost
I’m still not satisfied, though: When the room temperature is about 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius), this reduction just doesn’t cut it. I’ve heard of another trick for fans where, if you know how to make a DIY air conditioner to beat the heat, those temperatures can probably drop. I’ve tried this with a few ice packs from the freezer but it didn’t really make any difference. However, what if I could choose a custom unit that pretty much mirrors this technology? Will this work better?
Cue my purchase of Built-in desert air conditioner, EH3674, a device that looks as if it came straight out of the 80s with its large buttons and retro plastic design. The idea is that you pop cold water into the tank, add some ice packs and choose one of three speed settings to cool the surrounding air. It also claims to purify and ionize the air and cost only three Honeywell jets.
I’m usually good at technology. I don’t always refer to manuals but in this case I needed to. Then I realized why I don’t always refer to manuals – if they are written like that. Although I squirmed through it, none left the wiser. I called my wife. We scratched our heads a little. So we actually need to remove a screw from the back of the unit, take out a paper filter that looks like it will fall apart over time, put ice bags in it, then put the filter back in and back again? truly?
It seemed like it was the right way already although we later realized it could also be filled from the top (although we think ice packs still need to go inside). In the long and short term I felt a bit of a hassle. At the very least, I’m happy to say it’s been surprisingly effective. It emits a nice and cool stream of air which makes you feel refreshed.
Does it reduce the temperature significantly? Not really – only by about 33 degrees Fahrenheit. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t fallen in love with this thing even if my journey isn’t complete yet.
amazing looking
You may have thought that A.J Dyson Pure Cool TP01 You will be the ultimate fan! It’s long, made by a company with a reputation for innovation and it certainly looks like it will be fairly effective. However, as soon as I got home, and got to work, I realized that my ambitions for this device were very high.
the dyson It is actually an air purifier, so its main function is not actually cooling but making the air more breathable. It is because, as a cooler, a bladeless fan doesn’t seem to make more of a temperature difference than a conventional fan.
Even at top speed (10) and a 180-degree turn, it didn’t really blow air. But it would have been nice to have a remote control so it could be turned off and adjusted from afar – which is especially good if you have your hands full with a child.
At this point though, I was a little frustrated but decided there was only one option left: air conditioning. Spreading thousands to get a compact home built wasn’t an option, but a portable air conditioning unit made sense.
I chose a Meaco MC Series 12000 A unit that was not only affordable, but looked as if it would be effective in a larger bedroom. The delivery staff really struggled to get him to the door which set off alarm bells in my head: yeah, he’s a heavy beast and it was my job to get him upstairs.
Once in place, I had to attach the vent pipe and remove it from the window, taking advantage of the free flexible window assembly that came with the device. This was easy enough and meant there was a safe way to expel the hot air – very useful given it was 81 degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoon.
With the remote control in hand and the unit turned on, it’s time for some action. I thought I read the manual for this guide and it was written in a very clear way. But oh my: the sound! When this machine does its thing it sounds like a jumbo going off and the vibrations can be heard downstairs.
But after four hours of use (and eating away from electricity—watch those bills!), the temperature had dropped to 68 degrees. a result!
minimum
One problem with using the Meaco is that, because it’s so loud, I only feel comfortable turning it on when our kid isn’t in the room before we all go to bed. Once it is turned off again, the room temperature starts to rise again. The ultimate solution was to turn on the air conditioning unit and then have Honeywell blow cool air out the window. Dyson is positioned in the living room and Beldray is blowing cool air in the home office. Heat waves and summer are more bearable now.
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