Temperature control during shtf
Posted by ProofRip9827@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 54 comments
I've been looking for ways to stay warm during winter and cool during summer heat. what ways have you found?
RedSquirrelFtw@reddit
Wood stove. Recently installed one to save on heating as gas keeps going up, but it's also a great backup.
PrisonerV@reddit
Vent-free natural gas heater.
Window AC setup with solar/battery.
davidm2232@reddit
Winter is easy with a woodstove/wood boiler if you live in the forest like I do. Make sure to clean your chimney. A small window A/C can easily run off a decent solar setup.
flower-power-123@reddit
We had a guy living in a camper with no heat recently. I did some research about it. This is what I found.
* You can keep yourself warm if you build a little room 1M X 2M X 2M made of pink insulative foam. If you make the little room 38cm thick in all dimensions (floor, ceiling, walls) you will be able to heat it with body heat alone. It is important for your mental health that you be able to stand up, turn around and sleep without your head or feet touching the walls. You can heat this little space with an electric blanket run off of a battery. The foam will cost a few hundred and the battery will be less than a thousand(they are dropping fast). Your main concern will be condensation and mold. You need good ventilation and I would try to put together some kind of heat exchanger. I looked at heat exchanges used in new houses but they cost thousands.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ecoflow_community/comments/1p12nje/my_experience_with_the_ecoflow_wave_3_in_a_small/
My take home from this is that it will work adequately for your needs. It costs 1300 euros with the battery. If you needs to go longer without power you will need something more robust:
https://www.amazon.fr/EF-ECOFLOW-DELTA-%C3%A9lectrique-camping-car/dp/B0GT4BG842
And some solar panels.
I wear electrically heated clothing which require some batteries. They are pretty cheap.
Financial_Resort6631@reddit
The best prep is to insulate your house. It will help in both. Spray foam is best.
Heat:
Shade Loose fitting clothes Evaporative cooling “light misting” Ice sheets
Cold: Hypowrap Wool socks Layering. (Wicking, base, insulation, wind/water break)
DogsAreOurFriends@reddit
Staying comfortably cool is not a huge priority.
Warm: clothing and wood stove. Solar gain.
Adorable_Dust3799@reddit
There are large sections that get deadly from heart, and evaporative cooling doesn't work. My area gets deadly hot, but it's arid, so evap is an option for me. it isn't for many.
DogsAreOurFriends@reddit
One last time… “comfortably”. JFC people need to actually read.
Adorable_Dust3799@reddit
Comfortably cool and Comfortably warm are probably of equal importance, blowing off everyone in the southern us just because you don't understand the need to stay cool isn't very helpful when people are asking for help. That's all. We're about being helpful, right?
Many-Health-1673@reddit
Yeah, some people have no idea about true heat because they don't work in it and aren't exposed to it.
Deep summer here is anywhere from 100 to 110F with 65 - 85% humidity. With that much humidity, you cannot stay cool because your body cannot evaporate sweat effectively enough to keep your body temperature down.
There is a reason people didn't used to live in certain areas year-round.
FastSort@reddit
People have been living in extreme heat for thousands of years, without A/C and without dying from it - so it is more of a comfort issue than a survival issue to me. If you have complicated health issues, then maybe it is more of a concern.
Freezing to death on the otherhand is very real and much more of a pressing issue for most.
shikkonin@reddit
But staying cool enough to survive absolutely is.
DogsAreOurFriends@reddit
“Comfortably”
shikkonin@reddit
Yes, we've all seen that. But that has nothing to do with the question. Why are you commenting irrelevant statements?
preppers-ModTeam@reddit
Your comments have been removed for being needlessly argumentative in violation of our civility standards.
DogsAreOurFriends@reddit
Because comfort and survival are not remotely the same.
shikkonin@reddit
The question is about survival. Look at what sub you're in.
ProofRip9827@reddit (OP)
My worry is heat exhaustion or freezing temps. I'm renting a place so installing a wood oven for winter might not go over well lol
MrMaker1123@reddit
I live in Florida. I've got no need to stay warm. It's always warm here. Staying cool is very hard when the power goes out. It can be 85° at night in the summer. That's usually when hurricanes come through. I have a collection of stay cool devices. First, a portable AC unit. It's the kind with wheels that can be used in any room. Then, I've got some mist fans (5v) that can be filled with water and cool down a small area. For fun I've built my own air coolers. One is made out of a cooler with fans. You fill the cooler with ice water and a small pump runs it up to a PC radiator. It's powered by 12 volts. The other is a peltier AC that also runs on 12v. These all need different amounts of power. That's why I have different ones. There's always something available. I have different battery packs to run everything too.
nakedonmygoat@reddit
How do you manage evaporative cooling with all the humidity there? I'm in Houston, and evaporative cooling doesn't do shit around here. It's why swamp coolers are great in the desert, not so much in humid climates. Dehumidifying the house is my usual concern, since even running a conventional a/c with the dehumidifying function on, my wood floors start to buckle without a secondary dehumidifier, and it's not a large house, either.
If there's some trick I'm unaware of, I'd love to hear about it before the next hurricane.
MrMaker1123@reddit
It's not a swamp cooler. It sprays mist into the air and the fan blows it at you. The mist cools you down. It's like what restaurants have for outdoor seating only smaller. I also made a portable mist line that connects to a pressure bottle, like for spraying bugs or plant food. You just pump it up and the water comes out of the line above you. It falls on you and cools you. It's great for outdoor events.
th30be@reddit
Layers. I straight up don't believe that I will ever be in a shtf situation so I am planning to be in my house the entire time.
If there is no power/gas for heat, I will just use the wood burning fireplace and wrap up in layers and blankets. The place I am in do not get very cold winters.
I have a pond so I will take a dip in that if I get too hot. We have hot summers but its not like I am going to die if I don't find immediate cooling in the house. The house also has pretty good air flow so opening up the windows is enough to generally keep the house cooler than the outside. Will it be uncomfortably hot? Sure, but it won't be deadly hot.
silasmoeckel@reddit
PV runs HP with backup wood.
Retreat to basement with it's own systems.
PV/bat/gen should be your first major prep.
dawn_thesis@reddit
electric blankets
evaporative cooling, as a sponge bath
trying to stay fit
climate-informed architecture
siestas
Many-Health-1673@reddit
Clothes for winter.
A wood stove is probably the most reliable heat source in the winter if you have access to wood.
Clothes for summer.
The long sleeved fishing shirts and comfortable shorts with access to shade and drinking water.
JRHLowdown3@reddit
We run the air usually only around 3 1/2 months of the year here in the Deep South. Converting to mini splits that we can run off our AE system. Situated to get good air flow through the house. We keep windows open a good portion of the year. Like now, as the day heats up, usually around mid day, certain windows are closed and the curtains pulled to keep heat and light out. Later in the day they are opened back up, fans are used here and there to draw air through the structure- ceiling fans and window fans.
We set up our house for passive solar heating with the south facing windows, wind break to the north, heavy masonry- insulated inside and out to avoid a heat sink. In the cooler months if it's sunny we get a lot of passive heating from the sunshine and keep the north facing windows closed while sometimes the south facing ones are opened and drawing in nice sunshine'y warmed air.
We have three wood stoves in the house. One is a Vermont Bunbaker stove that has a small baking oven and a cook top, albeit the soapstone veneer takes a good bit to warm up to truly "cook" on the top of it. It is near the kitchen area. A Waterford Erin is in the living room and sees the most use- has a wider top and can be cooked on, albeit just fits about two pans. A Waterford Leprechaun is in our bedroom and sees the least use- usually less than 10 nights a year- also has a small cook top.
At any given time we have at least 5 years of wood in varying states of drying, usually more than that. Down South here we only use approximately a cord to a cord and a half every year. Could certainly cut that down to about half the time we usually burn if need be- but as I have gotten older I like the house warmer.
fenuxjde@reddit
Other than keeping a fridge cool or the ability to boil water, everything else is just a matter of clothes and discomfort.
I hate the heat but my basement stays in the 60s during the summer.
monty845@reddit
There have been a number of heat waves with wet bulb temperatures above 95F, where the human body is incapable of keeping itself cool. Without something like your basement, absence/failure of A/C could be a life threatening situation. These events are projected to become more common.
fenuxjde@reddit
Not where I'm at, thankfully. My house does not have AC, so this is a non issue for me.
For your example, however, movement of air by way of a lower power fan which could easily run on solar still provides enough cooling to stay alive. I take the climate crisis very seriously, and could talk for days on other long term effects of it, and the seriousness of heat waves, but many of the most at risk people are statistically going to be the first ones to die in any realistic shtf crisis. Sorry, but keeping your 110 year old grandmother alive when there's not electricity to get water or medical help is just a losing battle.
shikkonin@reddit
No, it's not. Once the wet-bulb temperature is high enough, a fan only exacerbates the problem.
fenuxjde@reddit
Sorry, my wording was unclear, I'll fix it.
WBT have only ever hit that temperature in the US in specific areas of Texas. Where I am at, there has never been a condition that a fan could not sufficiently cool you.
shikkonin@reddit
Insulation is cheap, low maintenance, and effective.
Adorable_Dust3799@reddit
Freezing isn't a problem for millions, and nothing i need to worry about. Most of the hot areas are dry, and definitely adaptable, but some humid areas are getting close to deadly for all. Unfortunately there are no power free alternatives when it's over 100 and humidity is very high. Air movement feels good but will not cool you down without evaporation, and when the humidity is high there isn't that. Tree cover may be a long term answer
Adorable_Dust3799@reddit
I'm high desert, so evap cooling works. Insulation has been huge. I open the house at night, fans blowing out on east and south sides. Get up at 430 to close everything up. Check the weather ap to see what time it starts warming up. House stays cool until between noon and 3 in the afternoon most of the year. South side of the house is covered, that's where the carport is. Reflective foam window shades between the screen and window glass to stop the window from warming up. Blackout curtains AND blinds on all dual pane windows. Anywhere that gets deadly hot is a candidate for solar. I was able to get an inverter with a power outlet so i can plug an extension cord in when it's sunny. Obviously only works when the grid is disconnected, there's an extra switch for safety. Saving for backup batteries, but that'll charge power banks. And in summer i set my ac to 80, much less shock on my system when I'm outside, I'm acclimated to some extent, and much less power needed.
Eredani@reddit
Mr. Heater Buddy in the winter.
USB rechargeable fans in the summer.
KarmaCommando_@reddit
In the acute sense (as in, not looking for ways to warm up a location, but looking for ways to warm your body) the best answer is water. If you can heat up water to just under boiling, insulate it, and layer it under your clothing, you will stay warm for many hours.
Bear in mind that water is an excellent thermal conductor which means that if it's below your body temperature it will suck the heat right out of you. You can get hypothermia even from room temperature water if you stay in it long enough. By this same token it'll be efficient at cooling you down for as long as you can keep it in contact with your body without evaporating.
Soaking a bandanna works, but hyper absorbent materials like PVA work better for longer.
nakedonmygoat@reddit
Cold is rarely a big issue in Houston, but I do have a couple portable propane heaters if I need them. One of my power stations can easily manage an electric blanket for days. Lots of warm clothes and air-activated toe warmers are helpful, too. My house is pier and beam with a crawl space underneath, so the floors can get cold. Thermacare heat patches are nice, too. If you're in the US, any major drugstore will have them.
Houston is hot and humid, and post-hurricane, I just open the windows to catch whatever breeze there might be, and use a lot of fans. I have some that work on batteries, and others I can plug into a power station. I also have some instant cold packs, and a car fridge that can be run either in the car or indoors plugged into a power station. Since my diet is mostly vegetarian, I don't often have a lot that needs to be refrigerated in an extended outage. And since I'm urban, I have places nearby that never lose power, if it's overcast and my solar panels aren't recharging things quickly enough.
If you're looking for longer term, like a situation lasting longer than a few weeks, your solution will be heavily dependent on where you live. Blanket advice won't necessarily be helpful, since what works in AZ isn't always what will work on the gulf coast, and may not be what you need in the PNW or in North Dakota. You also don't say whether you're urban or rural. That will affect the choices available to you as well.
cophotoguy99@reddit
Underground or partial covered in earth and grass
HalcyonKnights@reddit
This. If you have the resources, a properly sized geothermal pipe buried on the property can go a long way to keeping an above ground building like a greenhouse fairly stable at \~50°F year round with just some low power (solar, etc) circulation fans.
monty845@reddit
Note, underground temp is just the average year round temperature for the area. So ND, this can be low 40s, or even high 30s, and provide great cooling. But southern FL, it can be in the 80s, and provide very little cooling.
HalcyonKnights@reddit
That's true for cellars or the typical earth-sheltered homes that are partially exposed or only shallowly covered. Geothermal systems need to be deeper, with more surface area and with appropriate spacing to reach the stable temperatures, all of which goes into the sizing design.
monty845@reddit
Once you get 20 feet down, the ground is never colder than that average for the area. Beyond that depth, it starts to warm again from geothermal heat. (Albeit very slowly, but it doesn't get colder)
HalcyonKnights@reddit
True, for those curious here's a rough map of the temperatures to be found in different area's of the US.
In South Florida it'll be just below 80, but that can still feel like a life-saver compared to their summer high's. Granted you may have difficulty digging 20 feet down without hitting swamp or sea, across most of the state.
ilreppans@reddit
Basement if you have one. Had a home in New England that averaged a ~4day outage/yr from storms taking power lines down, combine with low priority repair. Seen the inside get into the 30s and upper 80s F, but the basement stayed within the 50-75 F range. Not the most pleasant place to be, but survivable.
Potential4752@reddit
Most effective for heat is acclimating. I’m pretty confident I will be fine anywhere in the US given shade and water.
Although a battery powered fan would make sleeping easier.
Seth0351USMC@reddit
Heat: Evaporating water creates a cooling effect. You could wet clothing and window curtains and open the windows. As the warm outside air passes the curtains, it will cool the area. Also fans, like a whole house fan, use much less electricity compared to AC. So you need less solar output to run longer.
Cold: Lots of clothing in layers. Take off as needed to maintain a good temp. Sweating will cool you so avoid too much warm clothes when active. Open south facing curtains/blinds during the day and close at night to trap solar heat gains.
HappyCamperDancer@reddit
That first scenario only works if the humidity is low enough. If it is already above 60% humidity and above 90⁰F, wet curtains will do nada.
Successful_Ride6920@reddit
Clothes - put 'em on, take 'em off.
ProofRip9827@reddit (OP)
Can take only so many clothes off before things get weird lol
StefanCelMijlociu@reddit
Crazy idea!!!
TheSensiblePrepper@reddit
Did you search the Sub before posting? This question gets asked very often by new people. Have you checked out the Sub's Wiki?
I would recommend you check my post about preparing for a Power Outage.
7o7A1@reddit
a hot beverage that heats your core is the most efficient way
Zromaus@reddit
I live in Texas, in a SHTF scenario there is no staying cool during the summer heat, just adapting to the summer heat. AC or any form of cooling system except for food would be a waste of resources imo. If you're hot, get in the shade and drink some water. Plan your day with rest intended for the hottest parts of the day, work for the coolest parts of the day.
Staying warm could be as simple as a wood stove if you have a house, propane heaters if you have a solid stock of propane, or just ample blankets, jackets, and knowledge of how to make a fire and an understanding of CO risks lol
Ryan_e3p@reddit
Wood stove. Solar panels putting more than enough to power window A/C units.