Learn about low-cost tricks for staying cool without cranking the air conditioner, from rice congee to foot baths.
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00:00As temperatures and power bills soar amid a cost-of-living crunch,
00:05let's explore some old-school ways to stay cool without cranking up the aircon.
00:10These are all kinds of know-hows that were ready to hand 50 or 60 years ago,
00:15but in a sense air conditioning has sort of obliterated our memory of those cultural practices.
00:21During hot days we need to be prepared to vary our schedule and to really plan around the heat
00:27in terms of what we do when, maybe not exercising on super hot days or if you're cooking doing it
00:32in the morning before the temperature really spikes in the afternoon.
00:37Associate Professor Healy, a geographer from Western Sydney University,
00:43interviewed social housing tenants about methods they use to keep cool.
00:47Every single one of them had sort of little hacks or adaptive practices.
00:52The region is usually six to ten degrees hotter than the city
00:56and in 2020 Penrith recorded a temperature of 48.9 degrees Celsius.
01:04So if it's still cool in the morning, shutting up the drapes and shades or whatever you have
01:10available to block out the sun, it's going to help with the temperature.
01:14That's more effective in hot and dry conditions than hot and humid conditions.
01:19If you can, install shades outside your windows
01:23or move potted plants in front to create a green screen.
01:28In the evenings, open up your windows for cross ventilation.
01:32In one of the communities we've been looking at in Riverwood, there's a large
01:36elderly Chinese population and one of the things that they talked about was using cooling food.
01:43They switch their diet during summer months eating things like rice, congee and mung beans
01:49which bring down bodily temperature.
01:52Other low-cost tricks to stay cool include having a foot bath,
01:57placing a wet face cloth on your wrists or the back of your neck,
02:01misting your skin or clothes with water and then positioning yourself near the fan,
02:07freezing water in a container and putting it in front of your fan for cool air.
02:13Sort of creates an immediately cool environment that works best in a small room.
02:18While a fan can be a cost-effective environmentally friendly option,
02:23they are more effective in dry conditions.
02:27Fans work just on the principle of circulation, right?
02:30So that's it's the movement of air that cools the body and that works well if you're sweating
02:36in a hot dry environment because it enhances that the power of that evaporative cooling.
02:41In humid heat it's less effective.
02:44Finding local cool refuges like lakes, libraries,
02:48moors and community halls is another key method to stay cool.