It can generally go without saying that most people do not appreciate excessive heat. When it feels as if a room is getting too hot, one of the most common things that people do is make sure that the window is open. However, if you find that you are going to be stuck in a room that has absolutely no windows, you might feel at a loss as to what you can do. Thankfully, there are a few tips and tricks that you can try to employ to keep yourself cool and comfortable.
There are going to be three main things that you will want to pay attention to when you are trying to keep yourself comfortable in a windowless room. First things first, you are going to want to make sure that you are doing everything you can not to introduce unnecessary heat. From there, you are going to want to decide if you want to go for an AC unit, or if you want to create your own air conditioning unit. Each of these methods has its benefits over the other, making it all the more important for you to do your research on which one will be best.
Reduce Excess Heat in the Room
Before you can begin adding things to the room to try and take the temperature down a notch or two, you will first want to make sure that you are doing what you can to keep cool. This will ensure that the methods you employ will end up working more effectively.
One thing that you will want to do is make sure that any incandescent light bulbs are turned off, and that they stay off as often as possible. These lightbulbs are notorious for expelling 90% of their energy as heat. When you have no windows to let the heat out, this is going to be the last thing that you want to have happen. If you do have incandescent light bulbs, you should make sure that you replace them all with LEDs or compact fluorescent light bulbs.
While you are doing this, you will also want to keep an eye on your appliances. Chances are, if an appliance has the ability to get warm, then it will be able to emit heat into the air in the room. Considering that there are no windows to let that heat out, this is not going to be a good thing for anyone. From stoves and computers to light bulbs and irons, just about any heated appliance will increase the temperature of the room just slightly.
To combat this, you are going to want to turn off any and all appliances when you are not using them. This will help not only conserve energy and help your electricity bills, but it will also ensure that a windowless room is not getting excess heat because you chose to use appliances in the room.
Keep Yourself Cool
You will also want to do everything that you can to try and keep yourself cool. This will also help to reduce just how much you are going to need to create a make-shift air conditioner. There are a few things that you can do to try and trick yourself into thinking that you feel cooler.
For one, you will want to make sure that all of your drinks are cold, as this will quickly cool your entire body down. This is arguably one of the simplest and most commonly used ways to keep yourself cool when the room you are in feels as if it is on the verge of overheating.
As for what you will be wearing, you will want to make sure that you choose the lightest fabric that you are willing to find or able to wear. The thinner the fabric, the less likely it will be that it absorbs any heat. One thing that you might want to consider doing is looking at sports wear. This type of clothing is often made from a light, breathable fabric, but more often than not, this type of fabric has wicking properties. This will help you cool when you have no windows to cool yourself off with.
Use an Evaporative Cooler
Before you begin looking at air conditioning units that will be hefty and expensive, you will want to start looking at some of the more practical options first. You can choose between having a fan with ice, or an evaporative cooler. While the cooler might be a fair bit more expensive, it is also going to do a much more comprehensive job of cooling the air. This is another aspect that you are going to need to think about in such a situation.
Portable evaporative coolers do exactly as you might imagine that they would. Because they are portable, you will be able to keep it just about anywhere in the room where it will fit and have enough room to work. Generally, the way that filling these things work is that you are going to want to add water or ice to a tank in the back. From here, you can sit back and relax as the machine turns the water or ice into a fine mist in the air.
If you end up getting this mist on you, it will end up evaporating pretty quickly once it settles. When the mist evaporates, it takes some of the heat with it. This allows you to not only have a nice, comfortable mist in the air, but the mist will have its own cooling properties. If you have the money to put down for a portable evaporative cooler, then it will definitely be worth the money in the end.
Using Fans and Ice
If you do not have, or do not want, an evaporative cooler, then you will want to go down the old-fashioned route of using ice and some fans to blow cold air across the room. This method is as simple as it sounds.
First, you are going to want to find a container for the ice. Once you have a suitably sized container, you will want to fill it to the brim with ice. Once the bowl is full of ice, you will simply want to place it in front of the fan and your work will be done. Before you know it, you will have one of the earliest forms of an air conditioner before they became widespread and commonplace in every house.
As you might be able to imagine, this method works by using the fan to blow the cold air radiating from the ice across the rest of the room. This method is going to be most effective with smaller rooms, larger bowls of ice, and a stronger fan. While it is absolutely less expensive than an evaporative cooler, it is not quite as efficient of a way to keep your room cool.
Find the Right Air Conditioner for the Room
If you would rather opt for a more long-term, or even permanent method of keeping a windowless room cool, you are going to want to consider investing in an air conditioner. The question then becomes a matter of which air conditioner is going to be the one that has the most suitable properties for your needs.
There are three kinds of air conditioners that you are going to want to take a look at. There are wall air conditioners that end up going through the wall. There are portable air conditioning units for people who are looking for an efficient solution. Finally, there are ductless air conditioners, although the installation and details should be handled by an expert. By taking note of all the different kinds of air conditioners, you can rest assured knowing that you will be able to find the best one for the job.
Consider a Through-the-Wall Air Conditioner
If you are looking for a permanent solution to the issues with your windowless room being too hot, then a through-the-wall air conditioner is going to be your best bet. As the name might suggest, these air conditioners sit through a hole in the wall and are installed directly into the wall. Of course, the wall that the air conditioner is installed in should lead to the outdoors, if you want it to be ventilated properly.
The one problem with this type of air conditioner is that it cannot be easily reversed if something happens to the air conditioner. Because it sits in the wall leading outside, it can be considerably hard to keep up with during harsh weather. This is the only thing that you are going to need to be wary about.
Consider a Portable Air Conditioner
If you would like a powerful solution to the problem at hand, and you do not mind spending the money on a portable air conditioner, then it can certainly make a good choice for your windowless room. In fact, these air conditioners operate very similarly to the through-the-wall ones, aside from the fact that they are not a permanent installation.
You will want to make sure that you have an adequate area where you can vent the air conditioner. This includes the ceiling, into another room, or through the wall as you would with the previous unit. This is going to be the most important thing to look out for, if you decide to go with a portable air conditioner.
