Hi folks! I’m currently peakbusting during a heatwave so I wanted to share how my household is staying cool. The weather has gotten almost up to 100 but it hasn’t gotten any hotter than 85 in here, even with AC, fans, and all electronics turned off.

• Close all your curtains to prevent sunlight from shining in and creating a greenhouse effect - I’ve safety pinned fabric over the windows that don’t have curtains
• Close off any rooms you don’t need access to. No point in cooling them if you aren’t going to be in there
• If it cools off at night, open two windows and stick a box fan in one of them blowing out. This will create negative pressure and cause cool air to be sucked inside
• Linen is your favorite fabric, trust me.
• Lots and lots of ice water will do you well. I know it’s obvious but I’m sharing it anyway. If it’s an option, throw some Liquid IV in there to get back the electrolytes you’re sweating out
• If you don’t mind wasting some water, stick your feet in the shower and blast 'em with cold water for a minute. It’ll kinda reset you for a while. Can do a similar thing with a bucket of ice water to be less wasteful!
• Get a rag wet and drape it around your neck. Wet your wrists and ankles, too. The neck, wrists, and ankles are all major heat points, so cooling those spots will cool the rest of your body the fastest.
• Naps are fantastic. Your body temperature lowers when you’re sleeping, so it’s a great idea to take inspiration from your cat and nap during the hottest part of the day
• Visiting your local creek, pool or other source of water really is a great idea. Submerge your body in cool or running water during the hottest part of the day and you’ll feel SO much better

Specific tips for your pet, because I have a cool-weather dog:

• Dab their paws and face with a wet rag. Their paws are their biggest heat point like ankles/neck/wrists for us. I usually dab the belly too
• Some dogs like a kiddie pool of water. Mine does NOT so I just dab with the rag and try to wet him down as much as he’ll let me
• Ice in their water dish. Keep it coming
• My baby boy loves freezer treats (he has several different kinds of freezer toy) with all kinds of delicious stuff mixed in, but a cheat code is just mixing canned pate with a ton of water and freezing that into ice cube trays or popsicle molds or just a bowl. They’ll lick it and it’ll cool them off and hydrate them at the same time
• Puzzle toys keep them from wanting to zoom around and play which raises their body temperature (plus who wants to go outside for fetch in the heat). My boy loves snuffle mats but I’ve also DIYed by hiding treats in a scrunched up blanket. You can also roll treats/kibbles into an old towel and then tie the towel in a big knot - they find it really stimulating to figure out how to get inside

Hope this helps someone survive the heat or shave some peaks! Please share your best low-electricity hot-weather tips below C: maybe we can make a big masterlist of solarpunk ways to stay cool!