Keep cool and hydrated in this heatwave!

[Gardengirl]

Thanks, nomoss. It was mended this morning and was re-gassed too.

We keep ours at 25C in these temperatures which, as you say, gives a better outcome. Our fan is set on hugh apart from when we retire for the night, when we switch it to low speed.

While they were with us, the men took the top off the external unit on the balcony and dealt with a wasp nest that I thought was being built in there. I had tried to put them off by spraying hairspray in where wasps were entering - being allergic to wasp stings, I need to duscourage wasps from staying too long.

I have a pretend wasp nest hanging up nearby, suggested by a poster on here, I think, but it didn't put those wasps constructing a nest.

[mint]

[quote user="Gardengirl "] I need to duscourage wasps from staying too long.

I have a pretend wasp nest hanging up nearby, suggested by a poster on here, I think, but it didn't put those wasps constructing a nest.[/quote]

Ha, ha, GG, I LOVE your pretend wasp nest!

Don't tell me you have a pretend burglar alarm as well?

[woolybanana]

Don't forget your pets in this heat guys, plenty of water and shady spots as needed.

[Gardengirl]

<< mint wrote the following post at 16/06/2017 13:28:

Gardengirl wrote:

I need to duscourage wasps from staying too long. I have a pretend wasp nest hanging up nearby, suggested by a poster on here, I think, but it didn't put those wasps constructing a nest.

Ha, ha, GG, I LOVE your pretend wasp nest!

Don't tell me you have a pretend burglar alarm as well?>>

???

If anyone wants to try a pretend wasp nest, here's the link, though it didn't stop wasps building in our aircon unit:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waspinator-Twin-Pack-Wasps-control/dp/B001UABS2S

[dave21478]

Its hot as balls here and as a fat Scotsman in bad shape, I am not doing well.

Has anyone got one of these "portable" aircon units? Any recommendations?

Apparently extending the exhaust ducting to the outside makes them work a loit better.

[nomoss]

[quote user="dave21478"]Its hot as balls here and as a fat Scotsman in bad shape, I am not doing well.

Has anyone got one of these "portable" aircon units? Any recommendations?

Apparently extending the exhaust ducting to the outside makes them work a loit better.[/quote]

Is that really a serious question?

[richard51]

Dave, might any of this help

https://greatist.com/happiness/tricks-to-sleep-in-the-heat

[dave21478]

why wouldnt that be a serious question?

[Chancer]

They work OK, neighbours had one, noisy because all the working bits are Inside, they vented the exhaust out the window which did help but as much heat came in the open window as they gained by doing it, leaving the unit to cool the room whilst chucking out the heat at the same time just raises the temp overall but you do get a cool breeze, best to duct it like you would a VMC or tumble drier.

 

When I was in poor shape and suffering the heat I would spray a mist of water upwards above the bed (no bedclothes of course) to settle on me and evaporate, here in France I sleep on the ground floor which helps but under a tin roof which doesnt!

[richard51]

Because ACs expel hot air which should be directed outside. Some of the tips in the last post use this ie expelling/stopping hot air (excluding OH)

[nomoss]

[quote user="dave21478"]why wouldnt that be a serious question?[/quote]

Because hot air comes out of the exhaust, and I assumed that no-one would even consider discharging this inside the room or building which they are trying to cool.

I assumed your post was a wind-up. If not, I am sorry. Both for my assumptions and for you[:D]

The (hot) exhaust is supposed to be ducted to the outside. If the duct is not long enough, the unit should be moved nearer to a window or similar, so this can be acheived.

EDIT: To work out how to prevent hot air coming in through the window through which the exhaust is ducted out may not be easy, depending on the type of window, but most people should be able to design some way to block off the window opening while leaving a hole for the exhaust duct, even if it is just a piece of plywood.

[NormanH]

http://www.midilibre.fr/2017/06/23/jusqu-a-40-prevus-ce-vendredi-dans-l-ex-languedoc-roussillon,1526277.php

Mercredi 21 juin, premier jour de l'été, a été la journée de juin la plus chaude enregistrée en France depuis 1945, a indiqué ce jeudi Météo France. La moyenne des températures à l'échelle nationale a atteint "26,4°C" mercredi, premier jour de l'été. "C'est un nouveau record, c'est la journée de juin la plus chaude depuis l'après-guerre", a déclaré le prévisionniste François Gourand.

but as albf pointed out it's just the summer [:P]

It must be wonderful to be right all the time.

[cajal]

 

La moyenne des températures à l'échelle nationale a atteint "26,4°C"

Ha! Are they having a larf?

Mid afternoon, yesterday, at the animal refuge where I help out.

The image of a thermometer is apparently not showing. It was registering 49°C (albeit in the direct sun)

[andyh4]

Direct sun is the point though.

I have a picture from 2003 with a friend asleep in the sun and a thermometer placed on her chest reading 54C - but in direct sun.

That is why the Stevenson's box was invested to act as a meteo station. Instruments are protected from direct sun as well as direct draught, the box is however well vented to prevent a build up of heat.

[Gardengirl]

38C today in the shade, wish the storms followed by slightly cooler temperatures they keep warning us about would actually happen. Just a brief, non-damaging storm would be acceptable with a moderate amount of rain - overnight.

[woolybanana]

Temp dropped by half today, a shock but a very welcome one. Can now cut the brown patch called the lawn and do some weeding.

[richard51]

Was in Dordogneshire followed by suburbs of Paris and then back to the North Midlands over the last few days. Whilst the hot temperatures in France during the day were not fit for us to be outside, we did manage to have a very nice trip to Giverny during the day and during the evening it was actually sublime.

OTOH in the North Midlands it was extremely humid and in my humble opinion much worse than SW France. Today in NMids has been bloody wet and yeuk.

I know where I prefer, though with the caveat of the very good advice on this thread re keeping hydrated.

NB also in NHS choices and other professional medical sites.

[idun]

I lived through several canicules in France and what shocked me most the other day was that four school children ended up, being taken from school to hospital with hyperthermia.

That is actually disturbing and disgusting in France as there is so much daily information on the tv and radio about the heat and this is not the first heat wave.

[Chancer]

[quote user="idun"]I lived through several canicules in France and what shocked me most the other day was that four school children ended up, being taken from school to hospital with hyperthermia.

That is actually disturbing and disgusting in France as there is so much daily information on the tv and radio about the heat and this is not the first heat wave.
[/quote]

 

Taken from school and later confirmed to have been suffering hyperthermia or taken from school with suspected hyperthermia AKA wanted the afternoon off?

 

I recall many years ago drinking a demi or 6 in a cafe and witnessing the most minor fender bender that could ever happen, maybe a 2km/h impact, talk about exagéré, any of us would have at the most exchanged détails and driven on, I would have just said forget it mate to the guy behind, in this case both vehicles were taken away on recovery trucks pompiers attended and 4 ambulances came to take away the occupants of both vehicles on stretchers or in wheelchairs. It was an early lesson in if I pay for this insurance/mutuelle cover i am going to get the most out of it. 

[idun]

I have very unfond memories of raging hot June temperatures and my kids, especially in maternelle and primary school not getting much sleep and having to go to school. All very wearing.

Suspected hyperthermia, if there was a suspicion of it there,doesn't matter what the outcome,  then they had to go to hospital. Unless a child was very unwell with a pre existing condition, then the whole school should have been kept well hydrated and allowed to splash cool water over their face and neck to keep cool. This is not hard, for a country where it gets hot.