I know I am in the minority but more concerned about the lack of heat in my area. Nearly 2pm and it is only 61F. Could hit as much as 72 tomorrow :-)

Near chisue, we have spent the day checking all our duct controls. Finally closed off the main duct to the entire east end of the house, closed the ducts leading to the other rooms except for upstairs DH’s office and our bedroom and bath, and the bath below it. Closed the bedroom door to keep the cool air from sinking downstairs so fast. Finally got the bedroom down from 78° to 74°. Of course the basement is a chill 65. (Just checked the thermometer in the upstairs hall bath, no air going in there, and it’s 81.) And the main floor is now stuffy, we will run a fan. And we are keeping as much other electricity off as possible.

A high of about 80 today for our location in SoCal. Pretty comfy but our heat will be here soon enough!

Texas here. It is only 91 here, not considered really hot by Texas summer standards. Hoping for the rest of you that you cool down and that your grid holds out.

Central conditioning systems (AC and heat) work by moving air through the conditioned space, allowing it to return it to home base to be heated or cooled further (as appropriate) , and then blowing it out again to repeat the process endlessly. Closing ducts and doors is not a great idea, it restricts air flow and puts more strain on the blower motor. That leads to premature wear and early demise.

It's better to use indoor fans to move air from where it's cooler than needed to where it's warmer than you want. I do that and it works well - an upstairs bedroom on the west side of the house heats up from the afternoon sun. It needs more cooling than it gets. A fan placed in the hall, blowing into the room, solves the problem and keeps the system working without restricting air flow.

Balancing airflow and duct sizes is ultimately an impossible task to do perfectly, even when the system was designed and spec'd carefully when new. Some degree of imbalance is usually to be expected.

Poor DS is in a vintage Chicago neighborhood building, studio apt on the top (3rd) floor. He has a portable air conditioner that he says gives him a ”bubble of habitability” if he is in front of it. At least it’s a studio, so he’s never far from in front of it. Poor kid. At least he’s only a mile from the lakefront. ”Cooler by the lake”. Yeah, sure.

Our power is back, but a lot of people around here don't have power yet after Thursday afternoon's storms. Lots of trees down. Our utilities are underground, but we were out for about 18 hours, Lots of the older neighborhoods have power poles and the wind really did a job on the trees falling on the lines. May get to 99 tomorrow, hottest since we've been here. Unfortunately, I have no choice but to get out tomorrow, doctor's appointment at the hottest times, 2:30 PM.

We have been having a heatwave too. But in my area that's officially defined as three consecutive days over 77f. Don't laugh ....

Elmer, of course we know all that, although I didn’t think of the extra strain on the blower. We have been using a fan just to create a wind chill effect at night. The problem is, the cool air all sinks to the basement, even with the basement door closed, We did try putting a fan at the foot of the stairs and again at the landing where it turns to send the cool air up the to kitchen, but household fans are not sufficient. And there IS no cool air in the hall outside the bedroom. All our vents are near the floor, which is fine for heat but not for cool air. Oh, and of course the cold-air returns are also near the floor. Great for winter, not for summer.

Actually, during normal temps here, we can adjust the ducts to go to LR and kitchen, and most all the upstairs, and if we just close the bedroom door it stays nice and comfortable. This heat is not normal, at least not for another month.

The upside is, no one is out doing yardwork! So it’s quiet.

We did have to turn up the thermostat to a higher temp, because it is, of course, on the main floor, so the compressor was running constantly to try to keep it at 75. Of course, it seemed to be running constantly anyway.

One more day of this and then it is supposed to drop down to 85. But then, DH and DS are going to NYC for two days where it is supposed to be 100°. Hopefully the hotel and offices will have AC and there’s no brownout.

Floor supply grills are better for both heating and cooling, if the alternative (putting them high on the walls or coming through the ceiling) requires running ductwork through an attic. Where the temperature is much hotter than inside in summer, and much colder than inside in winter, causing undesired energy loss.

Constant running is to be expected when the outside temp is hotter or colder than the average statistic for your location that the equipment is supposed to be sized to handle. Constant running is better for the equipment than on and off cycling anyway.

Do you have a thin filter? Current thinking is that these are better for performance than the thicker ones that used to be the standard approach, which needlessly restrict airflow.

Ask your HVAC contractor about closing vents and doors - my comments predict the response you'll get.

Good luck.

We are having our afternoon thunderstorm, so the temp has dropped from 90 to 85.

" We have been having a heatwave too. But in my area that's officially defined as three consecutive days over 77f. "

We had a video visit with one of our English couple friends a few days ago. They were at their country house and showing us the flowers in their garden. I asked how the weather had been and the response was to the effect of "We had a lovely spring, it was very sunny" I asked if it had been warm. The answer was "You've been here, you know it's never really warm. It was just sunny. "

This is in NYC. At this moment it feels pretty hot. We live in an apartment. We have one window a/c for our son.

We have one wall unit in the LR. our room is near it. Good enough.

Our son has it cranking as soon as he’s home. We haven’t turned ours on yet.

Tomorrow we’re heading to the beach!!! Our favorite way to cool down!

Yes! Kansas City. Too much heat, but heat and wind combined is awful. I am keeping plants outdoors watered, but wind just wilts them down anyway. I've chased the patio umbrella today twice. I have it open to help some of the potted plants than get knocked over from the wind too. . Fairly new central air, so I keep cool easily.

“Closing ducts and doors is not a great idea, it restricts air flow and puts more strain on the blower motor.”

Definitely.

Well, it’s an experiment. Just to see what works. In the past, we have closed the upstairs bedroom doors to keep the cool air in, but whe haven’t closed off all the downstairs ducts, or all ducts save the pertinent ones. The previous owners already labeled the ducts for cool and heat, and the HVAC people confirmed the process, just not the closed doors. I think after two days of this we will be able to switch gears. We already decided to open the living and guest room ducts and vents.

I'm about an hour north of Toronto, and the Humidex (rough equivalent of a heat index) hit 44C, about 111F. I had to look up the conversion to Fahrenheit, because I can't recall ever hitting temperatures over 40C and I didn't really know what that would feel like. I do know what -40C feels like, but this is the first time I've seen +40C at home. I think I've been in saunas that weren't as hot.

My heat pump has been holding up beautifully.

We're having a cool spell. It was 116° last week, but today it is only 99°, and feels like 95°. I don't like to go outside when it is above 110°, but my basil and chili plants need to be watered every day now. Pool water was 90° last week - normally this doesn't happen until July.

TVet, Barrie?

My SIL taught me a shortcut, not to be used for science but enough to know if I need a sweater. C to F? Double it and add 32. I'm lazy so I just add 30. Good enough for government work, as we say.

Yes, it is in the mid 90's with high humidity. Thank goodness for AC. My feral kitties are trying to get comfortable and following the shade. I put a half dozen bowls and basins of water, which I'm refreshing every hour or so, out for the wildlife.

bpath, I'm in Uxbridge.......I too have a shortcut: A temperature conversion app on my phone. I use it a lot for work, when discussing things with US colleagues or reading their records.

It’s been in the mid to upper 90’s for several days here in North Alabama with a heat index in the low 100’s. I didn’t hear what today’s ‘feels like’ temp was but to be around 103 tomorrow. I’ll be doing a couple of garden chores early and then inside for the rest of the day. I tried to do sime work in the garden Saturday morning. Kept doing things and next thing I know it was 10:30 and I was way too hot. Not doing that again.

Way hotter than normal here in NE Ohio! We hate it! We just are not used to such high temps. My dog acts like it's 120 this morning when it was 75 degrees. She's used to the 60s in the mornings and plus, she's really old (13). She loves the snow. As I've gotten older, I'm having a hard time enjoying the summer temps anymore. The HVAC here isn't really cut out for such high temps either, so it runs and runs. UGH!

Tvet, my other SIL taught in Epsom. Small world.

It’s been prettyhot here in southern Colorado. We have one son in Arizona, dry hot, and one son in Texas, humid hot.

"I too have a shortcut: A temperature conversion app on my phone"

With a smart phone, open any browser, put the cursor on the address(search) box, touch the little microphone to start speech to text, then say "44 degrees C equals F". Touch Search or Go, the answer appears immediately.

" With a smart phone, open any browser, put the cursor on the address(search) box, touch the little microphone to start speech to text, then say "44 degrees C equals F". Touch Search or Go, the answer appears immediately. "

Wow! I had no idea how a smartphone works.

I agree. I've been on vacation this week and haven't gone outside for 3 days.

Got AC set at 75 and on economy so it goes on and off

we had anenormous storm blow through here a couple nights ago. Many huge trees down abd power out. the same storm that affected Sushi. That was a doozy. it was followed by one cooler day but the last two have been hot and humid and its supposed to get much worse.

My upstairs used to get too hot despite the ac but my roofer suggested an attic ventilation fan and I added a ceiling fan and its comfy now. That attic fan was a lifesaver.

I can't believe I wore a jacket last weekend when we went to the No Kings Day, and now it's a steam bath. The temp here today was 97 with a feel like over 100. It will be hotter tomorrow and Wednesday and cool a few degrees by the end of the week. For years I have said how much I hate summer, which wasn't the case when life was different and we didn't have extreme weather. I shudder to think what the climate will be like when my grandkids are my age. I'm sure 100-degree days will be the norm. I lived in this general area all my life, and it was a rare event when we hit 100 degrees, only occurring every few years and lasting a day. We put central air in this 186-year-old house about ten years ago. The downstairs stays cool but the upstairs is much warmer so I need an additional window unit in the bedroom. Something about cold air returns? I pity the sweet robin who built this nice nest on my back porch on a wreath high up on the wall. She is near the ceiling which makes her safe from predators and wind and rain but heat rises and she is so hot her mouth is open. There are plenty of birdbaths in the yard. My husband had to put some cold water in the koi pond as the heat depletes the oxygen.

I hope you are all doing well in the heat. I am not a hot weather person at all. I like cooler temperatures. We’ve had wonderful weather this year, so far. Warm days, cool nights. North central Alberta.

C

F

We had air conditioning put in our house 3 or 4 years ago as we seem to be getting more summers with longer hot spells, unfortunately. (The guy who installed it told us not to close any vents off when running it. It works very well. I’d sooner not have to use it, though)

I put the air conditioning on once we get above 23 C./74 F. I never run it at night. (not yet, anyway)

GF is coming to visit...last year when she came it was an awful heat wave, so this year we said, come in June so it won't be so terribly hot! Hah! It's going to be hotter than last time! And when is the heat wave going to break? When she leaves! Temps to reach 100 and 101 with super high humidity and ozone warnings up. Wonderful. Her alternative was to come in July...wanna bet it'll be in the 80s then??? I told her, if she came in Feb., she'd probably bring a blizzard!

"feels like" temps here have been between 100 and 106 for the past several days with high humidity. i'm beginning to feel like a caged animal.

the dogs go out for potty breaks and that's it, no wandering around in search of rabbit poo, no playing tag with each other, they just come right back inside and go back to bed.

i'm so over it!

As expected in SW Florida

Yep, it's summer here in KC too. At least spring actually lasted until official summer got here.

The last few years it seems that the heat in August has been below normal. Hopefully that continues this year.

So grateful for AC. The heat is bad enough, but combined with this humidity it's unbearable.

I forgot to note that I'm near Lake Michigan, north of Chicago. (bpath too.)

I also forgot to complain about the Endless WIND we've had for months. The heat and wind combined gives me a taste of living in the 1930's Dust Bowls. Yesterday Chicago was close to a heat record set in 1930.

Our new HVAC man told me not to exceed a five degree temperature swing between day and night thermostat settings.

Our house has dual air returns in the walls across from the floor supply vents. We open the top returns while cooling to draw the heavier, cooled air up through the room. In winter we open the bottom returns to pull the lighter, warmed air up. We nearly froze to death in bed once when we railed to reverse the returns. That cold air stayed a foot off the floor all night.

Also in the Midwest and sweltering. Our bedroom is on the second floor and is so hot, even with central a/c. We purchased a window unit air conditioner for our bedroom! I dont care how tacky it looks - at least our bedroom is blissfully cool now!

My other DS used to live in the same building as his brother and has a window unit. He recently moved (around the corner) and I asked what he did with it. He has it in storage in case his brother needs it. I said, tell him!

I was rememberingour wedding, early July it was. 90°, 90% humidity. A tent on the parents’ property (it seemd like such a good idea in February!) We eliminated the receiving line on the terrace so everyone could just linger under the trees with cold drinks and champagne while we walked around to greet everyone. Then the tent. Everyone seated and melting, we walk in, get to our table, DH takes off his jacket and drapes it over the back of the chair. A cheer and applause rose from all the men ad they, too, removed their jackets! For years after, everyone says what a nice wedding and reception it was, and dang was it hot.

Looks like the rest of the week here will be beastly too. Any garden work is now done before 10am, even the evenings will be too dang hot. Hope the ele grids hold up, and that there are no cyber attacks on our grids from our adversaries.

I have this widget on my phone’s home screen for temperature conversions.

84 after midnight!!

We are pretty much sick of Summer already, it's been like 4 days! HAHA!

Here's our 10 day forecast:

Today (Tuesday) will be our last pleasant day for a while. Our "feels like" temperatures are a bit lower, due to the low humidity, and we do have almost constant breezes. Still, when it is 110° and above, it doesn't matter what it feels like.

We got solar panels with batteries installed last February, and they more than take care of our energy needs from sunrise to about 2 AM, which is when the batteries run out. During the day, we charge our batteries and send a lot of power back to the grid, although we get paid very little for this. Anyway, we can keep our AC at 74° during the day and 73° at night without using much energy from the grid.

Our skies are clear and intensely blue.

Oh Lars, that is too hot!

I slept last night with the windows wide open and our house is at 16 C. /60 F. A little chilly, but a sweater will fix that.

Stay safe.

Sephia, hilarious. Over the weekend I was wishing I was carrying around cookie dough in my car so I could make a little snack.

I had friends (who are in their 80's) visiting from New Hampshire from Friday until yesterday. Fortunately they had moved from Arizona a couple of years ago so were not terribly bothered by the mid-high 90's humid heat we have been having. Everything outside needs watering, especially things in pots. I keep a small dog bowl on the front porch with water and get birds, squirrels and chipmunks at the watering hole. A robbin sat in it yesterday! I had to replenish.

I finally upped my inside temp to 76º so the A/C could take a little breather. I am not looking forward to my utilities bill. This heat is much too early for us.

I never thought I'd be so happy to hear thunder! Right at the time when the house would get excruciatingly hot. Even with a new HVAC system. I hate triple digit temperatures.

Guess I'll be cool tonight. Yay!