The heat can be unbearable and people young or old can relate to the uneasy, sweaty, and hot feeling of the rising temperatures. This is perhaps the only downside to summer. While we may enjoy the sun and all the outdoor things you can do when the weather cooperates, the heat can be too much at times — especially when the sun is right on top of the sky.
Most people seek refuge from places with centralized air conditioning until the sun sets when the heat and the humidity are somewhat tolerable. However, not everyone can afford to cool themselves this way. For starters, you need to purchase the right cooling equipment and they do not come cheap. Those who are struggling in life may not have the luxury of indoor air conditioning and they have to endure the heat without any superficial help.
Some public places do not have air conditioning too. There are school classrooms with no ACs. Summer may only be approaching but the students and the school faculty can already feel the heat penetrating the four corners of the classroom, making learning twice as challenging than cooler days.
Students returned to school Tuesday after the long, holiday weekend. For many, that meant a day without air conditioning. Some metro school staff sent pictures of windows in an east metro school building blocked out with black paper to keep the sun and heat out. In another classroom, the thermostat read 90 degrees Tuesday. Schools around the metro kept students in class despite no air conditioning in many buildings. "Some of the things we suggested to bring were labeled water bottles to keep kids hydrated, along with moving recess indoors perhaps to spaces in the building that are slightly cooler," Karen DeVet, Chief Operations Officer with Minneapolis Public Schools, said.
Read the full story at KSTP News.
Staying hydrated is important. It won’t just keep you sane throughout the day but keep you cool and healthy too. You can actually die from dehydration and heat stroke is so common during summertime. Increasing your water intake can help keep your body stay cool despite the extreme heat outdoors.
Those who go out during the day are advised to bring water bottles with them so they can always take a sip when needed. Even the government and the community pitch in and help those without working ACs brave and survive the heat by providing AC units to key public spaces, most of which are frequented by seniors. The cool air emitted by air conditioning units are lifesavers during the midday heat when the sun is at its hottest.
People at the Bishop Sullivan Center are getting a head start on their Project ElderCool program. “We already started sending our interns out because we were getting calls saying, ‘It’s so hot in my house, I don't have an air conditioner. I need your help,' so we said we got to launch it,” Director of Communications and Community Engagement Chanelle Zak said. Interns Thomas Davis and Emilio Cabrera just started at the Bishop Sullivan Center and have been busy. They’re putting together air conditioner units for metro area seniors in need.
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This kind of community spirit is rather refreshing in itself. After all, you do not need to suffer in the heat when there are cooler spaces you can go to. These cooling systems are no longer a luxury but a must in most homes. Just make sure you purchase the energy-efficient ones to reduce your carbon footprint and whenever possible, turn the cooling off and try other options to cool your body down to save energy and protect the environment from excessive gas emissions.
One more thing why you should not endure the heat is because it affects your focus and performance. If you feel comfortable and at ease in your own skin, you’re able to perform better at school and do better at examinations. There are statistics supporting this claim and you yourself can attest to your own experience about feeling hot and not able to do as well as you usually do in school or at work.
A working paper distributed this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research aims to quantify exactly how hard it is for students to learn when it’s hot. Researchers found that temperature and air conditioning makes a difference — and that students from poorer communities are more likely to be learning in uncomfortable conditions.
In schools without air conditioning, every 1 degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature correlates to about a 1% decrease in learning, the study found. To measure the amount learned by students, researchers analyzed 10 million students’ scores on the PSAT, a standardized test students can take in 10th or 11th grade and often take in both years. Researchers looked at students who took the test twice and compared each of their scores to one another as well as the temperature in the year leading up when they took the test.
See MarketWatch.com for the complete story.
It may be doubly challenging to pay attention in class during summer but you can always find a way to beat the heat. You can go somewhere cool to study or fan yourself during class. You can keep on drinking water to stay cool and hydrated or stay in the shade to protect yourself from the heat.
Right now, the government is doubling its effort in providing AC units to as many public spaces as they can because summer is just around the corner. Now, more than ever, do we realize the importance of air conditioning in keeping everyone sane and healthy.
If you’re looking for a local HVAC professional in Toronto, Ontario to install your home AC system, contact Bulldog Heating & Cooling Toronto today!
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