MICHEL SAMSON wrote
 
 PART 1 OF 2
 
-----------Air conditioning
 
 PM> ...works faster and better if you use a window fan...
 
> I do more than that, i install my twin reversible
> window fan in the window if there's no wind, i
> place a portable one in front of the room's door
> and another in the kitchen in front of the door
> which leads to the balcony, then i switch them all
> to full speed to force warm air out and i also
> start the one on my kitchen's ceiling when
> desperate... During the last warm week it could
> take the whole night before this was satisfying,
> that is why i, like most other people around here,
> even have to leave my balcony's door opened, i
> mean both of them (i do need every bit of air)!
 
 Don't forget we often have hot nights as well.
 It just doesn't cool off enough.
 
> One could think that the building's insulation is
> really deficient.
 
 Any building will absorb quite a bit of heat
 during the day, which takes time to dissipate.
 
 PM> ...and then shutting the windows and drawing
 the blinds to keep the sun out, usually keeps the
 place here cool until noon or later...
 
> I'm doing that too. Actually, i have a clear
> (reflective) vertical store behind the curtains to
> help me keep everything out; mother really didn't
> like it since this is no conventional way to dress
> windows but it was that or i'd have tried a
> self-adhesive reflective film! I thought i could
> find stores to be more versatile in winter as they
> let the sun in:  even with the curtains in place
> heat will still be captured if i want...
 
 Don't worry about your mother.
 I've seen those recommended for exactly that purpose.
 You also see those reflective shields in cars.
 They help.
 
> Films were also a concern, i was told those could
> make glass crack.
 
 News to me. Could be. But never heard that.
 
 MS> This building is full of leaks, i think the
 MS> neighbour downstairs is contributing to my misery...
 
 PM> What does he/she do, cook all day?
 
> He dries day and night!...
> He has a twin window fan like mine that started
> running in May, as i recall, and it rarely stopped
> ever since...
 
> ...instead of drying outside he has a wire support
> right next to his window - inside - in front of
> this fan; he blocked the view with a drape which
> performs the esthetic purpose of dressing this
> window and force the passage of air thru the fan
> at the same time.  Original...
 
> If effect, he's "thermalizing" his appartment and
> he doesn't really seem to realize it when it's 33
> degrees Celcius inside and we all are in panick
> mode... The insulation in the outside wall is bad
> (i've seen the electric bills) and i'm confident
> that insulation between the two levels is only
> worst; since heat accumulates under his ceiling
> and will slowly transfer thru my appartment's
> floor this young person is making it worst for him
> and i... If at least i didn't need wax ear plugs
> to sleep! :-7
 
 Talk to him.
 Bring an aluminum baseball bat with you.
 
 But how does he himself stand it?
 
 If what he's doing is making the problem worse in
 your apartment, it must be terrible in his apartment.
 
 And what if he stops what he's doing?
 The temperature outdoors is still high.
 33C plus our humidity is HOT.
 
 The health department issues HEAT ALERTS telling old
 people not to exert themselves, and parents not to
 leave their kids in cars unless they want them cooked.
 
 Ambulances were carting people off at the Jazz Festival
 last year when the temperature went that high.
 
 So you would still have to solve that problem.
 
 PART 2 OF 2
 
-----------Air conditioning
 
 I think my particular housing situation may be
 better than yours concerning cooling without an air
 conditioner because I'm in a very shaded area.
 But I still have to use one when it gets hot enough.
 An air conditioner may be your only solution.
 

--- Maximus/2 3.01