Dad and the fans

I pulled out the big guns last night.  I put the big square fans in the windows.  And that always makes me think of my dad.

Years ago, when I was at my little house, my dad worried about it heating up during the day.  It was small and was a modular home, which typically have a bad reputation for being poorly insulated.  The modern sort as mine was are well built with the downside being no basement with it summer cool depth.  

My house had wide window sills, and dad said to get a few window fans to sit right on the window ledge to cool things off at night.  It made a huge difference and they have been my mainstay in keeping cool ever since.  Setting them right in the windows cools a space off fast.  

The addition to the fans that Keith made here is rolling screen doors.  Our front and back doors are right across the house from each other and with both doors open and the screens in place, that huge mass of open, really helps.  The doors are closed at night, but first thing in the morning, we open them.  At 6 a.m. the air is quite a bit cooler that later in the day.  We got the idea for these from dad.  He had one at his condo.

As the heat rises, we close up tightly and stay cool inside.  We have one trick left in our stay cool arsenal, emergency blankets.  We used them to block the massive bay window on the south side in the kitchen.  Eventually we will shade the back deck with a pergola but till then, emergency blankets work.  Curtains to block the heat, the old fashioned tin foil in the windows, all the other options cost much more than emergency blankets, shiny side out.  Dad would have liked this solution.  

Anyway, while we work to keep the house cool in the heat of the day, I think of my dad.