It's 35 degrees Celsius outside.
It's 30 degrees Celsius inside.
Night it "drops" to 27 degrees outside and if I'm lucky it'll drop to 27 degrees inside.
I don't have AC, this'll be just 1-3 weeks a year and I'm moving out sometime next year so getting an AC for a couple weeks seems a bit pointless. But nevertheless, these couple of weeks I'm slowly turning into a sentient puddle of sweat D:
I freeze some water etc. and use it to cool down a few rooms a bit, kinda works but it's not quite enough. Anyone got any tricks? Like real temporary low-investment lifehacks?
35 in Finland??? Holy cows!
I got the same here down in Hungary, although officially we didn't hit 35 yet, I got a top floor apt. so it was reading 36 during the afternoon in the closed off non-ac room.
I got an AC installed cos we got guinea pigs that can't handle this heat, and also I really hate this level of heat. I'd much rather have cold all year cos you can actually do something against that...
As for cheap tricks, what the others said!
Apart from a hot shower (it works) you can try Plain hot tea to trick yourself into thinking it's colder outside. But that doesn't work for lots of ppl I know, including myself, although a few swear it's the best method.
You can also try packing the frozen water bottles (or better yet, cooler/fridge batteries) in towels and sitting on them. Do Not put them under your ass/balls if you don't wanna get sick. Put them under your legs close to your ass but not directly under it. Dunno the correct English term for that but its the thickest part of your leg, which usually has the biggest muscle mass in the human body and thus can transfer tons of heat. (We had to use the same method with hot packs in winter during my 3D classes while we were in an old converted factory building that had no heating for a few weeks in -10C weather. It works)
Just don't sit like this for an hour cos it will mess with your circulation. Do short stints, just like you would with a cold wet towel on your neck.
From my Do NOT try this at home list: mild blood thinners. Aspirin, kalmopyrin, and whatever brand name has the same ingredients. It can make you tolerate the heat better for a couple of hours, especially if you are feeling sick slow and dizzy from the heatwave pushing in. Also you should see a Doctor asap if this is the case, you might have more serious issues!
DIET can make a difference and it's cheap to try!
Along the same lines as above, just much less problematic, and I'm sure I don't have to say this, but do drink a lot more WATER, pure water!, a lot more then you usually would. NOT carbonated, sugared drinks, just plain old water!
Lay off the salt as well, and avoid all sugar as much as possible. Both will make you feel worse in hot weather cos they thicken up your blood, make your kidneys work overtime which are already getting a workout cos of the weather, and increase blood pressure. Same goes for alcohol, especially 0%alc flavored Beers which are basically just another form of sugary drinks. If you must, add unsweetened lemon juice to your water or drink zero calorie sodas if you really have to. Also a Small glass of red wine can be a good choice once or twice in the day, but not more. (It loosens up your blood vessels slightly, can increase heat tolerance in some)
Think of it this way, a humans operating temperature is around 36-37 degrees under no load. When you increase the load (example eat a jar of Nutella lol) it has to work under load and thus temps rise, thus it needs more cooling. Less load leads to less cooling needed. It's simple.
I know it sounds kinda silly but switching to lighter plain salads and lean meats or fish and skipping out on a regular Coke for the hot season can make a difference, at least it works surprisingly well for me.