With temperatures climbing around the globe, the risk of heat-related illnesses increases. So you must know the answer to how to stay cool outside, and there are many ways to do it. For example, you need to ensure you drink lots of water to replace the lost water and minerals, wear light clothes, and apply sunscreen. You also need to avoid consuming alcohol, exercising, and working in hotter periods.
Close the windows and turn on the air conditioners, fans, and/or coolers to keep your house cool. However, these appliances can increase your electric bills, so consider investing in Jackery Solar Powered Generators. These can power your cooling appliances for hours during power outages and blackouts without any issues or noise.
Key Takeaways
- It’s essential to stay cool outside to avoid heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion, heatstroke, dehydration, and sunburn.
- To stay cool outside in summer, you must dress appropriately, stay hydrated, limit alcohol consumption, exercise, eat light meals, etc.
- During hot weather, the elderly, babies, children, pregnant women, and outdoor workers are more at risk, so taking care of them is important.
- Some of the best outdoor cooling appliances include cooling towels, portable neck fans, floor fans, portable air conditioners, and flexible tripod clip fans.
Importance of Staying Cool Outside
With heat waves occurring more than often they used to in major cities, it’s taking a toll on people’s health. Be it heat exhaustion, heatstroke, dehydration, or sunburn, staying outside in the heat can have severe effects on the body. Let’s explore these in detail:
- Heat Exhaustion: When your body is exposed to extreme heat, it loses too much water and salt in sweat and doesn’t cool off properly; it’s at risk of heat exhaustion. As a result, you get pale and clammy, and your temperature rises to 100℉ (38℃). Besides, you also might feel weak, lightheaded, tired, nauseous, and have a headache.
- Heatstroke: It happens when the heat is at its most dangerous. Your body temperature rises above 104℉ (40℃), and your skin gets warm and dry. You might also get agitated and confused, have nausea, a fast pulse, and a headache. Left untreated, it might cause coma, seizures, and even death.
- Dehydration: The most common thing you can expect when being outside in the heat. You might sweat too much fluid alongside essential minerals like potassium and sodium in hot weather. As a result, your tongue and mouth get dry; you feel thirsty and even lightheaded, dizzy, and confused. Severe cases also might need emergency care.
- Heat Rash: Often, in hot, humid weather, you sweat so much that the sweat glands get blocked. When pores can’t get rid of it, it breaks out in tiny red bumps that can be itchy and irritating. These more likely occur at your armpits, neck, groin, elbows, and under the breasts.
It’s thereby more important to stay cool outside in summer to prevent these heat-related illnesses, especially for people with compromised health or who are infants, elderly, or work outdoors. Heat can worsen existing medical conditions, such as respiratory, cardiovascular, mental disorders, or kidney diseases.
How to Stay Cool Outside in Summer
Now that you know the dangers of working outside in hot weather, the question is how to stay cool in the heat. Heat waves are happening in most of the US states and climate change means they'll get longer and hotter. Therefore, it's highly recommended to avoid heat exposure and stay in a cool indoor place. However, if the work demands visiting outdoor locations, it's important to follow the safety measures. Here are a few tips for you to follow and stay cool outside in summer:
Dress Appropriately: It’s best to avoid going outside during these times, but even if you need to, wear loose-fitting and light-colored clothing to allow air circulation and sweat to evaporate. Also, wear a hat to protect your face and head from exposure to direct sunlight.
Cool Down Your Skin: Heat escapes the body through the skin, so the more you can cool it down, the better. For that, you can drench a T-shirt with water or cooling spray or have a cool shower. You can also dip your hands and feet in cold water.
Stay Hydrated: Dehydration can be a common yet bad effect of heat exposure. To avoid it, drink lots of water and avoid caffeine. Sweating also removes essential minerals like salts, sugar, and fluids from the body, so drink more fluids.
Limit Alcohol Consumption: With increasing heat, people tend to hit the pub more to cool off the body. But the opposite happens. Alcohol causes dehydration, which hits hard if your body is already struggling to combat the outside heat.
Eat Light Meals: When hot outside, stick to well-balanced, light, and regular meals. Also, try to include food with a higher water content, for example, cucumber, strawberry, lettuce, celery, soups, and stew. These help you stay hydrated and cool in summer.
Limit Exercising: You must not disrupt your routine too much, but you have to in a few cases. For example, you shouldn’t exercise or run during the hottest part of the day.
Keep Your Home Cool: When you’re inside, the heat might spare you, but you still need to keep your home cool to feel comfortable, especially at night. Use coolers, fans, and/or air conditioners for that purpose. These consume a lot of electricity, which adds up to your electric bills. So you can rely on Jackery Portable Power Stations to power these for hours, especially during blackouts and power outages.
Take Regular Breaks: When working outdoors in the heat, it’s crucial to take five to ten-minute breaks to rest and cool down. Stay indoors, or find a shade and rehydrate.
Apply Sunscreen: Periodically applying sunscreen with a minimum SPF30 rating can prevent heat rash, dehydration, and other heat-related illnesses.
Adjust Working Hours: Try to schedule your work to comparatively cooler parts of the day, such as mornings or evenings, and try staying indoors during the hottest times. Keep your cooling appliances running with Jackery Portable Power Stations to remain cool in different working sites.
First Aid Tips for Staying Cool Outside
Heatwaves are happening worldwide, including in the US, and they’re getting hotter and hotter due to climate change. Heat stroke, heatwaves, and other heat-related illnesses are on the rise, and even if your best efforts to stay cool lead to these, follow the first aid tips to stay safe:
First Aid Tips For Heat Stroke & Heat Exhaustion
Heat exhaustion happens when the human body struggles to maintain its core temperature of 99.5℉ (37.5℃). When the surrounding temperature gets hotter than that, the human body gets tired, and heat exhaustion sets in. Here’s what to do when someone has got heat exhaustion:
- Take the person to a shade or a cool place and get them to rest.
- Give them plenty of water or fluids to drink.
- Seek medical advice.
Heatstroke happens when the human body is exposed to harsh heat, primarily if it isn’t used to it. Heat exhaustion, when not treated, results in heat stroke. So, you must call for help immediately and try to cool off the person until help arrives.
- Remove their clothes and wrap them loosely with cool, damp clothes or a sheet.
- If no clothes or sheets are available, fan or sponge them with cold water.
- If the body reaches the normal temperature, replace the wet, cool cloth with a dry one.
First Aid Tips For Child, Baby, And Pregnant Women
Hot temperatures can affect anyone, but certain groups are more vulnerable to it than others. These include babies, children, and pregnant women, so if you find one of them inflicted with any heat-related illnesses, follow the first-aid tips:
For Babies and Children
Keep them hydrated: Give your child a lot to drink, especially in hot weather, to replace the lost fluids from the body.
- Feed the babies under six months through breast or bottle, whichever is preferred. You don’t need to offer them water.
- For formula-fed babies, follow the manufacturer’s instructions thoroughly. Don’t add more water than required.
- Babies over six months old can be fed small volumes of additional water, but don’t replace it with the amount of milk feeds given.
Seek Medical Advice: Even if the baby looks recovered and healthy, seeking medical advice is recommended.
For Pregnant Women
Someone pregnant must follow some general tips to stay safe during extreme temperatures, which are as follows:
- The risk of sunburn is higher during pregnancy. Avoid the sun as much as possible, and wear sunscreen outside.
- Pregnant women are at a risk of swelling hands and feet due to fluid retention, which gets worse during hot weather. So try to cool off your body by wrapping cold clothes or taking a cold shower.
- Ensure you stay indoors under the fan or AC and rest in the shade regularly when outside.
- During this time, demand on the circulatory system increases, so hydration becomes very important.
First Aid Tips For Outdoor Workers
People working outdoors under direct sunlight are at risk of heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and other heat-related illnesses. So, follow the general first aid tips for outdoor workers to stay safe:
- Update yourself with the heat index and take extra precautions if necessary.
- Remain hydrated as much as possible by providing cool drinking water and fluids.
- Remove the worn clothes and try cooling off the body by wrapping them loosely with a cold cloth or dipping the hands and legs in cold water.
- Seek professional help if the body isn’t cooling.
Advanced And More First Aid Tips
Other than the ones mentioned above, here are a few advanced first-aid tips for people with heat-related illnesses:
- People with medical conditions like obesity, diabetes, or limited mobility must try to keep themselves cool during hot weather and seek medical advice if necessary.
- If someone is dehydrated, allow them to relax and give them plenty of fluids and water to replenish the minerals lost due to sweating.
- If there are elderly people at your home, look out for them in hot weather, keep them hydrated, and check if they need assistance.
Best Cooling Products
Summers are a great time for beach trips, with lots of sunshine and an excuse to drink a lot of cold drinks and frozen margaritas. But temperatures above 100℉ (38℃) can get uncomfortable and cause a range of heat-related illnesses. The good news is that there are several products that help you beat the heat and cool off.
Portable Neck Fan: Portable neck fans have been around for quite a long time and serve as a personal cooling system for all outdoor adventures. They’re wearable, which means you can cool off anywhere, whether hiking, going for outdoor work, or doing yard work. Depending on the brand, its battery lasts up to 16 hours, making it a good companion for an entire workday.
Cooling Towels: Cooling towels are also a great way to cool yourself in sweltering hot temperatures. They are super soft, travel well, and come in little travel bags, so carrying them isn’t a problem. Just soak them in water, drape them across your neck, and cool off your body. Once they’re dry, you can recharge them or hang them somewhere.
Floor Fan: Floor fans are another excellent cooling product whose large size makes it perfect for dispersing airflow across a wider area without worrying about an electrical outlet. These fans typically have multiple output settings, allowing you to articulate power from low to maximum so you can adjust the speed whenever needed. Once charged, the battery lasts up to 20-25 hours, depending on the power output.
Flexible Tripod Clip Fan: Unlike floor and portable neck fans, tripod clip fans' legs are flexible and grippy, making them easy to swivel and adjust. Pick the closest spot where you’re stationed and attach it to a pole or anywhere suitable to get a delightful cooling effect. The best part is that the entire fan attachment rotates 360 degrees, and the fan head rotates 360 degrees up and down.
Battery-Powered Portable Air Conditioner: These portable air conditioner units are characterized by their inherently shiftable design, built-in handle, decent cooling capacity, and multiple fan speeds that promise to cool in hot weather. You can carry them on your summer beach, camping trips, and even off-grid living.
Most of the cooling appliances mentioned above are battery-operated, and if you don’t want to find an electric outlet when the battery runs out, get a reliable Jackery Portable Power Station. The reliable battery backup can keep your portable fans, air conditioners, and other appliances running simultaneously for hours.
Jackery Portable Power Stations for Cooling Devices
Jackery is a known name in the solar generator industry and a global manufacturer of solar generators, solar panels, and portable power stations. Since its establishment in 2012, it has manufactured more than 4 million units globally and earned multiple accolades for exceptional work.
A Jackery Portable Power Station is a reliable and portable power backup solution for charging your home and outdoor appliances. Its ergonomic design, paired with its portability quotient, helps you carry it around when moving. Besides, anyone can charge power-sensitive appliances without worrying about voltage fluctuations.
Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus Portable Power Station
If you plan on spending time outdoors for a long time and finding a power outlet is difficult, then check out the Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus Portable Power Station. This compact and portable power station can charge multiple devices at the same time. So, if you’re working outdoors, on a holiday, camping, or living off-grid in summer, you can easily charge your cooling appliances like portable air conditioners, fans, and others.
Appliances Working Hours
- Portable air conditioner (1000W): 1.1H
- Car Fridge (60W): 17.9H
- Portable Floor Fan (40W): 26.8H
- Portable Refrigerator (15W): 71.6H
- Portable Neck Fan (5W): 215.0H
Customer Review: “Took this unit out this weekend, and it performed as expected. Charged my Segway scooter, MacBook, and a couple of small gadgets. Jackery app enables you to control several functions of this power station.”- Chris.
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station is the pick if you carry a decent amount of cooling and other essential appliances when camping or traveling and need a comparatively lighter battery backup solution. With this, you can power 99% of the appliances, including coolers, lights, laptops, mobile phones, etc. It perfectly fits into the vehicle's rear compartment for convenient storage.
Appliances Working Hours
- Ice Maker (500W): 1.8H
- Car Fridge (60W): 15.1H
- Portable Floor Fan (40W): 22.7H
- Portable Refrigerator (15W): 60.6H
- Portable Neck Fan (5W): 182.0H
Customer Review: “Plugged my JACKERY to my refrigerator when I temporarily lost power to preserve my food. It worked like a charm”- C M.
Jackery Explorer 600 Plus Portable Power Station
The Jackery Explorer 600 Plus Portable Power Station is another lightweight battery backup unit with multiple charging ports. Aside from that, its battery capacity, foldable handle, and compact size make it an excellent companion for camping, multi-day off-grid adventures, and short RV trips. It can run your portable fan for hours, charge a portable induction cooktop to cook delicious meals, or coffee makers to brew fresh coffee.
Appliances Working Hours
- Ice Maker (160W): 3.3H
- Portable Floor Fan (40W): 13.4H
- Portable Refrigerator (15W): 35.8H
- Portable Neck Fan (5W): 107.5H
Customer Review: “Just what I needed to tour through the country and have power when needed.”- Kathy Oneil.
If You Want to Play Outside in Summer
Hot temperatures and heat waves have made it difficult to move or roam outdoors, but it doesn’t mean you have to spend the summer indoors. There are many answers to how you can stay cool in the heat outside, which are as follows:
Swimming
Swimming is the most obvious thing to do outdoors during summer as it serves a dual purpose: having fun outdoors and keeping your body cool. You can hop onto a local pool, swimming hole, or lake or find a natural water body to swim and connect deeply with nature. Pack in some lunch, hike to your favorite swimming spot with your loved ones, and have an enjoyable day outdoors.
Night Hiking
If you’re an avid hiker who often sleeps until late hours, night hiking is the best way to have a great time without getting burnt out. Hike after sunset when clouds are still beautiful, and the temperature is significantly cooler. Also, hiking at this time is a great way to see things that you might not see during the day. Just make sure to carry plenty of water, flashlights, batteries, and bug spray.
Cave Exploring
It can seem a bit out of the box, but it keeps you cool while interacting with the part of nature that isn’t visible every day. The caves can be up to 15°F (-9.44°C) cooler than what’s outside. Make sure to carry essentials like water, bug spray, and a flashlight so you don’t get lost.
Picnic in The Shade
Often, simple things slip our minds, and a picnic is one such thing. All you need is to pack food, an entertainment system, and portable fans, find a nice shady spot, and spread out! The shade and the fans keep you cool, and cold fruits refresh you. Also, carry Jackery Portable Power Stations so you don’t have to search for power outlets when your appliances run out of power.
Stargazing
Stargazing is another fun thing to do, irrespective of whether the temperature is hot outside. Even thirty minutes from the city limits, you get treated with a beautiful view of a star-rich galaxy. Typically, August is the time when Perseid Meteor Shower appears, and around five to eighty meteors are seen in an hour at night. Also, many state parks hold star parties that provide knowledge about various constellations and stories behind them.
Outdoor Movie Night
This summer, you can swap your usual Netflix on the couch for fun outdoor movie lights. Hang a movie screen, call your friends, stock up on popcorn, and have an enjoyable movie-watching experience in your backyard. Also, make sure to bring your Jackery Portable Power Station to run your projector and other appliances.
FAQs
How big of a power station do I need for cooling devices?
The size of your power station depends on the appliances you want to run and how long. For example, you’re charging a car fridge (60W), portable floor fan (40W), and Portable refrigerator (15W) on a Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus Portable Power Station simultaneously.
Then, Working Time = Capacity in Wh × 0.85 / Operating wattage of the appliances.
Working Time= 1264.64Wh × 0.85/115W = 9.34H
Note: The power station’s battery capacity is multiplied by 0.85 to denote the power loss during charging.
How can I cool my body down outside?
When outside in the hot sun, stay hydrated, apply sunscreen, wear light clothing, eat cooling foods, and take regular breaks to cool your body down.
How to survive 100-degree weather?
To survive 100-degree weather, limit outdoor activities, stay cool, reschedule your work for cooler parts of the day, and stay hydrated.
How to deal with heat without AC?
To deal with heat without AC, close your windows to block out sunlight, use fans, open windows at nigzht, avoid heat-producing appliances, and cool down your skin with water.
How to build up heat tolerance?
You can build up your heat tolerance by a process called heat acclimatization, which involves gradually increasing the length of your heat exposure over a period of one or two weeks.
Wrap up
Working outdoors can be challenging, but knowing how to stay cool outside can be a lifesaver. You can avoid any heat-related injuries or illnesses. Remember to prioritize your health by drinking plenty of water, keeping your skin cool, and staying indoors as much as possible. Irrespective of where you stay, you might need a battery backup solution to keep your appliances running and stay cool, and Jackery Portable Power Stations are one of the best out there. These are reliable, portable, and can power your cooling appliances for hours.
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