Life-saving microclimate

The scorching and suffocating summer has long remained in the memory of those who found themselves in conditions of smoke and extreme heat caused by large-scale wildfires. During this period, the number of medical consultations increased sharply. After the exhausting heat came a sudden cold snap, which became an additional challenge for the body. It was especially difficult for those whose homes were not prepared for such sudden temperature changes. The situation was extremely dangerous and required people to quickly adapt, when they had to use any available means. Of course, it’s good if you have the opportunity to purchase air purification and cooling equipment—now the choice of such devices is very wide. But what should those who don’t have such an opportunity do? It remains to follow simple recommendations that will help create a comfortable and safe microclimate in the room in an emergency.

First of all, it is necessary to have basic instruments at home, the readings of which will allow you to record the temperature and air pressure. One thermometer should be installed outside the window, and the second—inside the room. It is highly desirable to have a barometer in the house, even its basic readings “rain, variable, clear” will give an idea of possible weather “surprises.”

When organizing a microclimate in an apartment, it is useful to observe how nature itself does this in natural conditions. As soon as clouds cover the sun, we immediately feel the long-awaited coolness. A downpour comes, or it just drizzles, and the air becomes cleaner. A strong wind blows in addition, and it’s time to put on warm clothes. And when large hailstones fall from the sky, it becomes truly cold. These “hints” from nature can be embodied in specific measures, the adoption of which will help make your home “habitable” even in extreme heat and smog.

Let’s start with the windows. By covering the windows with sun-protective film, we immediately reduce the amount of heat penetrating into the apartment due to solar radiation. It makes sense to have blinds or thick curtains on the windows, closing or partially closing which can further reduce the effect of solar heat on the temperature in the apartment. If the house is old, and there are gaps in the wooden window frames, it is advisable to seal these gaps or tape the window frames with special sticky paper tape. Cracks in window panes can be carefully sealed with silicone, clear nail polish, or taped with transparent tape. Now the scorching smog from the street will no longer intensively seep into your home.

It is useful to have a couple of household fans in the apartment. They are not expensive, and can serve both for cooling the air and even for its purification. The simplest way to cool room air is available to everyone who has a refrigerator with a large freezer in the kitchen. You will need a dozen ordinary plastic bottles with a capacity of 1–2 liters, filled with tap water, and a small tray. After freezing five bottles in the freezer, they should be removed and placed on a tray in a row, directly in front of a working fan. The other five bottles with water can be put in the freezer, thus putting the production of “large hailstones” on stream. The bottles in front of the fan should be placed with a large gap so that the air, cooling, freely passes between them.

A subject of particular concern is smog from peat fires. The presence of dangerous gas impurities and the finest suspended particles in the air in this case can pose a serious health hazard. It is practically impossible to completely exclude the penetration of smog into the apartment over a long period. It was remembered that it was proposed to cover the transoms with moistened cloth so that particles of peat smoke would not penetrate into the room. And for some reason, no one thought that every apartment has an excellent air purification tool in the form of a bathroom. Just turn on the shower with cold water, place a fan in the bathroom doorway, and the purification facility is ready! Such an improvised “rain” in the bathroom will remove (precipitate) harmful impurities from the air, simultaneously cooling and humidifying the air. From the bathroom, purified cool “wind” will blow into the apartment, reducing the overall concentration of inhaled harmful substances. At the same time, don’t forget to open the drain plug in the bathroom so as not to flood your downstairs neighbors.

In general, in emergency conditions, especially when there are children in the house, it is advisable to use all suitable household appliances for air purification. There is an exhaust hood with a filter above the kitchen stove—turn it on. There is a modern vacuum cleaner with a water filter—use it more often to remove harmful dust settling on the floor. Finally, one should not forget about the banal general wet cleaning.

A microclimate is much easier to organize in a small room than in a large one. If all the measures you have taken have not given tangible results, try “moving” to a smaller room or reducing the volume of the room in which you spend most of your time. To do this, you can partition the room with furniture, use thin temporary partitions made of plywood, plastic or cardboard, curtains.

Pay attention to the little things: extra heating electrical appliances turned on, household appliances, incandescent lamps—in the end, all this affects the air temperature level. If it became too hot in spring or autumn—perhaps the problem is in hot central heating radiators. Installing homemade U-shaped screens on the radiators (for example, made of corrugated cardboard) will noticeably reduce heat transfer to the surrounding air, and the room will become cooler.

It is much easier to provide additional heating of the room, especially if you have electric heaters at your disposal. Modern heaters are affordable, have a reliable design and are convenient to use. It is strictly not recommended to use the turned-on burners of a gas stove for heating. An open flame of a burner is a source of increased danger and one of the possible causes of a fire.

When nature “throws you from heat to cold,” maintaining an optimal microclimate in the house becomes an urgent necessity. This task can be solved in various ways, implying a technical aspect. But there is also another aspect—psychological. The presence of houseplants, elements of natural interior, original model compositions like a stone slide or waterfall in the apartment can work a real miracle. Show a little imagination, and the whims of the weather may seem not so annoying to you.

A. ZLOBIN