heat in the shop... look out

the south texas heat has kept me out of the shop for about a week so far, its terribly hot, easily over 100 degrees during the day, dry heat. cant stand it
 
I remember from my Army days how much avoiding heat stroke/ exhaustion:
If you are not urinating, you are not drinking enough.


also: Once you have suffered from heat stroke, you are more susceptible to suffer from it again in the future

Keep Cool!
 
Here's a few of the most obvious signs of dehydration:
-Loss of appetite. Don't just assume you're eating less because it's not winter anymore.
-Weariness/fatigue. If you feel lazy and don't really want to do anything this might be why.
-Dry or red skin
-Faster than usual heart rate even while resting. This doesn't sound like the kind of thing you'll notice but if you're aware of this symptom and look for it it's easy to spot.

The following symptoms mean you're in serious trouble:
-Puking your guts out
-Difficulty breathing
-Pain within the torso
-You look like death (sunken eyes, bad skin, etc)

Heat doesn't bother me. I've felt just fine in 110 degree dry weather. Humidity on the other hand seriously kicks my ass.
 
I just scored a little 5000 BTU A/C unit for $20. I'm gonna cut a hole for it in the back of the garage and position it so it blows right at me. It won't cool the whole garage, but it'll take the edge off of the heat and humidity.
 
Heat trick from factory days as a young man: Cover your skin with an evaporative layer.

The full story: I did manual labor in a warehouse that ran well over 100-degrees F (black tar flat roof soaking up sun all day) and very high humidity. To cool ourselves as we worked, we dunked lightweight cotton work shirts with the sleeves cut off into cold water, then put them on. The cold rush and clammy feeling lasted just a few minutes. But the cooling effect as the water slowly evaporated out of the absorbant cotton fabric lasted a long time (half hour maybe).

fludunlimited said:
those metalic space blankets are going to be put all around the out side with spray glue when I get a chance this summer.
Click to expand...
Those reflective mylar Sportsman Blankets break down with exposure after a while.

I keep one in my car and have to replace it every couple years or so, especially after summertime. Not sure if it's the heat or UV that gets 'em, but they delaminate pretty badly and wrinkle/wad up terribly. Note that I am not saying, "Don't use them"... just a heads-up that they don't last long at all.

Have you considered putting up aluminum siding, corrugated metal, or other heavier-duty reflective material? It's bound to be sturdier than the blankets.
 
I've only had heat exaustion once, 95 degrees ambient 150 degrees in the shop. Worked in it for 6 hours and pushed it a bit too far. I keep water in the shop to drink, that way its cool but not cold. You know its warm in the shop when you get goosebumps from walking outside the shop. I eat bananas in the morning for the potassium and have a bag of chips in the shop to snack on during the day. Just be careful and pay attention to what your body is telling you. Don't wait until you faint and bash your head open on your anvil. I forge for a living and its not like i can take the whole summer off, I try to start earlier in the morning and i've gotten to know when to quit.
Thanks,
Del
 
I really feel for you guys with the over heated shops, we had that problem at our old house. small shed like shop, working on cars it was always too hot. here at the new place, the shop is about 80*F even during the 95*F weather we had for a couple days in a row last week. Its a big shop, with a loft over it, and an 8 foot wide "hall way" down the side facing east, so even though the sun is beating off the building all day, it heats up that hall way and the loft and not the actual shop. Cement floor helps with keeping cool too. Anyway.
I take a bottle or two of water with me out to the shop, and only work for a couple hours at a time. that always helps with keeping hydrated, when I heat treat its outside in the sun so that nice cool shop doesn't help any. Keep Cool,
Jeff W.
 
That's funny
heat in the shop... look out
Click to expand...

Every time i see that headline, I keep expecting to see a kickass central heating system in the shop for the winter months.

I'm still using small portable propane heat and have shop envy for those in the south who don't worry about digging their way through snow.

I suppose that i haven't switched over to the melt into a puddle summer mentality yet.
 
I damn near set the shop on fire last week.
I turned on the window air conditioner to test it for the summer and a bloody starling had gotten in the back-side and made a nest in behind the cooling grids.
Talk about stink up the place.

J. Ziegler
 
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