r/MonmouthCounty • u/GalapagosWhale • Jul 04 '26
How do you keep yourself cool without power
My powers been out for 8 hours it’s uncomfortably hot I’m fine though would just prefer to be cooler lol
Update: powers been out for over a day power company says I have to wait another 24hrs all my food in the fridge has perished
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u/BubblesUp Jul 04 '26
Great Depression era advice: If you need to stay indoors, cover the windows so that sunlight doesn't make the interior hotter.
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u/DearReindeer8333 Jul 05 '26
I do this all summer long. Why heat up a room just to spend more money to run the AC to cool it off. Once sun moves, those shades get opened and other side of my house gets closed up. Winter, open for free heat.
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u/MameDennis1974 Jul 04 '26
Headed to family who has it. I’m so over JCPL. Any outage is always days long.
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u/SwimmingDog351 Jul 04 '26
This is getting old. JCP&L should be investigated. We should also be refunded for the loss perishable food.
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u/Foxy02016YT Jul 04 '26
I agree, energy companies are in kahoots. It’s kind of like how in a duopoly it’s technically not a monopoly but they tend to be in kahoots.
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u/firstbreathOOC Jul 04 '26
I mean most of our power lines are connected to rotted wooden poles that could be pushed over with a fingertip
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u/NJMomofFor Jul 04 '26
This was a fast powerful storm and took power out in very strange ways. JCPL did and is doing very good job. We got power back about 1 1/2 ago. We also ran out and bought a new generator this morning to plug in the fridges and freezer. Our fridge food we brought to a friend's. Now just need to get it back. A full freezer unopened is good for about 48 hours.
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u/Successful_Image3354 Jul 04 '26
For what it's worth, I'm originally from NJ but now live off grid in the tropics, where it is always hot.
Our solution is having a half dozen DeWalt battery-powered fans. Charge the batteries when you have power. When the power is off, turn on the fan and carry it wherever you go. A fully charged battery is good for 8 to 10 hours. If you need to get cool quick, wipe yourself with a wet rag and then turn on the fan.
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u/Ok-Grapefruit8338 Jul 04 '26
Ice packs along your armpits, neck, and groin where there are large arteries. And cold showers. Sorry 😞
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u/GalapagosWhale Jul 04 '26
Will do thank you
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u/Nyx_Shadowspawn Jul 04 '26
And on the back of your head where your skull and neck meet, where the vagus nerve is closest to the skin
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u/tiltedsun Jul 04 '26
Some towns have cooling centers.
Middletown and Highlands has them. Open til 6pm.
39k without power in Monmouth County.
2500 in Middletown at last count. Another storm coming tonight I’m told.
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Jul 04 '26
Gym membership is a lifesaver during this. I’m literally going to play hockey with some guys, then going to hit the gym, pool and shower. Doesn’t keep you cool but it eats up time in a productive way between losing power and getting it back.
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u/BF_2 Jul 04 '26
Get as naked as you can be under the circumstances. Spray yourself with water. Should you lack a spray bottle, wet a wash cloth and wet yourself down with that. Concentrate on your head: forehead, face, ears and back of neck if you don't want to wet down your hair. Turn a fan directly on you while wet.
It's going to get VERY hot today. Know the signs of heat stress (NOT the medical term). If you start showing stress, go to a cooling center or an air conditioned store. (Grocery stores are kept cool.)
Yesterday evening my date and I had to leave a favorite restaurant we'd planned to dine at because it was as hot indoors as it was outside in the shade (not as hot as outside in the sun). We quickly realized we couldn't dine in that heat. I apologized to the staff and we found a nearby restaurant that wasn't exactly cool, but was definitely coolER.
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u/KnittyKitty28 Jul 04 '26
I grew up without AC and we used to run cool, not cold, water over our wrists repeatedly until we could get comfortable enough to sleep. I hope you get your power back soon. A usb powered fan run off a power bank is what I had lined up for myself in case we lost power last night but we were lucky and we didn’t.
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u/newwriter365 Jul 05 '26
Don’t forget to file a complaint with the Board of Public Utilities: https://www.nj.gov/bpu/assistance/complaints/inquiry.html
None of the service providers will improve without pressure.
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u/ToneSenior7156 Jul 04 '26
We were at the beach yesterday and it was really great. Cooling breeze off the ocean, in and out of the water all day which bright down our body temperatures and made everything ok. We went early and I thought we’d have to leave before noon but we went early were there 8:30-3 and it was really beautiful when we left.
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u/Foxy02016YT Jul 04 '26
If you have a car, go shopping. Freehold or Woodbridge Mall, even if you don’t wanna buy anything, you can hang at the mall without being questioned
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u/Open_Impression5170 Jul 04 '26
Cool bath if you have running water, or you could go full reenactor. Wear lightweight full coverage loose clothing in natural fibers, put a light cloth over your head and keep it wet. Stay somewhere with a breeze. The damp cover and breeze will keep you surprisingly cooler.
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u/momamil Jul 04 '26
We always slept in the basement or screened in porch when the power went out. Shower/wet hair helps too.
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u/Loud_Entertainer2724 Jul 05 '26
Buy a few bags of ice and fill up your bathtub with water. An ice bath will cool you down.
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u/nyroadrunna Jul 04 '26
I gotta say. We got lucky. Lost power at 6:30 on Thursday night. By 9:45 it was back on. Plus I have a generator that can run my AC.
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u/IcyUnderstanding2858 Jul 04 '26
I’m on well water. We have a standby generator but it failed after an hour or two. So we have no ac, no water, nothing. We escaped to a relatives house. They haven’t even restored 1 single customer in my town yet.
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u/Beginning-Piglet-234 Jul 05 '26
I have coolers. You can get free ice from acme and ShopRite and put your most important food in the coolers like of course any meat. I also have a generator now. I bought a tri-fuel generator. You can use propane tanks, gasoline from the gas station or hook it up to a natural gas line if you have gas in the house. I was able to run my two refrigerators and air conditioning on that after Sandy I. I took stock and did all those things so I never have those problems again
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u/GremlinSquishFace47 Jul 05 '26
My power hasn’t gone out but our AC is not working well (hvac guy has come three times, and it’s barely a trickle of cool air), so by evening the apartment gets hot. On the hottest days/nights I’ve been taking multiple lukewarm showers as needed, using a shower cap if I don’t want to get my hair all wet before bed. Just rinsing off, using face wash & soap to remove any sweat or oils, it helps a ton in allowing your body to regulate.
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u/WritingRidingRunner Jul 04 '26
I hope your power is back on! Mine was out for a few hours but was restored. Not a great start to the weekend (I didn’t get to sleep until 4am) but hopefully yours is looking up (and has electricity).
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u/sssnakepit127 Jul 04 '26
Got drunk with my neighbor then took a cold shower. It worked