What are you doing to keep cool this summer, either at home or at your workplace?

AC. I always found it irritating that we were supposed to "save energy! let's work together, and get all sweaty!" during the summer, but as soon as winter came around everyone jammed up the heat full blast. Now it's summer again, and it's all "save energy!! whoo!" again. Except if it gets cloudy outside, then we turn up the heat again.

I don't use any heat at all during the winter, I use blankets. So I don't feel bad about using my AC. Obviously I don't leave it on 24/7, that seems a little irresponsible if no one is even at home.

Dehumidifier running with a fan at the office. At home, just a fan, all windows and doors wide open to let the breeze in. Exercise usually late at night, at the park or very early in the morning.

And of course, whenever possible, beer!!!

Swimming, eating sushi, gelato, and using a cold pack on the back of my neck...

Also, the current drink from Kirin's "Kitchen" series, Lychee and Salt is so refreshing!

AC and fans, also...

Fan (full blast straight onto my face), cold showers, light summery clothes, hiyashi chuuka, and lots of ice cream

My tears keep me cool.

Cool sheets, not the gel mats, the ones that don't get warm even if you lay on them for a long time.

Running up the electric bill!

Totally agree with Cleo... It's summer...enjoy the heat while it's available folks!

Sudare on the windows and ceiling fans during the day, ice pillows at night. The heat doesn't bother me that much, but the humidity is a killer, so days like today where it is 85% humidity and 31 degrees outside, I don't feel guilty about using my A/C and setting humidity to around 50%. Sometimes I just put it on 除湿 mode.

Oh and I forgot, a dip in the pool once or twice a day.

JeffLee, on your air conditioner, you have a setting called 除湿 (jyoshitsu). That's what I am talking about. It is a lot less costly for me to use that, than to use the air conditioner, and I personally feel more comfortable with it on than with the air conditioner on　冷房 (reibou).

Er... My home and workplace are the same.... so I naturally have the air-con on full blast.

Invested in a bunch of the 3-Litre Asahi Super-Dry mini-kegs. So far, doing the job!

Drink beer!

The antidote to heat and humidity.

Turn aircon to 20C

@ home I just leave the doors and windows open. @ work I sweat in misery because my boss is too cheap to turn on the a/c. Basically we all sit around saying "atsui" and lie with our faces on our desks being completely unproductive because it's too god damn hot.

Completely agree with the two previous posters. Aircon running full bore 24/7 lovely and cool in the house. If your happy to wear the cost then why not run them.

It's not very hot this year in Osaka. The maxi was 32 degrees so far. I do the siesta in the hottest hours and I lunch after (at 4 p.m.). Humidity is great, no need to put cream or oil. I never close the doors nor the windows, so the air flows and my flat doesn't get molds or anything.

Use the dehumidifier?! Are you joking?! It's more wasteful than the air con. If that weren't true -- and dehumidifiers were more energy efficient -

My parents and grand-parents have some alt-modish dehumidifiers that don't use any energy at all. I should ask how that works. And European commercial models are very efficient, but you need to switch them on 24/24. They use them in Winter there, to prevent empty houses, or parts of houses to get totally rotten by humidity.

humidifiers keep the hot air inside.

Recent models have a hose to take the air out.

I can be as cool as I like for free in winter - summer is not supposed to be cool.

Today the temperature is 24 degrees. I feel cheated. (Gale force winds and torrential rain in the middle of July?? Whoever designed today's weather must be the same fool who designs the UK's weather.)

I take it the three posters above me are all happy to 'bear the cost' of having either more and more NPPs running, or of having the air further fouled by thermal power plants.

If you have solar power installed, by all means run the air-con full blast, if that's your idea of summer. Seems a bit of a waste to me, though.

Peacewarrior, yep, I know that. This used to be a topic of conversation at my old workplace. The upshot was that that dehumifying (oops, 除湿) takes more energy to make you feel comfortable than air cons, simply because you're still surrounded by hot air.

If that weren't true -- and dehumidifiers were more energy efficient -- then trains, restaurants and other public spaces would have switched to 除湿 a long time ago.

Use the dehumidifier?! Are you joking?! It's more wasteful than the air con. Both functions do roughly the same thing, but air cons throw the hot air outside, while humidifiers keep the hot air inside.