We have a giant fan in our room and it’s leaning against the open window, but our room is still 86 degrees! The hallway is equally as hot outside, and our roommate thinks opening the door will make it cooler, whereas the other thinks that leaving the door closed will make it cooler. Any advice?
I’d go with door open for air flow, but if it’s hot outside and hot in the room and hot in the hall, that’s not going to do much to bring down the temperature. Here are some low tech tips that might help: http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2015/09/09/12-ways-to-stay-cool-while-sleeping-during-the-heat-wave/#photo-683742
Try it both ways. If there is a cross breeze it should be cooler with the door open. But if the hallway has no air coming in then the open door makes no difference.
If someone across the hall has their room open then it will create a cross breeze if you have yours open…although I would not do that overnight.
I remember that when I was living in the dorms opening the door allowed more of a breeze (provided the window was open). With the door closed, there was no breeze. It’s worth a try to open the door and see if it makes a difference. Seems like a pretty easy thing to try.
I’ve lived in a fair number of non-air conditioned places in southern California, and the best thing I ever did was just leave when it gets too hot. If you’re living on campus, there may be tons of easy-to-walk-to, air conditioned places around campus that you can just hang out in, like the library, student center, lounges around campus, or other common places.
It’s an application of the second law of thermodynamics. If the hallway is at a higher temperature than your room, then leaving the door open will make your room hotter. If the hallway is cooler then opening the door will make your room cooler. It’s the same with the window. If it’s hotter outdoors then opening the window will make your room hotter. All airflow does is speed up this process. Technically, this will happen anyway as heat can travel through doors or windows, but the door or window will slow down the process as it won’t transfer heat as fast as moving air.
Having airflow can make it feel cooler than it actually is by evaporating your sweat faster, so that’s another thing to think about.
86* Jeez! The Hilton Garden Inn is calling your name.
Gather some empty water bottles. Freeze water in them. Place in front of fan. Redneck air conditioning.