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[tinabeana]

I got a rather unplesent surprise today when I opened up the electricy bill...

I'm positive its because we run the air conditioning 24/7, my husband and I are thinking of getting Maggie her own a/c unit so we can keep the house unit down a little and maybe getting some insulating curtains for her room.

Does anyone have something like this or maybe some suggestions about the type of unit?

[Jo Ann]

A thermostatically controlled window unit may be a good idea.
 Thermo shades/drapes also help.  I would put a 'natural light' light bulb in the room (small lamp or overhead) and turn it own for 10 to 12 hours a day, if she will be in the dark due to the window covers.
 You might consider making sure she is in the coolest part of the house (basement/down stairs, not up stairs).
 I would put her on the east side of the house (morning sun), instead of the hot afternoon sun.
 There are several other temporary ideas for a cool-down in the hottest part of the day ... a mason jar ... fill it 2/3 the way full of water, freeze it (or fill it with ice cubes), before putting it in the cage, make sure the lid is on good and tight.  It will cool the area inside the cage and she will lick off the condensation that forms on the outside of the jar. 
   I am sure others will have even more ideas.   

 
Jo Ann

[tinabeana]

Thanks so much! and thank you for the idea about the mason jar! I think I'm going to have my husband do that everyday when he comes home for lunch at the hottest time of the day.

She's currently in the office on the north east corner of the house.

I'm looking at the thermo insulating type of shades right now on amazon.com.

We're  are making a trip to home depot this weekend to look at window a/c units. Supposedly the 5000 BTU model will cool a 12 by 15 ft. room and be more cost effective then keeping the entire house at 65-70 all day.

My husband and I work with computers so... we have well a lot of computers with 3 running constantly. As of yesterday we only leave one running so hopefully that will help a little.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

It's coolest closest to the floor too, can you sit the cage on the floor?
Then I'm sure not up to the temps. some of you guys see/feel!
Not much need for AC, I have a HRS, Heat recovery system. Though it can/does control humidity when on, it's pointless to use it when all the windows and doors are open.

[Jo Ann]

Hi Tinabena,

    When looking for your window air unit, consentrate on the highest efficiency rating and don't be afraid to get one that may seem to be 'over doing it' ... the more area it is equipped to handle, the less strain on the system ... plus, you may need to use it for more than one room, if your own air went out. 

 
Jo Ann

[tinabeana]

Her cage is on the floor, originally because she can get in and out easy but I never thought about it being cooler I'm sure your right about that.

And yeah were looking at getting two window units. We have central air but for some reason they decided to leave the old AC wall unit in our living room. It's actually really nice when we have people over.

What I'm most afraid of right now is a brown out.

We're in the midde of a heat wave and the news keeps about an impending energy crisis. If that happens, it looks like Maggie's gonna take a field trip to Grandma's. Since we're on different power grids, if our power is out her's will most likely be on.

[Jo Ann]

We're not use to brown outs here, as a normal thing.  Thank goodness!  Sounds like you need to get a case of mason jars and keep them in the freezer ... ready for an emergency.   :-[   

Where do you live? 

We live in Virginia.   

 
Jo Ann

[tinabeana]

I live in Southern California... the land of excess, so no one knows how to turn off a light if they aren't using it and we all suffer.

During the day it's 105 outside but always a cool 75 indoors at all times. and THANKS! We just bought a bunch of mason jars and stone tiles just in case.

I put one of the tiles in her today just to see if she were even interested in it. She jumped right on it! She tried to dig a little but then just plopped herself down for the rest of the time. She's so cute, I'll try to get some pictures.

[Jo Ann]

Hi TinaBeana,

   

I put one of the tiles in her today

    As Null said on one of my posts YEEEEOUCH!
Sorry, had to laugh a little ... I know you meant to say you put one of the tiles in her cage not in her.  That's like when I left out the word Pink when referring to a Pink White chinchilla and got caught on it.   

     105 ... add high humidity to that and it reminds me of when I lived in Memphis, TN!  At night it was in the upper 80s or low 90s at night there in the summer, most if not all summer.

      In reference to brown outs:

Southern California... the land of excess, so no one knows how to turn off a light if they aren't using it and we all suffer.

      When we were having a very bad drought (worst on record) several years back ... to the point we could walk across the local lake and not get our knees wet ... our next door neighbor would water his lawn every day.  And when you think of the high gas prices, yet you see people going to all kinds of sporting events, joy riding, and heaven forbid they should walk somewhere!    Wonder if they will keep that up when gas jumps another dollar or two a gallon?    Oops, a forbidden topic for me ... gotta get off of it before I put my foot in my mouth and say something that might offend someone ... I try to stay off of topics concerning religion and politics!  (I can be very opinionated.) 

    We want pictures!  We want pictures!  We want pictures!

 
Jo Ann [/i]

[Summer]

Our air is not working for a few days, and my ac windos were not keeping it cool enough for them. So I had to take the to my grandma's house. It has 109 with the humidity! I miss them soo ! But they are cool and that's all that matters.

[Jo Ann]

Hi Chin-Po,
 
     I know you must miss your little ones ... I think I'd go nuts without mine!   But, you are putting their welfare above what you would like (having them with you) ... that's real CHINNIE LOVE!     You just got nominated for Big Chinnie of the Day!   

 
Jo Ann

For those of you that are not familiar ... chinchillas meet and greet by sniffing/smelling each other ... I tell new chin parents (human) that if they will greet their little ones by going nose to nose and making a sniffing sound and move down the side that it will help their little chin accept them as a Big Chin and a part of their family!  It really works!  

[Summer]

Hi we also thanking about moving to closer to the cost. It would be so mush cooler for every one. 
 

[Chinderella]

 

I turn my air conditioner up to 75 and run a fan in the chin room 24/7.  I also run a de-humidifier in there to keep the relative humidity down.

My two boys are doing fine with the higher temperature, but my breeder said to work them up to a warmer temp, gradually.

Chinderella

[Jo Ann]

Hi Chinderella,
    How much warmer are you planning to let the chin room get?    How hot did your breeder tell you you could let them get?
    Chinchillas do not perspire, so a fan blowing on them does not help them.
    The de-humidifier does help. 
     I just got an e-mail yesterday from a lady who lost one of her two chins from heat stroke and was concerned about the other one. 
    The max ours have ever been was 75 (when we lost electricity for one day ... they became lethargic and we moved them to the basement where it was 70 and started passing out the iced mason jars)  Ours normally stay between 65 and 68 year round. 
     
Hi ChinPo,
    I love the ocean, but I'd miss my mountains!  Where on the coast are you considering moving?

 
Jo Ann

[tinabeana]

Yeah we had a transformer blow last Saturday night from high energy usage.

We were getting some food after picking up my mom from the airport, and we're lucky our landlord called to tell us the power was out. We went home and got Maggie and took her to my husband’s mom's house, even at night it was waaaay too hot to stay at our house.

According to the news this is the longest time that our area has seen continuous 100+ temperatures. It's getting ridiculous.