Tried using a damp towel to keep my AC bill down last month and it actually worked

So my hydro bill hit $210 in July and I was losing it. I read online that hanging a damp towel in front of a fan can lower the room temp by a few degrees. Tried it in my bedroom on Lawrence Ave and my AC barely ran after 9 PM. The question is did I just get lucky or is this a real hack that more people should use? Has anyone else tried this and seen actual savings on their bill?

3 comments

3 Comments

avery2191mo ago

Read somewhere that this is basically how those swamp coolers work in places like Arizona, it makes sense that it'd drop the temp a bit even here. Saw a video where a guy tested it with a thermometer and got like a 5 degree difference so you're probably not just imagining things.

jade5171mo ago

That is a real hack and it works way better than people expect. The science behind it is called evaporative cooling, it's basically what your body does when you sweat. The air pulling through the damp towel evaporates the water and drops the temp, kind of like how stepping out of a pool makes you feel cold. If you want to take it even further, try using a bowl of ice water in front of the fan with the towel draped halfway in it, that's what my cousin in Scarborough does and she swears her AC barely kicks on until noon. You definitely didn't get lucky, this is a legit energy saver in our humid summers.

ellioth371mo ago

Respectfully, I gotta disagree a bit on this one... evaporative cooling really only works in dry climates, and with our humidity here the air can't hold much more water so it just makes the room muggy instead. My buddy tried that ice bowl trick last summer and said it just left everything feeling damp without much temp drop.