As I was sitting blogging in the old clawfoot tub out on the deck in presently 96 degrees Fahrenheit and being very happy I started to notice small branches as they rubbed together starting to fall out of the big 3 foot wide Port Orford cedar above me. So, I realized it was the point of wisdom to do something else since the winds in gusts were picking up now from the heat. So, I went inside near the air conditioner. I also realized that the skylight I had open even though it is screened 8 to 10 feet high and well above my head while I am standing was also bringing hot 96 degree heat in and counteracting the air conditioner because of the high winds in gusts up right now. Normally, though if the wind isn't blowing it lets the heat out of the 8 sided pine tongue and groove interior but with the wind blowing the direction it is now it's likely better to close it at least until the wind stops.
Here's the thing about a portable air conditioner in a room like this one. Cold Air (like out of an air conditioner drops while hot air rises so most days without wind I can open a skylight which releases all or most hot air in the ceiling while the cool air stays about 5 or 6 feet in altitude all the way to the floor. So, if you have a screened skylight like here it might be possible for you to vent the hottest heat in your room by opening the skylight a few inches while still using a portable air conditioner to cool the air up to 5 to 6 feet in altitude in any room. But like I said this only really works well when the winds aren't up in certain directions.
However, if you have central air conditioning and heating which does the whole house this becomes much more complex to figure out and then opening your skylights may or may not help depending upon your individual situation.
Also, winds are created by the turning of the earth, the heat stored in the oceans and by mountains and valleys which channel it and mountains and other factors.
So, when it gets hot where you live the hot air tends to go up and then this creates a vacuum on the ground and air rushes to fill that vacuum and that creates wind. So, this is why in California you get 100 mph winds in fires during the summers here because about 1/2 of California is a desert which supercharges this effect in what we call Santana Winds which generally go from the deserts out to sea. Which I have never been able to fully figure out because it seems to me if the heat in the desert makes the winds go up then why would these winds blow from the deserts out to sea? So, I guess you and I need to ask a weather man to explain this one that causes Santana Winds mostly in Southern California and usually blowing from the deserts out to sea at up to 100 miles per hour which is what often kills people in these winds when the fires travel faster than a car can to get away from the fires.
This is why you get people going into the ocean in places like Malibu while their houses burn up on shore because it might be the ONLY way they can survive the fire because flames might be 100 feet high and scorching even the beach. So, when the winds blow the 100 foot high flames toward you you stick your head underwater until they die down a little so you can breathe again even though you might be coughing from the smoke. A couple of years ago Miley Cyrus and Gerard Butler both lost their Malibu homes I believe to a bad fire there.
People living on the ocean might not want to own these homes if the didn't know they could escape into the ocean in an emergency. Fire insurance will rebuild your home but you cannot replace a burned up body or the burned bodies of your family and friends.
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