When I go out, I take a giant hat to keep the sun off of me. I always carry water, but it doesn’t seem like it lasts long enough, so I buy drinks along the way, too. There are neck scarves containing water absorbing oorbies, but they are only good for a short time anymore: the heat is too much. I carry a spray bottle with me to keep my hair wet at all times. When I get home, I have a medical gel pack in the fridge to put on my core to cool me down as soon as possible. I take cool showers, usually late in the day. Close up the windows before it gets warm outside, to help hold in the A/C. Don’t open the windows at night unless it gets below 73°. I refuse to use the water cool personal air conditioners because they raise the humidity in the immediate area, making it feel hotter in the long run.
In my youth, the TV stations used to play movies about Alaska in summertime to psych viewers into thinking it was cold outside, and beach or desert movies in winter so people would believe it was warmer. It actually worked!
A habit of people living near the equator used to be taking a nap in the hottest part of the day and staying up later at night. Workplaces don’t allow such things anymore. I’m not sure it would work just because evenings are the hottest time of day with no sunset cooling until long after midnight.
It used to be said that people in the desert would travel only at night when the sun wasn’t shining to avoid sunstroke.
A Nancy Drew mystery once suggested putting salt and sugar in water to drink when dehydrated. In my grandfather’s day, people took salt pills to replace what was lost in sweat… until the medics found out the salt raised blood pressure to deadly levels.
Once upon a time the comic strip Family Circus advertised for Dairy Queen, suggesting ice cream would cool you off on the inside. Not sure that would still work, since coffee and soup no longer heat you up in summer. Some say eating hot foods makes them feel cooler!
I once heard that wearing black dresses and veils makes a person sweat, and thus feel cooler. I never did sweat enough for that to work for me, so dark clothes only make me less capable of handling the heat.
Before the invention of air conditioning, people had “summer kitchens” not attached to the house so that the heat of cooking would not affect the house. Later, people discovered the joys of eating salads and fruit instead of meats and sauces in summer.
A neighbor suggested freezing grapes for an even colder blast. This works well with cherries, but thawing takes the color out of the fruit. Plums and watermelon lose their shape when thawing, turning to flavorful mush which is good on toast, bagels, waffles, or pancakes.
Visiting caves is natural air conditioning. Too bad most cave tours don’t allow people to stay inside out of the heat!
dramatic 
but those are expensive to replace, too!
) but have you looked into any energy efficient bonuses or programs where you live? Sometimes there are eco-friendly organizations or programs that might be able to help.
