The most effective way to stay cool in the heat is to work with your body’s natural cooling system, not against it. Your brain constantly monitors your internal temperature, and when it rises above the normal 98.6°F, it triggers sweating. As sweat evaporates from your skin, it pulls heat away from the tissue underneath. Everything on this list either supports that process or reduces the heat your body has to fight in the first place.
Cool Your Blood at Pulse Points
For fast relief, apply something cold to spots where blood vessels run close to the skin’s surface: your neck, wrists, inner elbows, underarms, and groin. These are pulse points, and cooling them works because the chilled blood circulates back toward your core, lowering your overall temperature from the inside out. A damp cloth, a bag of ice, or even cold water from a faucet works. This is the same principle your body uses naturally through vasodilation, where blood vessels near your skin widen to release heat outward, then carry cooler blood back to your core.
If you’re outdoors and overheating, wetting your shirt or bandana and letting it sit against your skin combines pulse-point cooling with evaporative cooling. The water evaporates like sweat would, pulling heat away. This is especially effective in dry climates where evaporation happens quickly.
Drink Water Before You’re Thirsty
Thirst is a lagging signal. By the time you feel it, you’re already mildly dehydrated, which reduces your blood volume and makes it harder for your body to move heat to the surface. OSHA recommends drinking one cup (8 ounces) of water every 15 to 20 minutes when you’re active in the heat. That works out to roughly 32 ounces per hour, with a hard ceiling of 48 ounces per hour to avoid overhydrating, which carries its own risks.
Cold water cools you slightly from the inside, but any temperature of water keeps the sweating system running. If you’re sweating heavily for more than an hour, a drink with electrolytes helps replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing. Sports drinks work, or you can add a pinch of salt to water with a splash of fruit juice.
Know When Fans Help and When They Hurt
Electric fans are one of the cheapest cooling tools available, but they have a hard limit. Fans cool you by speeding up sweat evaporation, not by lowering air temperature. When the air around you is cooler than your body, this works well. But research from physiological testing has found that when ambient temperatures exceed about 109°F (43°C), fans actually increase physiological strain. At that point, the fan is just blowing hot air across your skin faster, raising your heart rate and core temperature compared to sitting in still air.
Below that threshold, fans are effective, especially paired with light misting or damp skin. A fan pointed at you while you have a wet towel on your shoulders is one of the most efficient low-cost cooling combinations available. If your home doesn’t have air conditioning and outdoor temperatures are extreme, public cooling centers (libraries, community centers, malls) are a safer option than relying on fans alone.
Block Heat Before It Enters Your Home
Most indoor heat comes through windows. The Department of Energy has measured just how much difference window treatments make: cellular shades with a tight fit reduce solar heat gain through windows by up to 60%. Window awnings are even more effective, cutting heat gain by up to 65% on south-facing windows and 77% on west-facing ones. Even medium-colored drapes with white plastic backing reduce heat gain by 33%.
The key is stopping sunlight before it turns into trapped heat. Close blinds or curtains on sun-facing windows in the morning (east side) and afternoon (west side). If you can, hang coverings on the outside of windows rather than the inside, since exterior shading blocks heat before it passes through the glass. Reflective or light-colored coverings outperform dark ones.
At night, if outdoor air is cooler than indoor air, open windows on opposite sides of your home to create cross-ventilation. Close them again in the morning before the air heats up, and you’ll trap the cooler air inside for several hours.
What You Wear and Eat Matters
Loose-fitting, light-colored clothing reflects more sunlight and allows air to circulate against your skin, giving sweat room to evaporate. Tight clothing traps heat and moisture against the body, defeating your built-in cooling system. Natural fabrics like cotton and linen allow airflow well. Moisture-wicking synthetics pull sweat away from the skin quickly, which can feel cooler during exercise, though they offer less airflow at rest.
Food choices play a smaller but real role. Digesting any meal raises your metabolic rate and body temperature, a process called the thermic effect of food. Larger, heavier meals produce more internal heat. Interestingly, liquid meals generate a higher thermic effect than solid ones with the same nutritional content, so a big smoothie isn’t necessarily cooler than a light salad. The practical takeaway: eat smaller meals more frequently during extreme heat rather than large ones, and favor fruits and vegetables with high water content (watermelon, cucumbers, celery) that contribute to hydration without generating as much digestive heat.
Sleeping in the Heat
Your body naturally drops its core temperature at night to initiate sleep, so a hot bedroom fights this process directly. The ideal sleeping temperature is 65 to 68°F, according to sleep researchers at the University of Utah. When you can’t reach that range with air conditioning, a few strategies help. Freeze a damp sheet for 20 minutes before bed and drape it over yourself. Place a shallow pan of ice in front of a fan aimed at your bed. Sleep on the lowest level of your home, since heat rises.
Cotton or linen sheets breathe better than synthetics. If you sleep with a partner, the combined body heat is significant, so spacing apart or using separate blankets can make a noticeable difference. Taking a lukewarm shower before bed lowers your skin temperature enough to make falling asleep easier. Avoid ice-cold showers, which cause your blood vessels to constrict and can temporarily trap heat inside your core.
Humidity Changes Everything
Your body’s cooling system depends entirely on sweat evaporating. In humid air, evaporation slows dramatically, and your core temperature can climb even when it doesn’t feel extremely hot outside. Researchers at Penn State found that young, healthy adults reached dangerous heat strain at a wet-bulb temperature of just 31°C, which translates to 87°F at 100% humidity or about 115°F at 50% humidity. That’s significantly lower than the previously assumed danger threshold of 95°F at full humidity.
This means that in humid climates, the real danger zone starts earlier than most people expect. On muggy days, take heat more seriously than the thermometer alone would suggest. A heat index calculator (available on most weather apps) combines temperature and humidity into a single number that better reflects what your body actually experiences. If the heat index is above 100°F, limit outdoor time and prioritize air-conditioned spaces.
Recognizing Heat Illness Early
Heat exhaustion builds gradually. The warning signs include heavy sweating, headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, irritability, and thirst. If you or someone around you shows these symptoms, move to a cool place, drink water, and apply cold cloths to pulse points. Most people recover within 30 minutes to an hour with these steps.
Heat stroke is a medical emergency and looks different. The body’s temperature regulation fails, and core temperature can spike to 106°F or higher within 10 to 15 minutes. The distinguishing symptoms are neurological: confusion, slurred speech, seizures, or loss of consciousness. Sweating may stop entirely. This requires immediate emergency medical attention. While waiting for help, the most important thing bystanders can do is cool the person aggressively with ice, cold water, or wet sheets, focusing on the head, neck, and torso.