Beating the heat without AC could mean real health risks

Finding it a bit steamy this summer? You're not alone. Across Canada, people say they are really feeling the heat, especially in their homes. And we're tracking it. CBC teams have installed temperature and humidity sensors in dozens of homes in several cities, including Windsor, to see just what happens to people when things go from hot to sizzling to seriously dangerous. This is one of those stories. 

The air is thick like butter in your lungs, with sweat beads forming instantly upon exposure to the powerful sun.

It's a typical, though slightly hotter, June afternoon in Windsor, Ont., even with some clouds scattered in the sky. 

At noon, the queue for one of the city's food banks is starting to dissipate, with a handful of recipients either waiting for the bus or hesitantly turning back around to walk home.

That walk, a more strenuous journey than usual in the scorching air. 

For residents without air conditioning, going back home after a necessary errand like this could mean even warmer, more humid temperatures. 

Gregory Walton was among the crowd that day, knowing once he returned home, he would be implementing his routine of strategically placing fans throughout his apartment and either opening or closing his windows (depending on the time of the day and how his apartment was holding heat in that moment).

It's a methodology he developed out of necessity, but says he's lucky to have an understanding of.

"I'm a jack of all trades," said Walton.

"I've just been doing different work my whole life, so I understand a little bit about the mechanics of how heat is retained through concrete and plaster and stuff."

"So I've been able to make my own inferences, like 'OK, I need to put a bigger fan here, and here I might need to keep the window open longer just to facilitate some air passage.'"

Walton is one of several Windsorites who has agreed to participate in CBC's Urban Heat project this summer, allowing our team to collect hard data about the temperature and humidity in his apartment, and monitor the impact high temperatures could have on mental and physical health. 

Walton lives on the fifth floor of a brick building constructed in the 1960s. All of his windows face west. And with walls made of plaster and a ceiling of cinder blocks, the conditions are ripe for heat retention.

"When it gets hot in here, the walls and the floors and everything add to the overall heat level. There's no place in my apartment for a cross-draft to form," he explained.