All News

Check out these tips on staying cool:

  • Stay in air-conditioned buildings as much as you can. Air-conditioning is the number one way to protect yourself against heat-related illness and death. If your home is not air-conditioned, reduce your risk for heat-related illness by spending time in public facilities that are air-conditioned and using air conditioning in vehicles. Contact your local health department or locate an air-conditioned shelter in your area.
  • Do not rely on a fan as your main cooling device during an extreme heat event.
  • Drink more water than usual and don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink.july 2022 heat
  • Check on a friend or neighbor and have someone do the same for you.
  • Limit use of the stove and oven—it will make you and your house hotter.
  • Schedule outdoor activities carefully.
    • Wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing and sunscreen.
    • Pace yourself.
  • Take cool showers or baths to cool down.
  • Never leave children or pets in cars.

Even young and healthy people can get sick from the heat if they participate in strenuous physical activities during hot weather:

  • Limit your outdoor activity, especially midday when the sun is hottest.
  • Pace your activity. Start activities slowly and pick up the pace gradually.
  • Drink more water than usual and don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink more. Muscle cramping may be an early sign of heat-related illness.
  • Wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing.

If you play a sport that practices during hot weather, protect yourself and look out for your teammates:

  • Schedule workouts and practices earlier or later in the day when the temperature is cooler.
  • Monitor a teammate’s condition and have someone do the same for you.
  • Seek medical care right away if you or a teammate has symptoms of heat-related illness.

Soure: cdc.gov

heat impacts vulnerable populations

    Consider these tips to conserve electricity during this time:

    • Postpone use of appliances such as washers, dryers, and dishwashers until after 10 p.m.
    • Turn off lights and appliances that are not essential to health and safety.
    • Turn off computers and other electrical equipment when not in use. Game consoles, computers and big screen TVs left on but unused produce nearly as much heat as they do when in use.
    • Keep your shades pulled and doors and windows closed during the day.
    • Use a microwave oven instead of a conventional electric oven or gas stove.
    • Supplement air conditioner use with ceiling fans and other fans, which create a wind-chill effect that increases air conditioning cooling efficiency.
    • Give your air conditioning a break and fire up the grill! Your oven or stove can raise your kitchen temp 5 to 10 degrees.
    • Turn off ceiling fans when you leave the room. Remember that fans cool people, not rooms, by creating a wind chill effect.
    • Avoid placing lamps or TV sets near your room air conditioning thermostat. The thermostat senses heat from these appliances, which can cause the air conditioner to run longer than necessary.
    • Consider lighting options that operate at cooler temperatures.

    If your power goes out:

    • Report outages by logging into your SmartHub account or on the app.
    • Or, you can report your outage by calling 1.877.744.1055. Please be ready to provide at least one of the following pieces of information when calling: phone number, account number or meter number associated with the outage location.

    Stay in touch with outage updates:

    • Visit our Outage Center or follow us on Facebook. For extended outages, we will also post an update on our outage hotline at 1.877.744.1055.
    • Members may also visit www.kec.com/safety for safety and preparedness tips or call 211 or visit www.211.idaho.gov for support.