The temperatures aren't the only thing on the rise in Northern Nevada. Sales of all the ways to stay cool are soaring too. And at the Home Depot on South Virginia Street you can find quite an array.
"When it comes to evaporative coolers (what used to be called swamp coolers) we have all sizes and two kinds," says Randy Dugan who works there. "There are permanent ones and then there are portable ones that you can move from room-to-room. Those are pretty popular."
There are air conditioners in all sizes too. Air conditioners produce dry air and need to be vented through a window to send the hot air out; evaporative coolers create moist air and actually need ventilation. Without that you get a steamy cool air. In this climate we can go either way. So it's individual choice.Â
"I have a swamp cooler," says Marshall Sorbio who lives in Reno. "They use a lot less power to run. And they don't use chemicals like air conditioners do."
But that's just the beginning of your options. Nowadays houses aren't the only thing people want to cool off.Â
"There are misting systems," Dugan says. "They spray a very fine mist that almost evaporates as it's released. People use those for gardens and around pools and for animals. And they do drop the air temperature about 30 degrees."
And they even have a couple of ideas for cooling on the run. There are water bottles that do double duty as misters as you run. And they have cooling towels too. Fabric infused with a special gel that when it's set automatically, cools. They say a lot of those who work in the heat buy them.
