Four out of the box ideas to cope with Lebanon’s summer heat

BEIRUT — With or without a heatwave, Lebanese summers are notoriously hot. Amid Lebanon’s now-infamous electricity cuts and water shortages, how are Lebanese dealing with the high temperatures, especially those who cannot afford a generator subscription or to run their AC units 24/7?

L’Orient Today spoke with citizens, entrepreneurs and experts, and got four — sometimes unusual, sometimes innovative — ideas for how to cope with the heat.

Young boys swimming at the beach in Beirut. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)

1. The classic: sleeping on the balcony

Samer Diab, who lives on the ninth floor of a building in Ras al-Nabaa, told L’Orient Today that his house is scorching hot.

“It feels like an oven during the day, and I can’t afford the high generator fees,” he said.

“So the balcony it is,” Diab said with a laugh.

Diab is a high-school physics teacher. He, his wife and two children already struggle to afford basic necessities as Lebanon’s economic crisis forces triple-digit inflation in some sections of the economy.

The World Bank has ranked Lebanon’s current predicament among the world’s worst financial crises in modern history.

“We all sleep on the balcony because it is much cooler than inside the house. We bought new mattresses last year that are light and not too heavy to carry in and out everyday. We slept outside last year, and we are doing it again this year,” he said.

2. The expat version: ACs with inverters

Ali Hammoud owns an electric appliance store in the southern suburbs of Beirut. He told L’Orient Today that his air conditioner sales have doubled since the end of June. His best selling product? An economical AC “that can be inverted by pressing one button and only needs 1.5 amperes to work instead of the 5 or 6 regular amperes,” he said.

The price range for this air conditioning unit is between $250 and $600.

Hammoud explained that Lebanese expats are the main buyers of these AC units. They buy them “for their family members living in Lebanon who couldn’t otherwise afford them.”

3. The alternative energy version: Mini, portable solar panels

Daw El Atmi is an Akkar-based renewable energy company founded in 2021 that has created an affordable alternative to large-scale solar panel installations.

“We started our business as a solar energy company specialized in installing and repairing solar panels,” said employee Florabelle Armali to L’Orient Today.

A solar panel system installation can cost thousands of dollars and many customers complained that they couldn’t afford the high price tag. Several asked to be put on an installment plan so they could make payments over several months. “That’s when we got the idea to make smaller, portable solar panels, wind, and water turbines that lower income families, and refugees could afford,” Armali explained.

These devices can power small fans and lights, and they can even be used to charge phones and small electronic devices.

“The system can be hung on a tree, for example, to charge using wind [or] can be placed in running water [or] be charged using sunlight,” Armali explained.

The smaller systems range in price from $300-$500 and have been particularly popular among refugees, said Armali.

“It’s a way for lower income families to at least try to cool down as Lebanon is struck with one heatwave after the other,” she added.

4- The grandma recipe: Drinking hot tea

Some people say that, during heatwaves, drinking hot tea can help cool the body. Dietitian Sally Zalzali told L’Orient Today that it isn’t only hot tea that helps the body to cool down, but hot beverages in general.

“When a person drinks a hot beverage, their body temperature from the inside increases, and they start to sweat more, which helps cool the body down,” she explained.

But fellow Dietitian Lara Abdo warned against “excessively drinking hot tea,” which could have the reverse effect of overheating.

“Moderately drinking hot tea in hot weather could cool you down, but you should drink wisely,” she concluded.