"I'm already conserving," Villar said, sitting outside Hilo Hattie at Ala Moana Center, where she'd come for relief from the heat. "I turn off lights when I'm not in the room. I guess I could go out, and not stay at home."

Three generators went out of service yesterday, forcing HECO to ask customers to reduce their use of appliances such as clothes dryers, dishwashers and air conditioners until after 9 p.m.

Relief in sight

Temperatures on O'ahu yesterday were in the upper 80s, but felt hotter because of high humidity, said Tom Birchard, a National Weather Service forecaster. Today and tomorrow should be the same, cooling to 73 to 75 degrees at night, Birchard said.

By midday, the mugginess should give way to scattered showers over the mountains and parts of Central O'ahu, Birchard said. A funnel cloud was reported over Wahiawa yesterday because of the rain showers, he said. Residents could get a break tomorrow if the trade winds reappear.

"There's not going to be much change from Tuesday," Birchard said. "Looks like the trade winds will be returning, light at first, as early as Friday for O'ahu."

Meanwhile, stores are racking up sales of fans and air conditioners. Sears in Ala Moana sold more air conditioners Tuesday than any other appliance, said Wendell Lau, a store clerk. While many of the units are energy-efficient, they still draw more power than a fan.

"Our sales always increase when it gets hot," Lau said.

At City Mill in Hawai'i Kai, fans and screen doors were making cash registers ring, said Randy Asuncion, store manager.

Tough to conserve

Niu Valley Middle School's acting principal Kelly Bart said only the school's library and the band, music and computer rooms are air-conditioned. The rest of the school relies on fans and breezes.

"The students aren't complaining," Bart said. "Some of the health room visits are because of students getting dehydrated. So far it's manageable. I think the heat is something the students are used to."

If asked to conserve further, the school would be hard- pressed to find ways, Bart said. Lights already are turned off when classrooms are not in use.

Residents at Lunalilo Home, a care home for seniors in Hawai'i Kai, have not noticed the thermometer hovering near 90. They sit along the open-air corridor or in their rooms, without air conditioning. One resident watched her afternoon soap operas wrapped in a black sweater.

But while some residents didn't seem to notice, the employees have. With cool cloths wrapped around their necks and constantly mopping their brows, the staff gravitated to the few areas that are air-conditioned.

"It's been unbearable," said John Alamodin, executive director of the home for elderly Hawaiians. "The old folks don't mind the heat. They complain when it's too cool."

Windows in all 25 bedrooms at the Lunalilo Home were wide open yesterday.

One way the home plans to conserve power is to set the air-conditioning timers to go on later in the day, and set the thermostat at a higher temperature, Alamodin said. If that doesn't help, the home will use its diesel generator.

Tom Stanton, owner of Quality Turf Grass in Waimanalo, said the answer to the power problem is to become self-sufficient. He's high on solar power to heat his water and relies on gasoline-powered generators for backup.

"I'm Mr. Solar here," Stanton said. "I've solarized everything, including my car, which is a hybrid. We just sip energy here, we don't gulp it.

"My answer to this is to become more self-sufficient."