Doing without Air Conditioning

This summer the DW and I have been doing without the A/C a lot. I sat down this morning and found an article in the New York Times about others doing the same. I also found out that our own Martin Focazio was way ahead of me and was interviewed by the Times, with a nice photo (see page 2 of the article). Marty leads the way again.

The link is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/garden/23air.html?hpw

Interesting article, thanks for posting the link.

But I could never do it. The a/c protects my art collection and pup (an Arctic breed).

DC is barely tolerable with a/c. Opening the windows would also let in a lot more city noise, and pollen.

There's good reason British Embassy detailees in DC, pre-a/c, got hardship pay.

The weight loss component will get peops' attention. Fewer carbs as well as fewer calories?


“We spent an entire summer getting to know our kids by sitting outside trying to keep our electricity bill down,” said Ms. Holmes, who estimated that the family saved $2,100 last summer; they are repeating the experience this year. “It was very therapeutic and we got closer. We also got thinner — all of our diets changed because we were eating a lot of grilled food. And by the time fall came around, with the change in the economy, we had learned to live off less.

Just AC unit in the office here. Temps during summer in the mid/low 90s mostly. Luckily we have big trees and come 3pmish the sun is not on the house anymore at all, and the deck is much cooler... Then depending on how hot it was we can open up anywhere from 5pm to 7pm and start cooling the house. Living room and kitchen don't get more than 81 but upstairs and if left uncooled the office reach upper 80s. Basement stays a nice 65 or 66 though!

I thought we had a big deck until I saw Martin's... talk about nice space!

For many, many thousands of years humanity survived without A/C. I've been to a few Third World countries where 100+°F is the order of the day, pretty much all the time. Almost nobody can afford A/C yet life goes on. Just the way it did for a long time.

If you think you can't live without A/C then I don't quite understand what you are doing on a survival forum. Survival is all about getting through hard times. I don't see myself as a tough person and I can't stand heat as well as cold. Still, I've done a lot of hard manual labor in scorching heat, even hiked and climbed mountains with a heavy rucksack for fun... I have no A/C in the apartment and while it's not that far from 100° F these days I see little need for it.

I mean, this is just the way life is. You can't expect it to be nice and comfy all the time. Sure, make it easier for yourself where possible but not to the point that you grow dependent on all the things that make your life comfortable. On a few hottest days of the year I would appreciate having A/C. But I can do without easily and moreover, if it saves money and doesn't put any more unnecessary strain on the environment, I really don't need it. I even tend to turn off the A/C at work because I feel it's a real waste of resources. YMMV.

82*F
35% Humidity (High)
10" Fan 6ft behind me blowing one... and i`m fine

Living room / kitchen much cooler.

Gotta love a house w/no hall ways other than the stairs.

Eh, we've had our AC set to never drop the house temperature below 81F for years. On weekends it doesn't go below 83F.

-Blast, shrugging.

During winter I like it around 70.. much cooler = much happier than it being "stuffy". The living room gets to mid 70s just because that's where the fire is

Here in Florida a whole lot of people feel that AC is a necessity. I always figured it was the height of irony to both move to sunny Florida and decide that you can't handle temperatures above 68F. I never feel right in a place that is that heavily conditioned.

I lived here for most of thirty years without AC. When the temperature and humidity got high you went down to shorts, ran a fan, and drank iced tea. Older now I run it some to take the edge off. It is set to run, and keep the humidity down, set at 83F. Pretty comfortable once your used to it. Nighttime I roll it down to a chilly 77F.

When the outside temps are below 88F day/ 78F night I turn off the AC and keep the window open and might run a fan.

People lived in Florida long before AC became common. Once you get used to it it isn't bad.

Yeah, you sound like me... I'd rather just put on a sweat shirt in the house than crank up the heat and often find myself in t-shirts outside in winter in the snow.... I`m just a "hot" person I`m told.

We have radiant heater in the office and in the bedroom but find myself only using the office one... the upstairs stays toasty during winter that's for sure, sometimes even requires an open window to let in some crisp snow air.

Did someone here say they would literally perish without a/c?

Pretty sure I could survive without the Internet, cable, electricity, showering every day, appliances, a/c and Thai takeout.

Given a choice between death and life without these things... I could probably get by with Chinese takeout.

But I'd much rather live with these things, enough so that I will cut back elsewhere. Especially during DC's summer swelter. But hooray for those who find an a/c-less life hardly a bother, worthwhile or even delightful. I grew up blissfully happy in Oregon and California without a/c.

Thai takeout is actually more of a winter and shoulder season thing.

Yes, I demand these comforts in the city in my everyday life in which survival normally hinges on not getting run over by a taxicab.

There are probably few on this forum who camp more than I do -- without these conveniences -- or who hike more than I do, in the woods, where there is no cell reception. Or who live closer to a bigger terrorist target.

Yet, this survival forum interests me. Funny that.

Just thinking about losing a/c requires pouring a large glass of sweet tea. Ciao.

For the young and healthy staying cool is most commonly a matter of comfort. But AC, staying cool in general, can be a real survival issue for everyone some of the time, and serious business for some people all the time. For the elderly and those with heart and lung conditions inability to stay cool enough is serious business.

Temperatures in the 80s in Western Europe, where AC systems are uncommon, people are not acclimated to heat, and the public was not educated about the potential risk, had the old and infirm dropping like flies.

The US doesn't often do any better. This blunted only because we have a lot more AC systems and scattered old folks kicking off in an overheated houses seldom even makes the news. Unless we see a real 'heatwave' event and the morgues get backed up with bodies. In which case there may be some community effort to mitigate the effects.

I remember hearing about Europe now that you mention it... the heat wave there killed TONS of elderly.

I work from my non-airconditioned sailboat until the temperature gets to about 80, then if the day is going to get hotter I adjourn to an airconditioned space. If I am required to wear a coat and tie or suit, then by the mid-70s I am on the move.

My ability to concentrate remains high when I am comfortable and is impaired when I am not.

The low today in Phoenix is 90*. The low. The high was 111*. So yes I use a/c in my house between 81-88* depending on if we are home or not.

A car sitting in the sun during the day can reach temperatures over 150*. Driving 60 mph in 111* with all windows down will drop the temperature by about...what...15 degrees but the wind is super heated anyway as the asphalt at ground level is over 120*. Then I'd also have to worry about sunburning my skin b/c my tinted windows also provide sun protection.

So, I take slight offense at being told that, "If you think you can't live without A/C then I don't quite understand what you are doing on a survival forum."

My 5 month old daughter certainly appreciates it as does my boy and DW.

I have zero problem, zero problem going for 4 hour cycling workouts or running 10 miles in this kind of weather but I'll use my a/c when I can thank you very much.

And BTW, the advent of a/c has radically changed the way in which homes are built today. Before a/c houses and community buildings were built with different window and room set ups that pushed hot air out, such as taller windows with vents at the top for hot air to escape.

Well said.

I turned on my office AC at 7pm tonight so I could concentrate better.

Yesterday it was cool and by 4pm I had the windows open... not so much today

Ah,well I'd rather run it a couple hours than all day anyhow.

This is what we do when we need the A/C. Most days, we just open the windows. Occasionally, we need to turn it on in the late afternoon until early evening until the temp gets down below the 78-80 we keep the A/C set on.

My neighbor, OTOH, keeps his going 24/7 and has since the spring sometime, no matter what the outside temp is.

Although our house is only 10 years old, it is "old fashioned" in that we have windows on all sides, so we get great cross-ventilation, and lots of trees help provide nature's own A/C.

Also, having lived and worked in WDC and surrounding area for a long time, let me support Dagny's position. DC was built on a swamp, and the heat and humidity in the city can be, and often is, brutal.

Why am I here if I like AC? Well.......

I was about 7-8 years old when REA brought electricity to our farm. I was 21 when I got married, moved into a 10x50 trailer sitting in an open field with no shade. But, I could finally turn on a faucet for water to take a bath in a bathtub. I was 39 before we moved into a home with central AC.

Finally after almost 40 years I didn't have to turn over the pillow at night to try to find a cooler spot.

Retired, now, it's harder and harder to cope with extremes in heat, cold, and humidity. Since I paid my "dues" for 40 years, I do enjoy the comfort of AC and other "modern" conveniences, such as the faucet at the kitchen sink.

That said, I'm also realistic. This level of comfort can disappear for any number of reasons. We gone through ice storms and hurricanes that took out the power. Who knows what next week or next year may bring. I want to be able to cope with whatever it is the best I can. To that end, I do try to stay prepared for the worst, while hoping those preparations aren't needed in my remaining lifetime.

In fact it's more important, today, to be prepared than it was even 20 years ago. We don't have the physical abilities to cope that aging have gradually taken from us.

Lee

Allergies are another big reason people turn air conditioning on. That's the close #2 motivation for me -- especially in the spring.

This has turned into a very interesting discussion. A/C has tremendously influenced building design -- homes and commercial buildings -- and that would have severe repercussions were power ever to go out for several days, let alone weeks or months or years.

A/C has influenced where a lot of people are willing to live in this country. My DC neighborhood, with its brick rowhouses, brick sidewalks and asphalt is 10 or more degrees warmer on a hot evening than the National Mall -- where there is usually at least a breeze at night and the two-mile expanse of grass does not retain heat like brick and asphalt do. On hot days, like this past weekend, fellow dog peops and I drive our pups down to the mall after 7:00p to walk them.

In California and Oregon where I grew up, there might have been a week or so every summer when I wished we'd had A/C. But we just ran a lot of window fans and dealt with it, no big deal because those supremely hot days were rare and humidity would not be something I monitored until moving east.

In DC, especially in the most densely populated sections where there is zero space between homes or office buildings, it would be for many residents not just extremely uncomfortable but downright dangerous. Friends who are from the Gulf Coast think I'm a weenie and don't really know oppressive humidity. Having been to Tampa in July, I agree with them -- whoa -- that has to be experienced to believe. But what we have is bad enough. Actually, this summer is the coolest since I've lived here or any of my neighbors can remember. Still, the a/c runs.

Another ramification of A/C is that before its advent, Congress used to be in session a lot less in the summer.

That was surely an unanticipated and profound consequence....

;-)

Me too.

I wonder if widespread A/C isn't part of the reason for nationwide obesity.

Anybody else remember lying in bed in the summer sweating, unable to sleep ? And having no appetite due to the heat?

That's bws48's quote not mine btw

Modern residential architecture is designed around the notion that an HVAC system will be utilized to artifically control the environmental conditions of the building as the occupant so desires. Unfortunately such design almost always excludes natural ventilation should the power go out. The result is a house that gets hot in the summer and does not have enough natural airflow to keep the inside reasonably comfortable. I learned this when I bought a house built in 1920, and saw how I could sit in the house through the summer with little more than a couple window fans going, while neighbors who'd rebuilt or drastically remodeled were not so fortunate. Homes built prior to the advent of consumer HVAC were designed with this consideration in mind, and so they stay much more hospitable than the newer strip homes you see with fewer windows, inadequate ventilation, and compartmentalized living spaces which prohibit air flow.

Even in older homes I would still rather have at least a window ac unit in the summer. Then again, my internal thermostat has always been about 20 degrees cooler than the average, so I don't mind living in a home only 60 degrees warm. If I can at least have a fan on me, I can tolerate the heat, especially trying to sleep at night.

Awnings, screen doors, open porches and gazebos.
Wear a wide brimmed hat outside, it keeps the sun off your head and neck. This helps prevent heat strokes.
Wear loose clothing (white cotton?) which the breeze can blow through but still shades you from the sun. You want the cooling effect from the sweat evaporating off your skin.

Plenty of cold water to drink and cool swimming holes when needed.
It can be surprising how much better a cool shower or bath can make you feel on a hot day. Even splashing cold water on the forearms (the insides of the elbows where the skin is thin) will help cool you off a lot on a hot day.

Another help is to eat lots of melons.
Muskmelons seem to help a person stay cool the best.

Hot peppers also help even out the circulatory system when it is hot out.

Salt can help if you are sweating a lot, but only enough that it quits tasting sweet to you when licked off the palm of your hand.
(When you are short of salt it does not taste salty, if it tastes salty you have more than enough in you already.)

Plant more trees if you can.

Hi everyone! Yeah, that's me. And my deck. I don't actually work out there - I happened to be reading email when the photographer showed up.

That picture does not do the deck justice. It goes on and on and on and on...there's two more levels and a stone path too!

Florida schools in the 1950's and 1960's were built top to bottom with jalousie windows. They didn't need A/C. Now, these old schools have these windows painted over.

Rub it in some more wouldya

That just reminded me of how lots of homes around the mediterranean are painted white and have open roofs that allow you to sleep outside if necessary. They were interviewing an engineer on the radio the other day and he said that by just lightening up asphalt to a greyish color (which apparently is easy to do) it could reduce the temp. by about 20F. Necessity is the mother of invention (or ingenuity) I suppose.

Big trees really help too, a lot of cities don't have them and it's like baking your house in the sun all day.

Today I stayed at home in my sailboat all day. Though the temperature climbed to about 90 there was an 8-10 mile an hour breeze and it was tolerable. I think the shorts and tee-shirt helped a lot, too!

It was mid 90s here and what made it worse... 45% humidity.. no idea why! Might be where I`m situated in the trees or something but wow, not used to that much humidity here in CA !