Do You Live With Air Conditioning?

I agree with you, gus. Heck, when we were kids, nobody had air conditioning. People were lucky if they had fans.

I guess we're the only tough ones on this site, CI.

I bet most of them get pedicures too.

And have those little umbrellas in their drinks.

So, what's wrong with that?

I have no aircondition either!

seems to be cooler in san diego than in eastern canada. since yesterday there has been a cooling trend, high 25 C, but the previous 2 weeks were pretty brutal, temp of 30 C, humidex readings of 40 C plus. even the birds didn't move around much. hbg

Funny that they call them swamp coolers. They wouldn't do you much good in a swamp.

I honestly don't know how a person would survive in this part of the country without A/C. The heat and humidity remain oppressive throughout the summer and much of spring and fall.

I have an air conditioner. Just a small one. Works just fine.

When I lived in Orlando, I had no air conditioning in my car, and everyone thought I was nuts. I used to drive to work at 2:30 everyday (I worked the evening shift) with no air conditioning. Try that in 98 degree temperatures after your car has been baking in the sun for five or six hours already. Not for the faint-hearted, let me tell you.

I would come into work everyday with huge pitstains under my arms. Luckily, my co-workers only had to put up with me and my stink for a couple hours.

Heehee...

We have no air conditioner in our townhouse. Installation in the window or outside would need strata council permission.

We've just got lots of fans. Not ideal, but works not too bad.

The best system is to open all your doors and windows for the breeze to cool the house.

That works really well, c.i., providing your house was built before the advent of central air conditioning (around 1955). After that, cross ventilation was no longer thought necessary, and you can't get a breeze going through many of those houses no matter how much wind there is outside.

I just spent a week with my sister on the seacoast north of Seattle. She's now in a 1950s ranch style house on the beach. The house was built with fixed pane corner windows (they don't open) and the doors are at opposite corners of the house with several walls in between. The breeze off the ocean scatters the chairs on her deck, but it's impossible to get any of that breeze into the house. They're seriously considering replacing the windows with casements. The temperature rarely hits 80 up there, so they don't see why they should have to pay for a/c. Neighbors told them a/c was "the thing to have" in the '50s, so the house was built to function with it. <shaking head>

I'm glad I live in a house built in the late '20s. You'd have to straighten every picture on the wall if we opened all the windows and doors around here!

My house has 37 windows on the main floor.

Adequate ventilation.

I have always been adamant against AC. I didn't grow up with it. And, even though we are pretty far north here, we still get some serious humid and hot days in the summer.

Now I live in a tenement house, it's long and narrow with no real cross ventilation system. I live in a city on the first floor and wouldn't want to leave my windows open all night anyway. PLUS, my dog is old and tends toward over-heating. For these reasons I have one window unit that I run if it's going to get above 80.

I don't understand why anyone would be adamantly against air conditioning. Is it some kind of environmental thing? I just don't get it.

Each ac unit pumps hot air outside, makes the environment hotter. They use a lot of energy to run. They dry the air which is good when it's humid, but it's bad for your skin and hair. They make it harder for your body to deal with the actual outside temps......

In our area, when they forecast hot weather (anything over 80 degrees F), they ask us not to use our air conditioner during weekdays, because of the high energy use by offices.

eighty degrees is comfortable. We may get some of that in late Sept or Oct, depending if a cool front comes in.

No kidding! When the temperature drops below 85 I turn the unit off and throw open all the windows.

Problem is, when I'm not home all day, one side of my house gets nailed by direct sunlight, and I don't feel comfortable in my neighborhood leaving all my windows open. So either I come home to an oven of a house, or I put the AC on 80 and let it at least keep my place comfortable.

I got used to air conditioning, and wouldn't ever live without it again, at least not in any of the places I've lived (South Texas, Louisiana, and Latin America). In places like Colorado or upstate New York there's really no need for it, but in the south or extremely humid heat, I find it impossible to sleep. As it is I sweat at night with the AC at 78, sleeping in boxers with only a sheet. Sleeping in a humid 90 degrees doesn't sound comfortable to me at all.

Okay, okay, I get it.

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I do have a/c, but only use it when it really gets hot and humid. The a/c tends to make me wake up stuffy and forget how expensive the electricy bills get. I prefer fresh air - also we have a ceiling fan that works great.

Also, air conditioners fill the air with positive ions. Positive ions are also generated by spring winds--the winds that turn people homicida