Do You Use Air Conditioning?

[Obser]

A couple hours ago Wonderful Wife shocked me by saying that the temperature inside and outside was 95 degrees. I was working away at the computer in perfect comfort and had NO idea it was that “warm”. She suggested that we must be adapting rather quickly to having such temperatures this early in the year (we’re in northern Arkansas at the moment).

We have a fan running, but almost never use air conditioning because refrigerating inside air is expensive and because we spend so much time outdoors that we don’t want to become accustomed to a cool inside and “walk into an oven” whenever we go out the door. We wouldn’t get much done that way.

It doesn’t make any difference to us if it is the “dry heat” of Southwestern Deserts (110+ and 10% relative humidity) or the “terrible humidity” of Southeastern States (95 degrees and 95% relative humidity). Our only adjustments are to do physical things early in the morning if possible (driving fence posts this morning) and to keep a hose and nozzle for cooling showers as needed. We will also move our home out of full sun to a shady spot nearby if this keeps up for a few days.

Another adaptive strategy we have used occasionally, since our home is on wheels, is to head north or into the mountains during summer. Often, however, we are pleased and comfortable in a southerly location and are reluctant to leave – and, of course, fuel is getting more expensive by the day.

Friends have indicated that we are “weird” for refusing to turn on the AC or at least heading to cool climate. Are there other “weird” people out there who prefer adaptation to air conditioning?

[mellba]

We don't use air conditioning unless we have company staying over. We didn't use it at all last year, just turned it on for 5 minutes to be sure it still worked. I hate being closed in and as soon as it is warm enough we open the windows. I don't cook much when it is hot (except with the microwave) and try to do all the work early in the morning. We have fans and make it fine here in GA. I think it is what people are used to. We cut way back on the heat this winter and got used to that although if you'd asked me I would have said it couldn't be done because I hate to be cold.

[wendys_goats]

We only use ac in our bedroom. My DH works 3rd shift and has to sleep in the day and Wisconsin can get really muggy. The rest of the house just has fans and open windows

[Ravenlost]

Lived the first 23 years of my life without air conditioning...won't do it again. Being extremely pregnant in a mobile home in the middle of an Alabama summer is a miserable experience! We do keep our air conditioning set fairly high, but turn the upstairs down at night. It gets awfully hot sleeping with three to four dogs during the summer!

[tyusclan]

Oh yes, we use air conditioning. I work outside in the heat and humidity all day, and when I get a shower I want to be able relax in comfort till bedtime, and then be able to sleep without soaking the bedsheets with sweat.

[nduetime]

I can do without it, it always smells funny to me. My Dh says it is all in my head. He insists on it when it gets extremely humid. If he cannot sleep it is awfully hard to work the next day.

[BrahmaMama]

We used to just suffer through it, but after last summers heat wave that lasted for what felt like forever, I'm buying an air conditioner! The electric bill is outrageous anyway, might as well be comfortable AND broke!

[Daryll in NW FLA]

Originally Posted by tyusclan

Oh yes, we use air conditioning. I work outside in the heat and humidity all day, and when I get a shower I want to be able relax in comfort till bedtime, and then be able to sleep without soaking the bedsheets with sweat.

Same here tyusclan, At night we open up the house but keep the AC on in the bedroom. Daryll in NW FLA

[clamjane]

I live in Ga too, and if my air conditioner breaks I would consider it an extreme emergency. The weather in North Ga is way different than it is down here further south.

[arabian knight]

IF it is a REAL DRY heat. Do what they did in the Phoenix area years ago before Evaporative Coolers (swamp Coolers) They would hang a sheet in an open window or door way. WET that sheet and then the air coming through would be cool and would cool down the room~!.
That is the principle behind the Evap coolers that were invented in AZ. many years ago.
You can even Buy Small evap coolers that are not much bigger then a window Box Fan Wets the "pad" in the back and sucks air through that moist pad and cools the room off. Uses not much more in electricity then a normal box fan would.
Now this is where it is Dry and Low in DEW POINT~! Under 50 Degrees 30 degrees would be better. and humidity also low.

[canfossi]

Nope! Can't afford it and plus it hurts Mother Nature, so even if I could afford it I wouldn't use it for that reason alone. Chris

Unless you like mildew and mold you'll use air conditioning in Florida unless you have an older home when they were still built for maximum air flow. Even then there will be times it is absolutely torrid inside.

My family has been down here for generations and to the man every single one of them would fight you before they gave up their air conditioning.

One day it may all go away and if it does we'll adapt again. But until it happens we intend to be comfortable.

I should note though that other than Easter Sunday when I had guests in the house and was doing a lot of cooking we haven't turned ours on for the year yet.

.....Alan.

[Westwood]

Gawd yes. Grew up in the 50's in Oklahoma where it was nothing to be in the 100's for weeks. Dad was so cheap he'd turn off the window fan about midnight and you'd lay there and sweat the rest of the night. Finally got an airconditioner in '69. Had heat stroke in the hay field and my body thermostat has been off ever since. The heat just kills me. Luckily the temps are much better here in the Ozarks, but I still have to sleep cool or I can't sleep at all.

Get all you can accomplished in the cool mornings and take a siesta in the afternoons if you can.

[Ramblin Wreck]

Grew up without AC in an old farm house in NW Georgia, but it had high ceilings which helped a lot. My house also has high ceilings, lots of insulation, an energy efficient AC system, and I keep the thermostat set at 78. That in combination with ceiling fans keeps the house very comfortable. Like Westwood, I sleep much better when it's cool.

[fordson major]

when i am driving the big tractor i drive i will have the ac cold enough to keep popsicles froze! by the time i step off at nite its cool enough to wear a jacket! summer time just drink lots of no alcohol beverage

[jnap31]

Count us as the wierd ones, I dont believe in artificial airconditioning for a variety of reasons, Did you all know though that people born in hot humid climates are suppose to have twice as many sweat poores as people born in cold climatres which help them cool off better, though we can all adapt to varying degrees, their are some that cant always a few people that "fall out" during any type of out door army training in the summer. Or is the info false? I picked it up reading a long time ago cant tremember where.

[Rowdy]

Well, it depends on where I am at:

In my truck I do not use the A/C it is comfortable usually with the windows open.

In my car I use it all the time, even on only slightly warm days. It is a newer model with a large windshield that collects alot of heat.

At my girlfriend's apartment we rarely turn on the A/C. When it hit 101 here this week we did turn it on for awhile in the afternoon.... set it at 85degrees.

I live in a travel trailer, and work nights/sleep days four nights out of the week, so I do run the A/C then. I cannot open my windows since I have blue foam insulation panels over my windows to keep it dark, and it helps keep it cool.

[Jenn]

don't need it here- want it a few days in some summers. Wish the car AC worked a few days a year but do alright anyway. Southern England. BTW, don't need window screens either- flies/mosquitoes not a problem.

[Oilpatch197]

Hey, sombody on this forum( a year or so ago) said they could run a AC window unit during peak sunlight hours right off their solar pannels....who was that!

they ran the unit during peak sunlight hours and kept the house nice and cool, and the AC was off for the evening and overnights.

[culpeper]

I live in the very humid subtropics where the temps in summer frequently reach 40C or more (do your own conversion, but that's HOT!). I don't own an air conditioner, and I won't be getting one (a) because they're so expensive to run (b) because they have environmental issues - use electricity only when you HAVE to and (c) because those really high temps only occur over a few weeks of the year, and I can always have a cold shower if I begin to melt.

I use a small fan only in the most extreme conditions, to prevent heat stroke, and for short periods of time.

I lived for several years in the Australian Outback where summer temps can get up into the 50Cs. I never felt the need for even a fan - but then I was a lot younger in those days. It's the humidity that drags me down now, not the heat itself.