How to live without air conditioning

[Sunshine]

I went through most of my child hood without A/C. Houses built back then had a lot of windows and we owned many fans. Moving hot air was better than no air at all. We survived but it was hot. While in the Navy on older ships we had no A/C in berthing compartments. All we had were fans as well. In the Persian Gulf during the summer it's HOT..............WE woke up from sleep soaking wet from sweat a lot during those days.

STAY AWAY FROM MY A/C BUDDY OR ELSE...................

LOL

We had a big window fan as well. We also had a lot of shade. My mother managed to keep the house tolerable by keeping the east door and windows shaded while the sun was on that side of the house, only opening them when the sun went to the west side. Then she covered the door an windows on that side. It worked fairly well until the temperature got in the 90s. Even though we had the fan, we didn't use it much. My mother believed it just pulled in moisture making the house smell musty. When the weather was more dry, she didn't like the dust it pulled in. I spent a lot of my days on a 'pallet' (a quilt) out in the yard. Sometimes I even slept outside too. But I can remember what seemed to be interminable nights during which it was so hot I couldn't coax myself to sleep due to the heat no matter how hard I tried. I would move around on the sheets to find the 'cool' spot that always eluded me.

 

[boedicca]

We lived in the valley when I was a kid. It was hotter than beejeebus in the summer. We finally got a window AC unit when I was a teenager so at least the family room was cool.

I hated the hot weather and still do, which is why I moved to the inner bay...right across from the Golden Gate and the natural Fog AC.

 

[Sarah G]

Try that shit here in Arizona.

Yeah, that's death weather down there.

Here is the thing. I just purchased a new system for my house back in may. $$$ but that is something you do not play with here. Every single year I read about elders dying here because they try to deal with summers with no A/C here.

On the other hand, a good heating system is extremly important on the east coast. I spent time in New England. I get that but here, I dont think I have ever turned on the heating for the entire house. I have one space heater for my wife in the kitchen because on some mornings its a little chilly in the winter. Thats it. No heat.

Personally, I love it here. Yes it is hot in the summers, but I swear I was in my pool last Christmas and being raised back east, I do not miss winters.

We get wintertime with a vengance too but I can deal with it easier than the heat in someplace like Arizona. I know how to dress for winter, I don't stay inside all the time either.

 

[Sarah G]

We lived in the valley when I was a kid. It was hotter than beejeebus in the summer. We finally got a window AC unit when I was a teenager so at least the family room was cool.

I hated the hot weather and still do, which is why I moved to the inner bay...right across from the Golden Gate and the natural Fog AC.

I lived in North Carolina for awhile. I learned to hate summertime down there. I'd never known heat and humidity like that.

 

[Zona]

Could Americans kick our addiction to cool? Maybe more happily than we think.

A very interesting article from the Boston Globe @ How to live without air conditioning - Ideas - The Boston Globe

In many ways, ancient cultures here in the southwest got it right more than we do today. They built homes of materials that reflected and kept out the sun's heat. They lived a gentler style of life and ate food that didn't raise their blood temperatures. And, a lot more socializing took place in the cool of the evenings. Heck! They even got to know their neighbors!

Try that shit here in Arizona.

i have STILL got the brand on my arm the latch on the shoulder strap made....

I dont know how you do it zona!!!

For three months you have to go from your a/c house, to your a/c car to your a/c job. Then reverse.

As far as the weekends, do things prior to 10 am. Early its high 80's. at 1200, its 110. But here is the thing, there is no humidity. None.

So, three months of hell, and the rest of the year, its San Diego weather with housing at half the price.

No problem.

 

[Zona]

Yeah, that's death weather down there.

Here is the thing. I just purchased a new system for my house back in may. $$$ but that is something you do not play with here. Every single year I read about elders dying here because they try to deal with summers with no A/C here.

On the other hand, a good heating system is extremly important on the east coast. I spent time in New England. I get that but here, I dont think I have ever turned on the heating for the entire house. I have one space heater for my wife in the kitchen because on some mornings its a little chilly in the winter. Thats it. No heat.

Personally, I love it here. Yes it is hot in the summers, but I swear I was in my pool last Christmas and being raised back east, I do not miss winters.

We get wintertime with a vengance too but I can deal with it easier than the heat in someplace like Arizona. I know how to dress for winter, I don't stay inside all the time either.

(I used to hate to have to dig out a car or shovel in front of the house just to walk in the door).

I dont miss snow tires, gloves, hats etc etc.

Eh, its give and take really EXCEPT in San Diego. I lived there for 16 years and weather wise, it is perfect....all the time. Never turned on a heater and we never even had an A/C unit. Its bizarre in hind site.

 

[Unkotare]

Could Americans kick our addiction to cool? Maybe more happily than we think.

A very interesting article from the Boston Globe @ How to live without air conditioning - Ideas - The Boston Globe

In many ways, ancient cultures here in the southwest got it right more than we do today. They built homes of materials that reflected and kept out the sun's heat. They lived a gentler style of life and ate food that didn't raise their blood temperatures. And, a lot more socializing took place in the cool of the evenings. Heck! They even got to know their neighbors!

USATODAY.com - France heat wave death toll set at 14,802

 

[Sarah G]

Here is the thing. I just purchased a new system for my house back in may. $$$ but that is something you do not play with here. Every single year I read about elders dying here because they try to deal with summers with no A/C here.

On the other hand, a good heating system is extremly important on the east coast. I spent time in New England. I get that but here, I dont think I have ever turned on the heating for the entire house. I have one space heater for my wife in the kitchen because on some mornings its a little chilly in the winter. Thats it. No heat.

Personally, I love it here. Yes it is hot in the summers, but I swear I was in my pool last Christmas and being raised back east, I do not miss winters.

We get wintertime with a vengance too but I can deal with it easier than the heat in someplace like Arizona. I know how to dress for winter, I don't stay inside all the time either.

(I used to hate to have to dig out a car or shovel in front of the house just to walk in the door).

I dont miss snow tires, gloves, hats etc etc.

Eh, its give and take really EXCEPT in San Diego. I lived there for 16 years and weather wise, it is perfect....all the time. Never turned on a heater and we never even had an A/C unit. Its bizarre in hind site.

There's a lot in Cali that I wouldn't want to deal with. Fires, earthquakes. I think Washington state might be good. I wouldn't want to leave the Great Lakes area though.

 

[Unkotare]

Try spending a summer in one of the "Three Furnaces" of China. Or try just one summer in Nagoya or Kyoto. That's some hard-core hot right there. Probably a lot worse elsewhere.

 

[syrenn]

Try that shit here in Arizona.

i have STILL got the brand on my arm the latch on the shoulder strap made....

I dont know how you do it zona!!!

For three months you have to go from your a/c house, to your a/c car to your a/c job. Then reverse.

As far as the weekends, do things prior to 10 am. Early its high 80's. at 1200, its 110. But here is the thing, there is no humidity. None.

So, three months of hell, and the rest of the year, its San Diego weather with housing at half the price.

No problem.

oh i agree.... i like it there.... you have a pappadeaux!

 

[Zoom-boing]

I would never give up A/C, not in NEPA. No freakin' way. When it's this hot (90-100 degrees w/ 90+ humidity) for weeks on end ... you'd keel over without it. Ours has been on since mid-June or so ... I think. I'm looking forward to fall. Weather-wise I generally don't like Jan/Feb and Jul/Aug. Too cold and too hot. The rest of the time is okie dokie.

 

[Luissa]

Could Americans kick our addiction to cool? Maybe more happily than we think.

A very interesting article from the Boston Globe @ How to live without air conditioning - Ideas - The Boston Globe

In many ways, ancient cultures here in the southwest got it right more than we do today. They built homes of materials that reflected and kept out the sun's heat. They lived a gentler style of life and ate food that didn't raise their blood temperatures. And, a lot more socializing took place in the cool of the evenings. Heck! They even got to know their neighbors!

I have never been to the south but from the stories I have heard, what you suggest Is idiotic. I would never go there in the summer but if I did I sure as hell would stay somewhere with A/C.
It was almost 100 here yesterday and miserable and we have no where near the humidity the south has.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I grew up without air conditioning. My parents didn't get an air conditioner until a couple years after I married and moved out. I doubt you have any concept of what it is like to live in the south without air conditioning. You can gloat about your building materials all you want. But before you do, you need to realize that the humidity in your area is almost nil, but exceedingly high in my area. That means that a temperature that would be comfortable to you would be stifling to me. Here, one doesn't even have to cool the air very much. It is the removal of humidity that makes the difference. The housing projects all have air conditioning. Go convince the welfare queens and hoochie mammas to give up theirs first. Then report back. I will never do without air conditioning while paying for someone else to have it.

Your post is patently stupid due to you lack of experience and lack of understanding that the building materials in your area would melt in mine.

Don't you think "stupid" is a bit harsh.

I HAVE lived in the south through some very, very humid summers. I HAVE lived through those summers without a/c or even a swamp cooler which works pretty good.
There a lot of alternatives that, while not completely taking away the discomfort would ease it a great bit. Before judging, READ the entire article!!!

I think saying it was stupid is a compliment. Swamp coolers don't work when the humidity is in the 100% range, which is routine in Houston on a summer day. Throw in the 100+ temperatures that you normally get there and you will know why air conditioning is mandatory unless you have a large block of ice and a huge fan.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I went through most of my child hood without A/C. Houses built back then had a lot of windows and we owned many fans. Moving hot air was better than no air at all. We survived but it was hot. While in the Navy on older ships we had no A/C in berthing compartments. All we had were fans as well. In the Persian Gulf during the summer it's HOT..............WE woke up from sleep soaking wet from sweat a lot during those days.

STAY AWAY FROM MY A/C BUDDY OR ELSE...................

LOL

I was an ET, even on the hottest days, and nights, I wore my jacket. There were people that thought I was crazy.

 

[Sarah G]

I grew up without air conditioning. My parents didn't get an air conditioner until a couple years after I married and moved out. I doubt you have any concept of what it is like to live in the south without air conditioning. You can gloat about your building materials all you want. But before you do, you need to realize that the humidity in your area is almost nil, but exceedingly high in my area. That means that a temperature that would be comfortable to you would be stifling to me. Here, one doesn't even have to cool the air very much. It is the removal of humidity that makes the difference. The housing projects all have air conditioning. Go convince the welfare queens and hoochie mammas to give up theirs first. Then report back. I will never do without air conditioning while paying for someone else to have it.

Your post is patently stupid due to you lack of experience and lack of understanding that the building materials in your area would melt in mine.

Don't you think "stupid" is a bit harsh.

I HAVE lived in the south through some very, very humid summers. I HAVE lived through those summers without a/c or even a swamp cooler which works pretty good.
There a lot of alternatives that, while not completely taking away the discomfort would ease it a great bit. Before judging, READ the entire article!!!

I think saying it was stupid is a compliment. Swamp coolers don't work when the humidity is in the 100% range, which is routine in Houston on a summer day. Throw in the 100+ temperatures that you normally get there and you will know why air conditioning is mandatory unless you have a large block of ice and a huge fan.

Posters like you and sunshine are incredible assholes. You take a friendly conversational thread like this one and turn it into just another one of your hateful and personal attacks on people.

What must life be like inside your miserable little pea brains.

 

[mudwhistle]

Who starts these discussion?

 

[mudwhistle]

Don't you think "stupid" is a bit harsh.

I HAVE lived in the south through some very, very humid summers. I HAVE lived through those summers without a/c or even a swamp cooler which works pretty good.
There a lot of alternatives that, while not completely taking away the discomfort would ease it a great bit. Before judging, READ the entire article!!!

I think saying it was stupid is a compliment. Swamp coolers don't work when the humidity is in the 100% range, which is routine in Houston on a summer day. Throw in the 100+ temperatures that you normally get there and you will know why air conditioning is mandatory unless you have a large block of ice and a huge fan.

Posters like you and sunshine are incredible assholes. You take a friendly conversational thread like this one and turn it into just another one of your hateful and personal attacks on people.

What must life be like inside your miserable little pea brains.

This is no joke. The left is using the EPA to make it too expensive to have AC. I figure 10 years the only people that will have it are the rich and those in the party that go alone with them.

 

[eagle1462010]

I went through most of my child hood without A/C. Houses built back then had a lot of windows and we owned many fans. Moving hot air was better than no air at all. We survived but it was hot. While in the Navy on older ships we had no A/C in berthing compartments. All we had were fans as well. In the Persian Gulf during the summer it's HOT..............WE woke up from sleep soaking wet from sweat a lot during those days.

STAY AWAY FROM MY A/C BUDDY OR ELSE...................

LOL

We had a big window fan as well. We also had a lot of shade. My mother managed to keep the house tolerable by keeping the east door and windows shaded while the sun was on that side of the house, only opening them when the sun went to the west side. Then she covered the door an windows on that side. It worked fairly well until the temperature got in the 90s. Even though we had the fan, we didn't use it much. My mother believed it just pulled in moisture making the house smell musty. When the weather was more dry, she didn't like the dust it pulled in. I spent a lot of my days on a 'pallet' (a quilt) out in the yard. Sometimes I even slept outside too. But I can remember what seemed to be interminable nights during which it was so hot I couldn't coax myself to sleep due to the heat no matter how hard I tried. I would move around on the sheets to find the 'cool' spot that always eluded me.

Makes you appreciate A/C.............I live in LA, Lower Alabama, and it's HOT and MUGGY here all the time. This is where I grew up as well. 90% Humidity all the time, with Heat indexes to 110 a lot. Work construction still even though it's getting tougher with age. Industrial work in live plants with boilers, exchangers and such. It's been a rough summer, but not as bad as last year. Yet there have been many cases of heat exhaustion and stroke already. No deaths but some hospitalizations as a result.

I love the A/C at lunch and going home in the truck, but not being soaking wet by 10 a.m.

On the bright side, some people pay to go to spas and gyms to pay for exercise. Not so here, get paid to do it. Can't get fat in the heat down here climbing columns in the heat.

LOL

 

[eagle1462010]

I went through most of my child hood without A/C. Houses built back then had a lot of windows and we owned many fans. Moving hot air was better than no air at all. We survived but it was hot. While in the Navy on older ships we had no A/C in berthing compartments. All we had were fans as well. In the Persian Gulf during the summer it's HOT..............WE woke up from sleep soaking wet from sweat a lot during those days.

STAY AWAY FROM MY A/C BUDDY OR ELSE...................

LOL

That freaking sounds horrible. I am a navy man myself, but AVIATION....lol

No boats for me and after reading what you just wrote, I am glad I picked that side.

The newer ships have A/C in the bunks unlike the older ships that have been moth balled for good reason.

My brother flew P3 Orions back in the day. He liked it better as well.

LOL

 

[eagle1462010]

Try that shit here in Arizona.

i have STILL got the brand on my arm the latch on the shoulder strap made....

I dont know how you do it zona!!!

For three months you have to go from your a/c house, to your a/c car to your a/c job. Then reverse.

As far as the weekends, do things prior to 10 am. Early its high 80's. at 1200, its 110. But here is the thing, there is no humidity. None.

So, three months of hell, and the rest of the year, its San Diego weather with housing at half the price.

No problem.

I worked in Mohave near Needles California once. I liked the low HUMIDITY there. Even though it was HOT it didn't seem as bad to me without the Humidity. Not putting down your Heat index at all, but I could definitely feel the difference. The only problem with that is that the heat sneaks up on you in lower Humidity in my opinion as you don't sweat as much.

We built a Gas Turbine Plant there during the Cali black outs.