Life with no AC

[lazygood4nothinbum]

and generator powered bike lights. foreshadowing: green before our time.

photo credit: By Bob AuBuchon on Flickr

 

[calmloki]

119° F | 83° F
48° C | 28° C

Palm Springs today - my honey is running her 93YO Mom down from the high desert for a round of doctor visits. AC good.

 

[d]

DD thinks she needs 72 when it's winter, and 68 when it's summer.

 

[Nords]

No A/C in our house, but plenty of open windows, ceiling fans, & tradewinds.

When people move to Hawaii they usually complain bitterly about the hot summers. After a year here, though, they begin complaining bitterly about the freezing-cold winters.

 

[Khan]

I don't like A/C and only use it in extreme conditions.

Today's high was 85 with low humidity and a good breeze; no A/C, no fans, didn't even resort to shorts or sleeveless shirts.

 

[Marquette]

When people move to Hawaii they usually complain bitterly about the hot summers. After a year here, though, they begin complaining bitterly about the freezing-cold winters.

Isn't it around 84 in the summer and 82 in the winter?

 

[Nords]

Isn't it around 84 in the summer and 82 in the winter?

Doesn't take much experience to be a weather forecaster around here... highs in the mid 80s, lows in the mid 70s, tradewinds 10-15 mph, with mauka showers in some areas. The surf report takes longer than the weather report.

But when the tradewinds go Kona in Sep/Oct the daytime highs can get all the way up to the 90s. And in Jan/Feb, the dead of winter, some of those lows get into the 60s. Why, a few years back in the winter of '03 we had a low [-]of 59[/-] in the 50s!

My high-school friends can't understand why I don't like Pittsburgh winters anymore. Summers, either.

 

[tangomonster]

Then there are those who turn the heat up in winter and run the fan

I may be wrong about this (just like I totally bought the theory of corn/ethanol decreasing pollution and offering a viable alternative energy source), but doesn't running a fan in the winter in reverse direction conserve energy and make homes more comfortable with less utilization of the heat? Some websites like reliant.com say this:

In the winter, reverse the rotation of your ceiling fans to lift cool air and move warm air across the ceiling and down the walls into the living zone. The fan will bring the hot air down to mix with the cooler air at floor level. This mixing will basically equalize the temperature at floor and ceiling levels, which means that the heat will not be wasted keeping the ceilings warm. The heating system would not need to run as often, and your savings could be significant — all without compromising your comfort level.

 

[ziggy29]

In Texas, there's a word for "life with no A/C."

It's called "Hell."

 

[Khan]

I may be wrong about this (just like I totally bought the theory of corn/ethanol decreasing pollution and offering a viable alternative energy source), but doesn't running a fan in the winter in reverse direction conserve energy and make homes more comfortable with less utilization of the heat? Some websites like reliant.com say this:

In the winter, reverse the rotation of your ceiling fans to lift cool air and move warm air across the ceiling and down the walls into the living zone. The fan will bring the hot air down to mix with the cooler air at floor level. This mixing will basically equalize the temperature at floor and ceiling levels, which means that the heat will not be wasted keeping the ceilings warm. The heating system would not need to run as often, and your savings could be significant — all without compromising your comfort level.

This wasn't using a ceiling fan to mix the air (which seems like a good idea). This was turning the thermostat up to 75 or so and turning on a floor fan next to the bed.

 

[Walt34]

We've tried reversing the ceiling fans in the winter but it didn't work for us. It just disturbs the "boundary layer" of warm air surrounding skin and makes it feel colder.

No way would I ever go back to no A/C. Some days would be tolerable, but 90+ with 70%+ humidity and no A/C is still something I'd like to forget.