Roody

So far we're toughing it out, but we have 7 fans running for 5 people and 2 cats. It would probably be better for the environment and the budget to use air conditioning.

work4bike

Don't need no AC. Heat is easy to get use to as long as you set your mind to it. When I ride my bike my computer reguraly displays temps between 110-115 deg and I can feel the heat radiating off the pavement. Just think of something else and before I know it I'm cured.

I'm practicing for global warming

heywood

I love AC.. it's nice not to have but some areas of the world are pretty insufferable without it..

RafiS

^^^^

I love how the guy from Florida is good without it, and the guy from Canada loves it

Cyclogenesis

Sorry.. yes.. Happy to sweat during the day, at night is another story...

Smallwheels

When I lived in a house in New Orleans I remember working in the attic at about 120º. Within one minute my body began profuse sweating. I was up there on and off for several hours installing a roof vent for the dryer. That was when I was young and very healthy. Upper ninety degree temperatures are uncomfortable but don't seem life threatening to me. I wonder how it is for overweight people who have so much more insulation?

The key to comfort without air conditioning is to be away from any type of reflective barrier. Such things as low ceilings and walls of very small rooms just reflect too much heat. It is more comfortable to sit under a tree outside than it is to be in a room with low ceilings even if the temperature is the same. That is my experience.

I love blower fans. I use them all year long to move the air in my apartment. In the winter I have them on the floor pointing at the ceiling to keep the air temperature constant from floor to ceiling. In the summer I point the fans at a far wall on an angle. Doing that causes the air to circulate in a different way creating a slight breeze in the whole room. Doing this saves energy. I do it to enhance my comfort.

There is no air conditioning in my apartment. For the last couple of weeks summer has finally arrived giving us high temperatures in the 80s. Recently there have been a few days of low to middle 90s. Two days ago the highest temperature of the year was just over 100º. Today the high will be in the middle 70s. It's a weird summer for sure.

The humidity is at 27% and with a strong wind makes the outside weather seem chilly without the direct sunlight. I could live with this all year round. That is why I think I'll be moving to the west coast as soon as I can.

wahoonc

Yup running AC here. It is supposed to be set on 80* but I bet my wife has pushed it down a bit

I can do without it all day, but sleep better in cool conditions at night. We have discussed getting out the small window unit and putting it in the bedroom and leaving the rest of the house warmer. BTW 97* here with a heat index of 114*

Aaron

cooker

My wife loves AC - I'm always wandering around closing vents in the parts of the house she doesn't go in much, because the rest of us don't mind it a bit warmer.

Tex Bs

in Houston our AC runs from late May to September every year. I am a clyde (260), and get hot easily. We keep the house at 78 to 80 degrees.

I ride nightly only after the sun falls behind the trees from 730 to 830pm, otherwise the sun just about kills me. Our normal temps are 96 to 101 with very high humidity.

I-Like-To-Bike

Not on my bicycle. 99°F, 45% Humidity when I rode home today.

FutureHero

heck yeah. I would die without AC. It's a cool 70 in the house right now

gerv 

Same here. I think the heat index hit 115F for the last 3 days. I was surprised my 7 mile commute wasn't that bad (ie, ... I made it home).

And yes, I have turned the AC on. I keep it at 80F and it's still so hot upstairs, I'm sleeping in the basement.

cycleobsidian

We bought a house with no AC. For the past 4 years, we've been toughing it out. This summer is the toughest yet. (also coinciding with my 50th year)

So, I put cold water in the tub. When I feel too warm I take a dip in my own private pool.

Spaceman Spiff

I installed one in my window in my apartment. My electricity costs are included in my rent so I could run it non-stop (I think most people in my building do). But I only run it when it gets really hot. My parents were super-cheap and refused to turn on the a/c except when it was REALLY hot so I'm used to it. I think I heard on TV a few days ago that 30% of the city's power generation is being consumed by airconditioners.

wahoonc

My parents didn't get AC until well after I moved out and we live in the deep south.

Aaron

junkyardking

I loathe AC. It just bugs me. I'd rather live hot and sticky while inside my home and be able to do a 60+ mile road ride in the summer heat than be nice and comfortable while I watch tv, but then suffer from heat exhaustion on a 6 percenter.

The Bay Area, however, doesn't get humid, so my locale has offered me the luxury of an AC free summer.

Pedaleur

Well, you can always put on a sweater if you're chilly.

For me, it's mostly the humidity that gets me. We've been running the AC now that the dog days are here. 26 in the day, 27 in the night. Yes, I'm _that_ kind of person -- who sets his thermostat to C.

KBentley57

Just having moved to the south I don't see how it's possible to go no AC where I'm at. I know people do it - whether its voluntarily or not, but I just don't see how. I live in the top of the apartment building, and the outside temp has been 99+ with a 95-100% humidity. I've felt 100 degree weather in 25% humidity, you can sweat and me "fine". Here it's different. Maybe I'm just a wimp! Walk outside and its instant wet-back before I even get to the car.

That in part is one of the beauties of an air conditioner. It serves to both cool the air, and dry it out. I almost believe the drying out part makes it more cool than the chilling of the air. It would be cool (no pun intended) if someone could dehumidify the south by about 70 % or so.

Tex Bs

The Bay Area, however, doesn't get humid, so my locale has offered me the luxury of an AC free summer.[/QUOTE]

As a kid growing up in the bay area, I cant remember one friend where their house had central AC.

wahoonc

Yup...that is the deep south...the wet blanket effect. It always amazes me when people from drier climates claim they can handle "the heat"...but the humidity gets them every time!

Aaron

myrridin

I grew up, at least partially, in Southeast Florida. We didn't have A/C and the schools didn't have A/C (or heat) as well. What made the situation even worse was we were not allowed to wear shorts to school...except in gym. You get used to it.

Newspaperguy

I'm in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. Summer temperatures can reach 40C or 104F, but I don't have air conditioning in my place. I just keep the windows wide open day and night. Summer is a time for drinking plenty of iced tea and cold water.

This year, we've had a cool and wet spring and summer, so staying comfortable isn't all that hard.

At the office, we have air conditioning, which seems to be as much about circulating the air as about changing the temperatures.

junkyardking

Maybe you and your friends lived in older homes. Every newer model home around here (the Bay Area, unless you're directly in SF or Oakland, is absolutely littered with ugly track housing) has AC. But if you can tough out the heat the there just is no need for it.

I've got a lot of family back in Massachusetts where it does get to be the kind of weather that people say they "need" AC. But my cousin and her husband live very happily and healthily without it, as does my aunt and uncle, and as did my sister and her husband before they moved back to California.

zephyr

I haven't used AC since September 2010. Coastal counties of southern cal have not had a heat wave (yet) this year. Our heat waves where temps get in the upper 90s or low 100s F will appear in August, September and maybe October and last in stretches of 5 or 6 days. May and June were very cool (rarely above 75F) with morning overcast almost every day. In July we have had a few days in the 90-94F range, but it has cooled off into the upper 60s or low 70s at night. So my apartment has stayed very comfortable (usually low-mid 70s) with just a fan and open windows every morning and evening. The only inexpensive thing about living in my area is the electric bill usually which averages less than $20 per month. That way I can still scrape enough cash to pay $1350 rent for a 1 br apt.

JusticeZero

Use AC all the time. I'm an academic, I have to think. If it's hot, I can't. Forgoing air conditioning is a little bit like having a job as a telephone operator, then taking a vow of silence.