AC hate

[Susan1]

I managed in AZ for 3 years with only a swamp cooler. Granted Tucson not Pheonix, but still.

My relatives had one of those (?) on their roof. They also had a home in a retirement community up in the White Mountains that they went to from May to October! They closed it up early the year my aunt was here and I went back with her. Their adult kids stayed in the house in Tucson year round.

 

[BittyBug]

I was just reading about how you can game one with a fan by draping a wet cloth over the fan. Haven't tried it yet, though.

ETA: I knew someone who used to freeze water in large soda bottles and then place those in front of a fan. Haven't tried that either but though it was clever.

 

[Bellanca]

I love AC and think it is the best invention ever (ducking for cover).
I work with people that have heaters on in their offices when it is below 73 degrees in our offices and they have sweaters on.

Not to defend, but knowing how at work once it gets hot, it takes forever to cool it down (I work in an office that is in a 100+ year old former factory - and the temp control is either way too hot or too cold).
- do stores/restaurants and places with people coming and going - have the AC high, as once it heats up, it is hard to bring the temp down when it is so hot outside?

It has been over 90 degrees F here in Connecticut for the last few days.
Yesterday I was very warm at work. Today, it is cool. I just hate high humidity with temps over 85 - makes me lazy.

No need to duck! I agree w/ your comment, as well as the too cool comments.

Too hot = no good. Too cold = no good. Somewhere in between = just right. Sounds a bit like the three bears.

Office environments, and especially grocery stores, have a really hard time finding the balance, for sure. But, I'll still take AC and slightly chilly over too warm and miserable.

Lately, I've noticed that I am starting to channel my brother-in-law who keeps his house so cold you could skate on his kitchen floor! Ok, I'll admit that I do not like it quite that cold, but he and I agree that a cooler house at night is better for sleep. So, there's that.
It is the off-season, isn't it?

 

[Vash01]

I managed in AZ for 3 years with only a swamp cooler. Granted Tucson not Pheonix, but still.

It's only a necessity because Americans perceive it to so. How do so many people in India manage without AC?

Because homes are built for AC rather than natural cooling protection.

I don't disagree that extreme heat is dangerous - there is no doubt. But there is a lot of room between perfection and extreme heat. JMO. But the day that every person on this planet who lives somewhere with hot weather insists on having AC is the day this planet dies. It's not supportable.

They do have AC in India. it's not an uncivilized jungle. The very poor who can't afford an AC or other means of cooling their homes do face the risk of heat stroke and sometimes die.

Back to Arizona, people become dehydrated, get heat stroke, and sometimes die, so don't tell me we should live without an AC. I am not talking of places like Flagstaff or Greer. I am talking of urban areas, like Phoenix.

 

[Vash01]

No need to duck! I agree w/ your comment, as well as the too cool comments.

Too hot = no good. Too cold = no good. Somewhere in between = just right. Sounds a bit like the three bears.

Office environments, and especially grocery stores, have a really hard time finding the balance, for sure. But, I'll still take AC and slightly chilly over too warm and miserable.

Lately, I've noticed that I am starting to channel my brother-in-law who keeps his house so cold you could skate on his kitchen floor! Ok, I'll admit that I do not like it quite that cold, but he and I agree that a cooler house at night is better for sleep. So, there's that.
It is the off-season, isn't it?

There are reasons for places like grocery stores to keep them cool. Their products last longer. Same with computer stores. In reality it's not possible to find a temperature setting that's comfortable for everyone in an office setting or similar places, so the default is on the cooler side. I do try to raise my setting at hone by 1 or 2 degrees. I get used to it.

 

[Kasey]

I managed to live in my pre-AC condo for about 15 years with just fans; upstairs was mildly miserable, and I did engage in some creative cooling measures (like sleeping with two fans on me and a cold wet towel over me).....not really doing the job. However, I am a believer in at least localized global warming, because we have a lot more 95F+ days here in the summers now than we did ten or so years ago. So I got a portable AC for upstairs a few years ago, and kept using just the fans downstairs. I also put ceiling fans in my house about 2 years ago; still not enough, so now I have a portable AC downstairs as well. I just cool the place down to 72 or so, but comfort is my goal at this point (and, the ferret can't handle high temperatures, so I would need to be able to cool her down anyway).

 

[Bellanca]

There are reasons for places like grocery stores to keep them cool. Their products last longer. Same with computer stores. In reality it's not possible to find a temperature setting that's comfortable for everyone in an office setting or similar places, so the default is on the cooler side. I do try to raise my setting at hone by 1 or 2 degrees. I get used to it.

Yup. Very true.

We have a supermarket in our area that was soooo cold, customers started complaining, and they have since turned up the heat a little. Still cool enough to be grocery friendly, but holy cow that place was an iceberg!

 

[Kasey]

(Hospitals are famous for being freaking freezing in the middle of the night....supposed to inhibit germ growth)

 

[Vash01]

I worked in the semiconductor industry before my current job. The 'clean rooms' used to be quite cold, to keep the equipment in good condition. We wore bunny suits and I still felt cold sometimes. There were people who felt hot in the bunny suits and wore lighter clothes.

 

[clairecloutier]

My heat tolerance is declining with age. I used to not mind hot sticky weather at all, now I am understanding much more the appeal of AC. The thing I dislike most about hot humid weather is cooking and washing dishes in it. No fun.

 

[smurfy]

I have never liked humid heat - for as far back as I remember. Connecticut can have some hot humid summer days. I just feel my energy being drained out of me by that heat.
I lived in Los Angeles - the dry heat is not that bad. 95 out there - I would still exercise outside and be fine.
I do not mind the cold. I lived in Minnesota for 10 years. I find at home I keep my home cool in the winter, if I am reading or watching tv - more comfy to bundle up in comfy sweats, socks, blanket. I find Connecticut to not be that cold after living in Minnesota. But I think keeping my house cool, and walking outside during the winter - makes me tolerant. But then summer comes around - and I think I am getting more intolerant of the heat.
My rationale - I save $ in the winter from lower heating bill to pay for my higher electric bill in the summer for AC.
Evens out.

Many folks here in Connecticut talk about retiring to Florida. I have been to Florida in July and in September - I could never live there.
I rather be cold and put more layers on, than be hot and want a shower.

 

[Susan1]

ETA: I knew someone who used to freeze water in large soda bottles and then place those in front of a fan. Haven't tried that either but though it was clever.

In my first apartment, I put ice cubes in an aluminum foil pan in front of the fan. I don't remember how well that worked.

We have a supermarket in our area that was soooo cold, customers started complaining, and they have since turned up the heat a little. Still cool enough to be grocery friendly, but holy cow that place was an iceberg!

Kroger has always been the coldest place on earth. My friend and I would be outside playing and when it was time to go to the store with my mom, we'd go in and put on long pants and shoes. (Yeah, in the 60's you could go to stores in bare feet.) Even in the 80s and 90s, my mom used to keep a white sweater in the car to take with her inside.

Now it's the cold air year round coming from the vents over the cash registers. I've actually seen magazines blow off the rack. I guess it's supposed to keep the cashiers cooler? I was told that in a restaurant once - that with servers running back and forth to the hot kitchen and carrying things, they needed to be kept cool. (Never mind the customers or the food, huh?)

(Hospitals are famous for being freaking freezing in the middle of the night....supposed to inhibit germ growth)

That's what they told me when my mom was in the ICU. They used to heat up a blanket for me to put around my shoulders when I got there.

 

[Gazpacho]

With restaurants I can sort of understand because it gets unbearable in the kitchen, so they set the air conditioning to be tolerable to the kitchen staff.

The other places I understand less. I've worked in buildings where I had to wear jackets inside during the summer because the air conditioning was so intense.

I was just reading about how you can game one with a fan by draping a wet cloth over the fan. Haven't tried it yet, though.

ETA: I knew someone who used to freeze water in large soda bottles and then place those in front of a fan. Haven't tried that either but though it was clever.

I've tried those, and they were largely useless. It was very humid and hot, so I don't know if it would work in less hot and/or less humid conditions. The wet towel over the fan attracted insects as well.

Also, you have to be really close to the fan to feel the effect.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

The U.S. has less than 5% of the world population, yet uses more energy for A/C than the rest of the world combined. There are reasonable things that can be done by people who can't live without it, like keeping the thermostat on 78-82 degrees rather than 68-72 degrees; or not limiting weatherproofing the house to only winter improvements. Since A/C is addictive causing people to become less tolerant of higher temperatures the more it is used, any increase in the thermostat will help with this. People can support less concrete & more green space (including more trees), & smaller houses (phase out McMansions) for new builds in their cities, as well as reflective roofs & pavements.

We only turn on the A/C when the temp hits 92 degrees or higher (& not always then), so maybe a week, max. two each summer. We don't feel like we're suffering, but we live in an area that has a lot of trees & greenery & older homes with porches & sleeping porches & windows built for cross breezes etc.

 

[Japanfan]

They do have AC in India. it's not an uncivilized jungle. The very poor who can't afford an AC or other means of cooling their homes do face the risk of heat stroke and sometimes die.

Poor people in India and elsewhere with a very hot climate likely stay out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day if at all possible.

In hot European countries, they have siesta.

But the day that every person on this planet who lives somewhere with hot weather insists on having AC is the day this planet dies. It's not supportable.

“Capitalism feeds on unlimited growth. It’s like this monster that’s always hungry and thirsty and devouring the earth." ~Tom Goldtooth

If people in the developing/non-developed world lived like we do in the developed west, resource depletion would hasten dramatically and our lifestyles would become unsustainable.

This is problematic, given that both India and China aspire to the standard of living we've achieved in the west.

 

[Vash01]

Poor people in India and elsewhere with a very hot climate likely stay out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day if at all possible.

In hot European countries, they have siesta.



If people in the developing/non-developed world lived like we do in the developed west, resource depletion would hasten dramatically and our lifestyles would become unsustainable.

This is problematic, given that both India and China aspire to the standard of living we've achieved in the west.

So India and China should not make progress so that We, the real wasteful people, continue to live in comfort? How fair is that?

 

[Matryeshka]

I lived in south Louisiana for two years without AC.

I WIN.

My favorite story about the heat in La was a few years ago, an African won the NOLA marathon in April. On the news, they kept asking him questions about what his impressions were of New Orleans, his life in I think Nairobi, but all he could do was rant about the weather and how he couldn't wait to go home to cool off and surely only devils and madmen lived here. The only thing the interviewer said was: don't ever come in August!

That being said, I walk from my AC house to my AC car to my AC destination and make no apologies for it. Cooler temps also tend to produce better productivity, and in an area with a large group of people, it's easier to make yourself warmer (blankers, jackets, sweaters) than cooler, as there's only so much you can take off in polite society.

 

[quartz]

We ran the AC for the past 3 days, as with the humidity we were well into the 30's, I think a high of 36c (98f) on Tuesday. I tend to be a pretty warm person, especially with hot flashes, and the heat really affects me. Tonight we have a cool front, low of 17, so AC is off and the windows are open. Much nicer!
My perfect summer would be no more than 25c during the day and 15c overnight.

 

[KatieC]

I resent having to find sweaters and wraps for hot summer days.

 

[PRlady]

If there are any air-conditioned spaces in Paris, I have yet to locate them.

Israel, OTOH, is air-conditioned to what my friend used to describe as "Dubai in August" temperatures, which even Dubai in August doesn't really require.

It is NOT. Every Israeli office, restaurant or store has the AC maybe, at best, to 76 / 24 which is about six degrees too warm for yours truly. (70/ 21 for me.)

I so miss DC air conditioning. Now we knew what a hot, muggy summer required and I had the electric bills to prove it.

At home I only have the AC on for about four-six hours a day. It's expensive and blessedly, Jerusalem usually cools off line the desert city it is by 6 PM.

ETA: I also save both money and the planet by keeping the heat really minimal in the winter; it's never more than 67 in my apartment(s) in either DC or Jerusalem. And, with solar panels doing most of the hot water heating and apartments sized less than 1100 square feet, I figure I'm doing much better greenwise than when I lived (not by choice) in a four-story suburban house.

In general, given global warming, I think we're going to have to build better/smaller/better-insulated. But I'd give up eating meat and buying doodads long, long before I could give up A/C in the summer. I just can't function when it's hot, and since I now work at home, there's little choice.

 

[Japanfan]

So India and China should not make progress so that We, the real wasteful people, continue to live in comfort? How fair is that?

I'm not saying they should not make progress, nor that the notion that they should not make progress so we can continue to live in comfort is fair. It isn't fair, obviously.

I'm only stating a fact in saying that such progress is problematic and potentially catastrophic.

It's also obvious that the western countries that consume/waste the most resources should be at the forefront of efforts to address climate change. It should be us who discover and utilize renewable energy sources and combat wastefulness.

It should be us who learn to live differently, in a far more environmentally sustainable way. But what's being done (i.e. recycling, alternative energy sources) is I fear going to be far too little, too late. And the forces of capitalism and consumerism continue to push people in the opposite direction of sustainability. Sustainability is the opposite of capitalism, which is predicated upon exploitation.

Unfortunately there is no clear, achievable road map for how we should change our lifestyles. People continue to pursue prosperity as a key value in our society, and all the trappings that go with it, like houses much larger than people/families really need and all the stuff that is obtained to live in those houses. And all the comforts like AC.

I fear things will have to get much worse before any concerted effort is made to substantially alter the desired lifestyle. Electric vehicles are one important change, but I think it is going to take about 20 years before they become the norm.

I read an analysis by an environmental economist some years ago who basically said we need to cease our current production and consumption practices now, or it will be too late.

So, back to too little, too late. And future generations will pay for it, not to mention the planet.

 

[MsZem]

My apartment in Haifa, a city that is warmer and more humid than much of the US, only had AC in the living room, and I managed just fine. As a child growing up in Israel AC wasn't nearly as prevalent. We used fans and went swimming.

I wouldn't want to live in Arizona or Hong Kong without AC, but I do feel like in some places people really overdo it.

It is NOT. Every Israeli office, restaurant or store has the AC maybe, at best, to 76 / 24 which is about six degrees too warm for yours truly. (70/ 21 for me.)

I think 22-23 is standard.

Take the train if you want to cool off! I never wear a dress/skirt when traveling by train in Israel, as there is a high likelihood of being turned into a popsicle.

 

[PRlady]

My apartment in Haifa, a city that is warmer and more humid than much of the US, only had AC in the living room, and I managed just fine. As a child growing up in Israel AC wasn't nearly as prevalent. We used fans and went swimming.

I wouldn't want to live in Arizona or Hong Kong without AC, but I do feel like in some places people really overdo it.


I think 22-23 is standard.

Take the train if you want to cool off! I never wear a dress/skirt when traveling by train in Israel, as there is a high likelihood of being turned into a popsicle.

Maybe Jerusalem and Haifa are different? Haifa is so much more humid, as a coastal city, that it wouldn't surprise me if the commercial A/C was set to a lower temp.

And I grew up in Philly, also hot and humid, without an air conditioner in my bedroom until I was 16. It was miserable, I was miserable, and I didn't manage just fine at all.

 

[antmanb]

And I say again come and live in Manchester - the weather's always crap here - it's high teens C (maybe 65F) average in the summer and lows single digits (40F) in the winter with a few spikes of high/low accordingly. The last few winters I think I've had to scrape the car twice maybe three times in the winter, and if you're really lucky you may a get 10/15 days throughout the whole of summer that crack into the mid 20s C (77F).

 

[Veronika]

That being said, I walk from my AC house to my AC car to my AC destination and make no apologies for it. Cooler temps also tend to produce better productivity, and in an area with a large group of people, it's easier to make yourself warmer (blankers, jackets, sweaters) than cooler, as there's only so much you can take off in polite society.

This times 1000!!! I get super cranky and annoyed when I am too hot. If you are a cold person, you can plan accordingly. Many businesses and office buildings in the US are set to 68 or 70 degrees in the summer so men can wear suits and not get sweaty...so until that changes, we are stuck with that.

 

[PRlady]

The U.S. has less than 5% of the world population, yet uses more energy for A/C than the rest of the world combined. There are reasonable things that can be done by people who can't live without it, like keeping the thermostat on 78-82 degrees rather than 68-72 degrees; or not limiting weatherproofing the house to only winter improvements. Since A/C is addictive causing people to become less tolerant of higher temperatures the more it is used, any increase in the thermostat will help with this. People can support less concrete & more green space (including more trees), & smaller houses (phase out McMansions) for new builds in their cities, as well as reflective roofs & pavements.

We only turn on the A/C when the temp hits 92 degrees or higher (& not always then), so maybe a week, max. two each summer. We don't feel like we're suffering, but we live in an area that has a lot of trees & greenery & older homes with porches & sleeping porches & windows built for cross breezes etc.

So it seems we are separating ourselves out - no surprise - but I giggled when I saw who liked this post. FSUers in Michigan, upstate New York, New England plus two Canadians. Meanwhile those of us in Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, Nevada and Israel are clutching our A/C.

The thing is, it's not just how high the temperature gets but how long it lasts. My summer is more than five months long and it really gets wearisome. If I lived in the northern US or Canada with maybe two months to contend with, I'd get through it more easily.

I do think the US could turn the thermostat up a couple of degrees on a lot of offices (not retail, restaurants or factories, or places with delicate equipment.) But air conditioning is essentially what made the Sun Belt possible. It's not going to go away. This is one area where the solution will have to be on the supply, not the demand, side.

 

[el henry]

I can sympathize with @PRlady. I grew up in a non-air conditioned rowhome in Philadelphia. Looking back on it, yikes! You'll get no "I walked barefoot in the snow ten miles uphill barefoot in the snow to school, and why can't these young 'uns suck it up and do the same" from me....

That said, AC in our NE Penna abode has nearly led spousal unit and myself to blows. He likes it frigid. Below 70. All the time. In our house. (And he can't blame it on being used to it as a child either, but that's another story). I'm not *that* in love with AC. I wish it were only that cold in stores

 

[Vagabond]

When I was growing up in the Bay Area, I used to walk to summer school ten miles uphill in dense fog wearing a tee shirt, cutoffs, and sandals.

 

[purple skates]

I'm getting ads for air conditioners on my phone.

 

[MsZem]

I can sympathize with @PRlady. I grew up in a non-air conditioned rowhome in Philadelphia. Looking back on it, yikes! You'll get no "I walked barefoot in the snow ten miles uphill barefoot in the snow to school, and why can't these young 'uns suck it up and do the same" from me....

Well, there has to be something in between "no AC ever" and "let's turn every home, office and mall into a meat locker".

I just saw a Facebook post suggesting that instead of assigning people office space based on work teams, seniority, etc., assign them based on preferred temperature and noise level. Excellent idea!