Author Topic: It's a 57 degree night in Chicago, I'm outside, and hear people running ACs  (Read 10477 times)

berns

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How much cooler do you need your apartment? I can literally see dollar bills spewing out of them. Oh well.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2013, 09:44:36 PM by berns »

Kamikaze Emu

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I find it crazy as well.  From a money perspective as well as from a general life perspective. 

It is like the heat or the a/c must be on at all times, windows and doors always closed.  Living in a little box at all times.  You walk outside your box to get into another smaller box to take you to the other box you spend a lot of time at.  People just living in boxes all the time.  Never free, never outside. 

I don't know how people live like that, it would drive me crazy living in a cage all the time.

I love having the windows open in the house whenever possible, I drive with my windows down in the car, and my main hobbies revolve around being outside.  We evolved hand in hand with nature, we are a product of our environment.  It is no wonder people find themselves in need of such volumes of medication when they cut themselves off from the environment that made them what they are today.


Megatron

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my fiancé likes to sleep a little bit cool but then she put on a blanket because she likes to be cozy/snuggy, so she makes me put on the ac. wtf. how do i go about breaking that antimustachian habit?

lisahi

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my fiancé likes to sleep a little bit cool but then she put on a blanket because she likes to be cozy/snuggy, so she makes me put on the ac. wtf. how do i go about breaking that antimustachian habit?

There is actual sleep science behind that. The optimal temperature for sleep is around 60 to 68 degrees F (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/health/04real.html?_r=0). Warming your hands and feet while sleeping in a colder climate also assists in the sleep process.

NumberCruncher

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my fiancé likes to sleep a little bit cool but then she put on a blanket because she likes to be cozy/snuggy, so she makes me put on the ac. wtf. how do i go about breaking that antimustachian habit?

thinner blankets?

Norman Johnson

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You can damage your AC if you run it below 15C (59F).

That being said, I can see it being hot and stuffy in an appartment well into the night if you can't get a breeze. I'd rather bleed a few dollar bills then make someone else bleed due to the crankiness I get from not sleeping mulitple nights in a row. :P

netskyblue

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You can damage your AC if you run it below 15C (59F).

That being said, I can see it being hot and stuffy in an appartment well into the night if you can't get a breeze. I'd rather bleed a few dollar bills then make someone else bleed due to the crankiness I get from not sleeping mulitple nights in a row. :P

Not an attack on you, but... They do have this wild invention called a fan :)  Some of them even oscillate!

We try to keep the windows open as long as we can, but when it gets to be late summer, and it's 90-100 every day with superhigh humidity, sadly the AC has to go on.  We try to keep it fairly high, though.  *I* like 78-80, BF prefers a little cooler, though.

I hate going out to run errands in summer, and the stores are in the 60's.  That's just COLD!

chicagomeg

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I live in Chicago & I don't even own an AC. It's so rare that it gets hot enough here to need one, especially at night. People are absurd.

JR

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This sounds like the people I know who set their heat to 75 in the winter and AC to 68 in the summer. Why is 75 okay in the winter but not in the summer? I guess they need a dehumidifier.

Norman Johnson

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You can damage your AC if you run it below 15C (59F).

That being said, I can see it being hot and stuffy in an appartment well into the night if you can't get a breeze. I'd rather bleed a few dollar bills then make someone else bleed due to the crankiness I get from not sleeping mulitple nights in a row. :P

Not an attack on you, but... They do have this wild invention called a fan :)  Some of them even oscillate!

We try to keep the windows open as long as we can, but when it gets to be late summer, and it's 90-100 every day with superhigh humidity, sadly the AC has to go on.  We try to keep it fairly high, though.  *I* like 78-80, BF prefers a little cooler, though.

I hate going out to run errands in summer, and the stores are in the 60's.  That's just COLD!

Ha, ha! No worries! We tried a fan, and it didn't work for me. (I can't sleep through the noise.) We are okay with the AC usage. I know most here would consider it excessive, but it's the only way to keep our little old house liveable. Still cheaper then buying a new house!

BlueMR2

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You can damage your AC if you run it below 15C (59F).

True story.  However, they do have fan modifications available to allow them to run at low temps.

Our office building is an example of how ridiculous it can get.  We've had bright sunny days when it's 30 degrees (F) out and we have to run the A/C because it gets so hot inside.  The server room is even worse, we have to run that AC year round, no matter what the outside temperature is.  Burned up a few AC units before we got modified ones installed.

Rollin

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my fiancé likes to sleep a little bit cool but then she put on a blanket because she likes to be cozy/snuggy, so she makes me put on the ac. wtf. how do i go about breaking that antimustachian habit?

You are talking about a few dollars in trade for your partner's comfort.  Worth it in my book.  If you are constantly trying to save $10/month (i.e., a couple of degrees on the A/C at night) while your SO is uncomfortable you may be trying to save in the wrong place.

I find it crazy as well.  From a money perspective as well as from a general life perspective. 

It is like the heat or the a/c must be on at all times, windows and doors always closed.  Living in a little box at all times.  You walk outside your box to get into another smaller box to take you to the other box you spend a lot of time at.  People just living in boxes all the time.  Never free, never outside. 

I don't know how people live like that, it would drive me crazy living in a cage all the time.

I love having the windows open in the house whenever possible, I drive with my windows down in the car, and my main hobbies revolve around being outside.  We evolved hand in hand with nature, we are a product of our environment.  It is no wonder people find themselves in need of such volumes of medication when they cut themselves off from the environment that made them what they are today.

I agree.  See my signature line.  Whenever possible...VVV

Jamesqf

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Our office building is an example of how ridiculous it can get.  We've had bright sunny days when it's 30 degrees (F) out and we have to run the A/C because it gets so hot inside.

All those people & machines do generate a lot of heat, though a lot of newer systems are smart enough just to use cold outside air.

But the cooling is often overdone.  I remember one Silicon Valley company I worked for, where I had to keep sweaters & a fleece jacket in the office to wear in the summer, because it was cooled t the mid-60s and my body was nicely acclimated to the (fairly moderate) outdoor temps.

Norman Johnson

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You are talking about a few dollars in trade for your partner's comfort.  Worth it in my book.  If you are constantly trying to save $10/month (i.e., a couple of degrees on the A/C at night) while your SO is uncomfortable you may be trying to save in the wrong place.

Agreed! $10 a month is cheaper then a divorce!

grantmeaname

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my fiancé likes to sleep a little bit cool but then she put on a blanket because she likes to be cozy/snuggy, so she makes me put on the ac. wtf. how do i go about breaking that antimustachian habit?
I'm the same way. Here's the mustachian way to make your house colder at night: open the window.
« Last Edit: June 11, 2013, 02:24:31 PM by grantmeaname »

dragoncar

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They could be heat pumps or just fans right?

madmax

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my fiancé likes to sleep a little bit cool but then she put on a blanket because she likes to be cozy/snuggy, so she makes me put on the ac. wtf. how do i go about breaking that antimustachian habit?
I'm the same way. Here's the mustachian way to make your house colder at night: open the window.

Unless you live in a noisy neighborhood, last time I tried this I woke up at 5:00 AM because of a truck backing up in the supermarket parking lot next door :(

anotherAlias

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I used to think people like that were nuts too until I  moved into my current apartment.  When I owned my old house, I would open my windows and use fans when it got into the 60s or lower.  If it was hot when I went to bed (I go to bed early) and saw that it was supposed to cool down dramatically later, I would set the timer on my AC to turn off a few hours after I went to bed. 

My current apartment is a whole different situation.  I'm on the third floor and it is almost always hot.  This winter I didn't have to turn the heat on until it dropped below 30F.   I started opening my windows at the end of January.  Last week I left work and it was absolutely gorgeous out...low 70s no humidity.  I came home and my apartment was in the 80s.  I opened the windows and got the fans going and couldn't get it below 77.  So I've been using my AC alot more than I'm used to.  Sadly this one doesn't have a timer on it either so it either stays on or off all night.

sheepstache

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This sounds like the people I know who set their heat to 75 in the winter and AC to 68 in the summer. Why is 75 okay in the winter but not in the summer? I guess they need a dehumidifier.

Yes!  This is my MIL!  She does live in Louisiana, so...

It depends what your background is and a city population tends to have diverse backgrounds.  I once lived in an apartment with one roommate from the Netherlands and one from Nashville.  Turns out that, being from the midatlantic, I was the only one who knew the usual tips about how to keep your home cool.  Opening the windows at night, closing the shades in sunny rooms during the day, etc.  In the Netherlands it never gets too hot for them to worry about it and in Nashville it gets so hot that most people find an air conditioner a necessity and, I guess, just swallow the cost without thinking about how to cut down on usage during the shoulder season.
The power company here has ads running about how to improve your energy efficiency with stuff like this which is cool.

netskyblue

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Ha, I'm just the opposite.  I like it 80 year-round, which gets kind of expensive in an Iowa winter.  I'm literally shivering and reaching for a sweatshirt when it's 77 degrees in the house.  In summer.  In the winter, I'm about convinced I'm going to freeze where I stand if it gets into the low 70s.

lisahi

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If only opening a window would help me. It's 85 degrees or hotter at night outside. Humid, too. Cools down to the upper 70s around 5am or so. During the day it's 100 to 105 degrees. Highs in the summer get to around 112. "Summer" lasts from March to September.

I keep my AC at 78 degrees and use overhead fans. Luckily, they're quiet overhead fans. And my house is newer and well insulated, so that helps. Regardless, my electricity bill is around $97 this past month, up $10 from last month. If the AC is set at anything under 78, it's on most of the time.

Flynlow

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They could be heat pumps or just fans right?

This.  You guys know heat pumps use the A/C circuit too, right?

MrsStubble

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I live near Philly and although it gets humid here in the summer, it's pretty nice most of the spring - fall so you can just use ceiling fans and open windows for most of the year.  That being said though, my neighbor runs his a/c almost all year long and never opens his windows - something that amazing me and my husband daily.

ozzage

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You are talking about a few dollars in trade for your partner's comfort.  Worth it in my book.  If you are constantly trying to save $10/month (i.e., a couple of degrees on the A/C at night) while your SO is uncomfortable you may be trying to save in the wrong place.

Honestly, really? Personally I find it completely screwed up and my partner would rightly boot me in the arse if I wanted to do something that stupid.

WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY!

We all survived perfectly well before AC became the norm, and while I also like AC when it's hot don't you think we're a tiny bit addicted if we want to turn it on and then use a blanket?!?! It's like needing the heating on in spring because you want to talk around in the house in a t-shirt. Honestly, just put something warmer on and don't be so bloody precious and decadent!

mushroom

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You are talking about a few dollars in trade for your partner's comfort.  Worth it in my book.  If you are constantly trying to save $10/month (i.e., a couple of degrees on the A/C at night) while your SO is uncomfortable you may be trying to save in the wrong place.

Honestly, really? Personally I find it completely screwed up and my partner would rightly boot me in the arse if I wanted to do something that stupid.

WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY!

We all survived perfectly well before AC became the norm, and while I also like AC when it's hot don't you think we're a tiny bit addicted if we want to turn it on and then use a blanket?!?! It's like needing the heating on in spring because you want to talk around in the house in a t-shirt. Honestly, just put something warmer on and don't be so bloody precious and decadent!

My husband prefers a very narrow range of temperatures to sleep and has some difficulty sleeping in general, so it can become a source of tension when it's either hot or cold. That being said, he cuts his own hair, walks a couple miles rather than take the bus, never buys electronic gadgets, etc. I've tried the adjustment argument on him, only for him to spend several nights in a row unable to sleep well, affecting his job performance, so I've kind of given up on this. He's still a great husband and I do want to keep him around :).

Oh, and we live in Chicago, too and wouldn't run the AC at 57, but we do find that temps at which we would normally open the windows instead of running the AC at night are affected by us living on a very noisy street corner across from a 24/7 restaurant and where teenagers skateboard on the sidewalks. We generally open the windows during the day, but we then get a weird gray dust that settles on our floors and turns our feet black after a day. We don't live in the best neighborhood, but at least our rent is less than half what it was in Lincoln Park, so I do feel somewhat ok running the AC more than we did there.

ozzage

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I didn't say don't run your AC, I said don't run it and then put a blanket on :)

Mozactly

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Growing up, on the really hot humid nights, we would turn the AC on in my mom's room and have giant slumber parties (4 kids in sleeping bags) in the one room.

Now I realize my mom was being smart - opting NOT to run five ACs in all of our rooms. But at the time it just seemed fun!

My husband and I just use a window fan now. It seems to be enough. Some nights are quite humid, but we always survive.

BlueMR2

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We've had our A/C on (and set to 78) while it was in the 80's over here.  Got down to 74 the other day, so we opened the windows to let the cool air in.  It may have been cooler, but the humidity outside is killer.  We toughed it out, but it's no fun being in soaking wet (with our own sweat) clothing!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!