Author Topic: Who else is going without air conditioning today?  (Read 28943 times)

Lis

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #50 on: June 17, 2015, 12:49:14 PM »
[Beginning of Rant]

i just want to go on record as a normal person here and state that all you guys going without ac where its hitting 90 are NUTS and if youre sleeping in an 80 degree room, you need help; 80 is beach temperature not sleeping temperature.

room temperature is 72 qnd generally considered the maximum temperature during sleep at my house. if it takes an extra year to become fi because of my ac expemses, i am quite okay with it. hot and sweaty is not an acceptable state of being in a 1st world country.

[End of Rant]

This made me giggle because it's my sentiments most of the time. I really can't stand heat. Now that I'm paying for my own electricity I'm super cautious about turning it on and using it, but I'll probably still use it than most people here. My new apartment came with an AC unit already installed in the living room but not in the bedroom. My badassity will be attempting to live through the summer without it. I figure, worse comes to worse, my futon is pretty damn comfy for a few nights.

Now, turn off my heat in the dead of winter and I'll be fine. Layers, blankets, and warm kitties who love to cuddle and I'm all set. I can't wait to say winter is coming :)

~ Lis from Winterfell

AlwaysLearningToSave

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #51 on: June 17, 2015, 08:04:52 PM »
Humidity is the deciding factor. When I lived in a very hot but low humidity area, going without ac is no big deal. I can easily deal with 100+ degree heat. But now that I live in an area that is not quite as hot but much more humid, the ac is a much bigger necessity. I still use it less than most people, but I will admit my wussipants-ness and say that I will not go without it.

Daisy

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #52 on: June 17, 2015, 09:00:15 PM »
I may have won the no-heat challenge, but no way I can win this one. I live in South Florida.

However, I do use my AC as minimally as I can. Usually just crank it up before going to bed. I leave it at 82 when I leave for work, when I get home I may take it down to 79/80 unless I am doing a lot of housework or cooking - then about 76. Then I put it at 78 to go to bed. Even with that, I sleep under a comforter.

This month's electric bill will be about $40. This is for a 3 bedroom/2 bath condo. External electricity is covered by HOA.

Cressida

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #53 on: June 17, 2015, 09:32:53 PM »
76F in the office feels freezing and I wear a jumper when I go in!

I wish work wasn't so damn cold.
I feel like having cold AC for 40 hours a week holds me back from becoming tolerant of the 80+ degrees in my house.
Maybe I'll get stares and start wearing a coat at work

I put my space heater on at work and I wear a sweater.

Me too. Effing ridiculous.

MEJG

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #54 on: June 18, 2015, 06:02:07 AM »
We have one tiny window unit that we install in master bedroom in the summer.  This year we are not putting it in.  I'm taking it as a challenge to finally get the finished side of the basement clean and organised.  If there is a night we just can't sleep because of the heat the family will camp in the basement.

CmFtns

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #55 on: June 18, 2015, 06:08:30 AM »
76F in the office feels freezing and I wear a jumper when I go in!

I wish work wasn't so damn cold.
I feel like having cold AC for 40 hours a week holds me back from becoming tolerant of the 80+ degrees in my house.
Maybe I'll get stares and start wearing a coat at work

I put my space heater on at work and I wear a sweater.

Me too. Effing ridiculous.

I find my self imagining teleporting the cold air from work into my house... the cold air from my cubicle is still there at night why cant I use it at home.

forummm

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #56 on: June 18, 2015, 06:24:21 AM »
76F in the office feels freezing and I wear a jumper when I go in!

I wish work wasn't so damn cold.
I feel like having cold AC for 40 hours a week holds me back from becoming tolerant of the 80+ degrees in my house.
Maybe I'll get stares and start wearing a coat at work

I put my space heater on at work and I wear a sweater.

Me too. Effing ridiculous.

I find my self imagining teleporting the cold air from work into my house... the cold air from my cubicle is still there at night why cant I use it at home.

I was wishing that there was some way to store heat or cold seasonally. The cold air was everywhere around my house all winter. Why can't I store it and use some of it right now? Seems easier than teleportation right? I guess it's not cost effective.

KisKis

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #57 on: June 18, 2015, 07:35:30 AM »
76F in the office feels freezing and I wear a jumper when I go in!

I wish work wasn't so damn cold.
I feel like having cold AC for 40 hours a week holds me back from becoming tolerant of the 80+ degrees in my house.
Maybe I'll get stares and start wearing a coat at work

I put my space heater on at work and I wear a sweater.

I do the same thing, though I feel constantly guilty about the space heater, as that seems intrinsically wrong to introduce competing temperature control.  I only kick on my space heater on for a couple minutes at a time so that I can defrost my toes.  I also keep a fleece jacket at work.  I wonder if I need to acclimatize myself the opposite way. The coworker with whom I share the office thermostat is adamant that it stay at 70, and even had a lock installed on the programmer box.  (Not because of me!)  It does kill me slowly on the inside when I think about all the electricity wasted on the weekends when no one is in the building. 

Originally from the Northeast and now on the Gulf Coast, I think I have done pretty well getting used to the humidity and heat.  At home, our thermostat is set at 90 during the day just to prevent any humidity/mold problems, and cools to 82 when I get home.  From 10PM to 6AM, we do splurge and have it go to 80 for comfortable sleeping, though I find I still need to use the comforter sometimes as it feels a lot colder when the air is blowing.  I turn off the AC completely if we ever leave the house to run errands.  My husband works all day outside as a boat captain in the 90 degree weather with extremely high humidity, so anything under 84 feels unnecessarily cool to him.  We only use the occasional space heater in the winter.  I grew up with immigrant parents in Massachusetts, so I remember having to crack ice in the toilets sometimes when I was the first one up getting ready for school.  Our winters here only get below freezing temperatures a handful of times, so it's no big deal.  We do have two young kids (6 & 3) who have survived our way of life thus far and don't ever complain about the temperature, despite luxuriating in "normal" A/C conditions all day at my in-laws.  Kids don't care at all if they have a head full of sweat.  I just make sure they have a good bath before bedtime.

The one exception is when we have guests over, and then we do crank it down to 76 because we're just so super generous and considerate like that.  I don't mind scaring away a few friends with our Mustachianism, but I do want my guests to be comfortable. 



david51

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #58 on: June 19, 2015, 11:17:07 PM »
     Hit 88.4 indoors.  Have a tower fan and wall unit a/c and haven't used either so far this year.  Electric bill was 12$

Sibley

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #59 on: June 22, 2015, 11:25:22 AM »
Just need to rant a tad. I have a (overweight) roommate. She grew up in a house that was 72 year round because her mother is so incredibly wimpy. Now, she's heat intolerant and refuses to acclimate (she "can't" adjust to warmer temps). So I sit with a blanket when the A/C is on (set to 75 - my absolute low limit) and she's still warm.

She "can't" sleep without covers, and "can't" sleep if the room is above 75. Granted her room is warmer than others, but WE HAVE A FINISHED BASEMENT! And the living room! for god's sake, go sleep in the basement when it's too warm. But no, she "can't" sleep anywhere except in her own bed.

Ok, thanks for letting me rant. She's a friend of mine, and there are only a few things that bug me about living with her, and this is one of them. Worth it to split the rent and utilities 50/50.

CmFtns

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #60 on: June 22, 2015, 11:37:21 AM »
our thermostat is set at 90 during the day just to prevent any humidity/mold problems, and cools to 82 when I get home.  From 10PM to 6AM, we do splurge and have it go to 80 for comfortable sleeping

...

The one exception is when we have guests over, and then we do crank it down to 76 because we're just so super generous and considerate like that.

This is exactly what I do lol... 90 when I go to work low/mid 80s when I get home and 80 when I got to bed and of course 76 If I have non heat tolerant people over.

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #61 on: June 22, 2015, 11:41:53 AM »
76F in the office feels freezing and I wear a jumper when I go in!

I wish work wasn't so damn cold.
I feel like having cold AC for 40 hours a week holds me back from becoming tolerant of the 80+ degrees in my house.
Maybe I'll get stares and start wearing a coat at work

I put my space heater on at work and I wear a sweater.

Me too. Effing ridiculous.

I find my self imagining teleporting the cold air from work into my house... the cold air from my cubicle is still there at night why cant I use it at home.

I was wishing that there was some way to store heat or cold seasonally. The cold air was everywhere around my house all winter. Why can't I store it and use some of it right now? Seems easier than teleportation right? I guess it's not cost effective.

Ground source heat pumps pretty much do this.

mlejw6

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #62 on: June 22, 2015, 12:50:47 PM »
76F in the office feels freezing and I wear a jumper when I go in!

I wish work wasn't so damn cold.
I feel like having cold AC for 40 hours a week holds me back from becoming tolerant of the 80+ degrees in my house.
Maybe I'll get stares and start wearing a coat at work

I put my space heater on at work and I wear a sweater.

I do the same thing, though I feel constantly guilty about the space heater, as that seems intrinsically wrong to introduce competing temperature control.  I only kick on my space heater on for a couple minutes at a time so that I can defrost my toes.  I also keep a fleece jacket at work.  I wonder if I need to acclimatize myself the opposite way.
 

Yes. I love summer and the heat, but I hate my office because the AC is blasting so high (low?). I wish I had a space heater. I looked for one online, but I know they're not allowed at my office, so I haven't actually gotten one. I just put up with the 70 degree temps with long sleeves and a sweater. I basically wear the same thing all year round in my office. The funny thing is, I can sometimes get away with short sleeves in the winter, but never in the summer. = (


zephyr911

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #63 on: June 22, 2015, 01:15:58 PM »
Well, we made it till June 8th, almost 3 months without heat or AC, and we had some mold problems toward the end. I think we'll need a dehumidifier for the next shoulder-season contest.
For now, breaking 90 every day makes non-HVAC days unlikely for a while. We keep the house at 80 during the day when we're mostly gone, and more like 76-77 when we're home.

Drifterrider

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #64 on: June 23, 2015, 10:55:19 AM »
I can put on a sweater to save on the heating bill but I can only get so nekkid.

When it gets hot, I put on the A/C.  When I made very little money I did without.  That was when I was living in a trailer, in the south, in a field.

I am my most important investment. 

YMMV

Amasa

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #65 on: June 29, 2015, 12:40:43 PM »
We've been running A/C on and off since the beginning of June, but my wife just left town today for a work trip for 5 weeks. My goal while she is gone: no A/C, not once, not even for a minute. I plan on opening the windows on cool nights and pulling the shades during the day.

Wish me luck! We'll see how hot our apartment gets.

zephyr911

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #66 on: June 29, 2015, 02:22:34 PM »
After a brutal week pushing 100 daily, NORAL dipped to the mid-60s this morning. I looked at the forecast - 5 days of highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s - and expect we can get to the weekend with ventilation only. The air almost felt like fall this morning... so I let some in, then closed it up tight. Open windows and box fans at sunset!

MoneyCat

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #67 on: June 29, 2015, 02:25:59 PM »
We've only had the air conditioning on for a few hours so far this year, mostly in the evening to cool down the house to 80 degrees so we could get to sleep and then shut it off again.  When it comes time to run it more continuously in a couple weeks, we'll have saved up plenty from our solar panels to power it for free for the rest of the summer.

zephyr911

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #68 on: June 29, 2015, 02:33:28 PM »
We've only had the air conditioning on for a few hours so far this year, mostly in the evening to cool down the house to 80 degrees so we could get to sleep and then shut it off again.  When it comes time to run it more continuously in a couple weeks, we'll have saved up plenty from our solar panels to power it for free for the rest of the summer.
Are you off grid, or do you mean 'saved up' financially?
I'm awaiting interconnect on a new 3.2kW grid-tied system... its projected output will only cover about half of our average usage to date, but we're planning enough energy upgrades to (hopefully) bring us to net zero by year-end.

johnny847

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #69 on: June 29, 2015, 02:46:37 PM »
Air conditioning doesn't just lower the temperature. It also lowers the humidity.

High humidity and high temperatures age things faster. Particularly things like wood.

That being said, I do not know at what humidity or temperature you can damage things in your house. I wish I knew. Perhaps there is some research out there on the subject, but I haven't looked it up.
Without any data on the matter, I'd probably set the A/C at 85 so long as I acclimate myself to it (my roommate sets the A/C to 69 and I don't pay for utilities. I'm actually cold at 69. But, if I lived by myself and controlled the A/C, I'd try to set it at 85. This may take some acclimating). It's not going to use all that much electricity at that temperature setting.

You can of course get a dehumidifier, but that will raise the temperature in your house.

MoneyCat

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #70 on: June 29, 2015, 03:07:48 PM »
We've only had the air conditioning on for a few hours so far this year, mostly in the evening to cool down the house to 80 degrees so we could get to sleep and then shut it off again.  When it comes time to run it more continuously in a couple weeks, we'll have saved up plenty from our solar panels to power it for free for the rest of the summer.
Are you off grid, or do you mean 'saved up' financially?
I'm awaiting interconnect on a new 3.2kW grid-tied system... its projected output will only cover about half of our average usage to date, but we're planning enough energy upgrades to (hopefully) bring us to net zero by year-end.

New Jersey allows net metering, so we "bank" all the extra electricity we produce with the power company and we can draw from it whenever we need extra power.  Anything left over at the end of the year is credited back to us in cash at a rate of 9 cents per kWh.

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #71 on: June 29, 2015, 03:15:54 PM »
Me! But that's cause we have no a/c. Which is pretty typical around here (Seattle), so it's really not much to brag about. It is unseasonably hot here, but we're doing fine.

Hawk275

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #72 on: June 29, 2015, 06:50:23 PM »
No AC below 100'. My monthly electric about $75. My neighbors all $300+
California foothills

MoneyCat

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #73 on: June 29, 2015, 07:06:47 PM »
[Beginning of Rant]

i just want to go on record as a normal person here and state that all you guys going without ac where its hitting 90 are NUTS and if youre sleeping in an 80 degree room, you need help; 80 is beach temperature not sleeping temperature.

room temperature is 72 qnd generally considered the maximum temperature during sleep at my house. if it takes an extra year to become fi because of my ac expemses, i am quite okay with it. hot and sweaty is not an acceptable state of being in a 1st world country.

[End of Rant]

Just out of curiosity, where are you from?  "80 is beach temperature" sounds like you might be Canadian or Scandinavian.

MMMaybe

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #74 on: June 29, 2015, 11:38:05 PM »
Its 91F today with humidity of 63%. Most often I don't put the AC on during the day. I keep the windows shut, curtains drawn and rooms closed off throughout the house.

What does help is two large standing fans running and my dehumidifier. Its actually a fairly comfortable temp with that but admittedly I don't feel the heat as much as others do. What bothers me is high humidity.

Squirrel away

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #75 on: June 30, 2015, 07:08:49 AM »
I wish I had air conditioning as it's meant to be 95 in London tomorrow.:P

margaretstewart.work

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #76 on: June 30, 2015, 07:53:13 AM »
I have never rented an apartment with A/C- what a luxury! Lots of ways to keep the heat down-- live in a low-rise apartment building, use fans, drink lots of water, take up swimming; cold showers before bed. Make sure to get a good thermometer so you know when to keep your windows open overnight.

Patrick A

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #77 on: June 30, 2015, 08:58:51 AM »
[Beginning of Rant]

i just want to go on record as a normal person here and state that all you guys going without ac where its hitting 90 are NUTS and if youre sleeping in an 80 degree room, you need help; 80 is beach temperature not sleeping temperature.

room temperature is 72 qnd generally considered the maximum temperature during sleep at my house. if it takes an extra year to become fi because of my ac expemses, i am quite okay with it. hot and sweaty is not an acceptable state of being in a 1st world country.

[End of Rant]

Just out of curiosity, where are you from?  "80 is beach temperature" sounds like you might be Canadian or Scandinavian.

I'm definitely on the bandwagon with 80 being beach temperature. 

Also, it is effing hot in the PNW right now.  Boo. 

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #78 on: June 30, 2015, 09:39:17 AM »
[Beginning of Rant]

i just want to go on record as a normal person here and state that all you guys going without ac where its hitting 90 are NUTS and if youre sleeping in an 80 degree room, you need help; 80 is beach temperature not sleeping temperature.

room temperature is 72 qnd generally considered the maximum temperature during sleep at my house. if it takes an extra year to become fi because of my ac expemses, i am quite okay with it. hot and sweaty is not an acceptable state of being in a 1st world country.

[End of Rant]

Just out of curiosity, where are you from?  "80 is beach temperature" sounds like you might be Canadian or Scandinavian.

I'm definitely on the bandwagon with 80 being beach temperature. 

Also, it is effing hot in the PNW right now.  Boo.

+1 to PNW being effin hot right now. And I'm moving in the middle of it all. Ughhhh.

MrsPotts

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #79 on: June 30, 2015, 09:47:26 AM »
Here in the freezing cold PNW we have a two week streak of highs between 103 and 113.  Damn straight my air is on.  77 inside, baby!

Cromacster

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #80 on: June 30, 2015, 10:01:50 AM »
No AC yet this year.  Granted I think the highest temp thus far was 92F.  During the workday I set it to 78F for the dogs sake, though inside my house hasn't reached that temp yet.

Some people have touched on it, the biggest way to get off AC is to spend time outside....spend all day outside doing stuff.

Two related articles from MMM.

The World’s Most Efficient Air-Conditioner

How Not to use your Air Conditioning

Edit:  Just needed to add, installing a ceiling fan above our bed was one the best decisions we've made.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2015, 10:03:45 AM by Cromacster »

MoneyCat

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #81 on: June 30, 2015, 10:42:04 AM »
No AC yet this year.  Granted I think the highest temp thus far was 92F.  During the workday I set it to 78F for the dogs sake, though inside my house hasn't reached that temp yet.

Some people have touched on it, the biggest way to get off AC is to spend time outside....spend all day outside doing stuff.

Two related articles from MMM.

The World’s Most Efficient Air-Conditioner


How Not to use your Air Conditioning

Edit:  Just needed to add, installing a ceiling fan above our bed was one the best decisions we've made.

Good articles to share.  80 degrees F really isn't very hot when you are wearing summer clothes.  And your body really does acclimate to higher temperatures if you let it.  When I went out for my morning errands on my bicycle this morning, I actually felt kind of cold at 72 degrees F.

train_writer

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #82 on: June 30, 2015, 12:02:12 PM »
Where I live, air conditioning is uncommon, though an increasing amount of offices installed AC. This week is ramping up to 97 fahrenheit with humidity >60%. I am curious how it will work out in our office. We are allowed to leave I believe as soon as it is above 82 farenheit inside.

Lucky for my spouse, we have a naturally very cool house.

Squirrel away

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #83 on: June 30, 2015, 12:21:30 PM »
I grew up in a 1930's house and I find my house (1980's) unbelievably warm in comparison. My brother always comments on how warm my house is even without the heating on.

I would sleep with the windows open in winter apart from that fact that my husband grew up in a very small, overly heated house. When I go to visit my MIL I nearly keel over because it seems so hot and airless.:)

nazar

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #84 on: July 06, 2015, 06:49:38 PM »
In the high humidity tropics, AC is a necessary evil to keep mold and mildew at bay, but it doesn't take a 68 degree house to accomplish that.  I keep things around 80 which is more than fine 99.9% of the time.  Unfortunately, AC died this weekend and house is about 88 degrees. Bearable with celling fans is the best I can say for it, but I'm not about to waste money on a hotel room until it is fixed like my co workers suggested.

It does remind me of this little bit from one of my favorite movies...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CasGB8GahZw

forummm

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #85 on: July 07, 2015, 06:23:57 AM »
With my new efficient unit downstairs, I changed the reprogramming to have things be more efficient and use less energy overall. We also have humidity here, so it's good to keep it out of the house or things can have mildew or swelling issues. But the A/C only costs about $50/mo in the summer (we run it about 4 months) to keep it comfortable with how I have it setup. We keep it off completely during high-peak hours.

benjenn

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #86 on: July 07, 2015, 06:35:27 AM »
The best thing about a geothermal heat pump is that you can keep the temperature comfortable (72 in the day, 68 at night) without breaking the bank.  Our electric bill has rarely been more than $100 keeping the house at those temperatures.  I'm so glad because I get mean when I'm hot.  :)

Penny Lane

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #87 on: July 07, 2015, 06:48:07 AM »
No AC either, but northern NE and seabreeze most days.  I don't think it's been over 80 here yet, fine with me as I feel much better in the cold than hot.  My tomatoes will hopefully ripen in August.

MoneyCat

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #88 on: July 07, 2015, 10:47:54 AM »
It's 83F indoors right now and I have the AC set at 84, so it hasn't turned on yet today, but I don't know if that will hold out.  I'm okay hanging out in the basement living room to stay cool, but I have a lot of trouble stomaching above 84F in the rest of the house.  I'm really trying to cut down on electric usage because we didn't do as well as usual this past month with our solar power generation.  There's just been too much rain lately.

MMMaybe

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #89 on: July 07, 2015, 10:35:44 PM »
Me! Rainy season has finally kicked in and the doors and windows are open...

Bardo

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #90 on: July 08, 2015, 05:36:18 AM »
Central Texas here, with highs in the low 90s and lows in the high 70s.  I run the ac to 78 upstairs only in the evening, then set the thermostat back to 88 when I go to bed.  Downstairs I haven't had the ac on in more than two years.  Right now it is 82 inside, but with a fan it is comfortable enough. 

Villanelle

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #91 on: July 08, 2015, 05:50:46 AM »
Yesterday was 97.  Houses here don't have A/C and aren't really built for that kind of heat. No ceiling fans, either.  Even at 97 outside, it was still hotter on my third floor than it was outside.  We were pretty miserable.  Not a lot of sleep until about 3 am when it finally cooled off enough for some relief.  It doesn't help that it has been hot on and off over the last week and we were away and thus unable to open up at night and cool everything off.  Thankfully, today is back in to the 70s, but our forecast for the weekend is back in the 90s.  Even the movie theater here doesn't have A/C, so it is a challenge.

The varied temps are also murder on adaptation.  High of 87 yesterday, low of 46 forecast for Thursday.  Not much we can do though, but yesterday was definitely a "no pants" day around the house. 

Jack

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #92 on: July 08, 2015, 06:49:13 AM »
The last week or so have been actually pretty reasonable here in Atlanta (highs in the mid-80s or so, with humidity). I've been managing to keep my windows open, which is tolerable because I've been wearing very few clothes and sitting at my computer on a mesh chair with a fan aimed at me. I've gotten to the point where I can comfortably tolerate the inside of the house getting up to 86 degrees or so.

Starting today the high is going to be up in the 90s, so I've resorted to AC.

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #93 on: July 08, 2015, 07:40:07 AM »
In the high humidity tropics, AC is a necessary evil to keep mold and mildew at bay, but it doesn't take a 68 degree house to accomplish that.  I keep things around 80 which is more than fine 99.9% of the time. 

We used to keep the house at 82, but now that I'm pregnant it gets to 78 when we sleep. I just can't handle it hotter than that.

Do people really use AC to 68 degrees?  That sounds uncomfortably cold.  (Actually, we set the house to 66 in the winter, and I am covered in fleece, and it is really cold. So add in shorts and t-shirts of the summer- and that sounds horrible.)

Nothlit

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #94 on: July 08, 2015, 07:55:28 AM »
In my 1-bedroom apartment I typically only run the air conditioner during the months of July and August, and it ends up costing me a grand total of about $50-75, which I consider worth it. The rest of the spring/summer/fall I can typically manage temperatures by opening windows and using a fan to draw through cool air at night, but July and August the humidity is just too high to do that comfortably. This is in New England. I do have programmable thermostat on the a/c so it only runs during the hours I'm home.

Jack

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #95 on: July 08, 2015, 08:05:44 AM »
Luckily, I'm working from home for the time being, so I've been able to keep the windows open and avoid A/C. If I were gone during the day I'd have to run it to keep my cat from getting heatstroke.

(Incidentally, what's the maximum humane temperature for an indoor cat?)

Lis

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #96 on: July 08, 2015, 01:20:16 PM »
(Incidentally, what's the maximum humane temperature for an indoor cat?)

Depends on what they're used to. Like humans, cats can get acclimated to the temperature and weather around them. I just moved to a third floor apartment where, obviously, heat rises, so it's a bit warmer than my two cats are used to. You would have thought I put them in the oven and melted them the way they sprawled out and looked at me pityingly. They did, however, get used to it quickly, but I make adjustments as I go. I always leave a fan on to circulate the air. I'd like to keep the kitchen door shut (one less room to cool), but the fuzzy one likes to lay on the linoleum (carpeting elsewhere). I'm guessing it's much cooler down there.

The one thing I like to keep in mind is that I can strip down and sit naked if I need to to cool off, but my boys will always have their fur coats (even if I do trim the fuzzy one in the summer).

Better Change

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #97 on: July 09, 2015, 06:35:34 AM »
Ah, north-central Michigan.  We've only turned on the AC for a couple of hours this year to make sure it's still functioning.  We've had highs in the upper 80s with a decent amount of humidity, but frequent overnight lows in the low- to mid-40s, coupled with stacked concrete block walls, keep our home pretty comfortable in the summer without the AC.

The winter gas bills are another story....

Lady Fordragon

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #98 on: July 09, 2015, 06:50:10 AM »
My husband and I live in SW Ohio and plan on going without AC for the entire summer.  We did it last year with the exception of when we had people over on the hotter days (didn't want to subject them to our no AC challenge).  So far this summer has been pretty nice.  Highs have been at most in the upper 80s with the nights being fairly cool for the most part.  I try to further enforce my body's ability to adapt by not turning on the AC while staying at a hotel during work trips and also driving without AC when I'm by myself.  Overall, it hasn't been so bad mainly because I tend to run a little cooler than most people.

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Re: Who else is going without air conditioning today?
« Reply #99 on: July 09, 2015, 08:13:31 AM »
Question for those in hot and humid climates: do you use dehumidifiers? Bama is humid as shit right now and the humidity is turning out to be more of a problem than the heat itself.

We went for about three months in spring with no heat, no AC (closer to 4 if you exclude a few outlier days), just opening and closing windows as needed, using box fans to move air. At the end of that time, right before we turned on the AC, we noticed that some of our things in less-used areas had grown substantial mold.

We're pretty good at pushing our heat tolerance near 80 and even higher sometimes, but we need our house to not grow mold. I'm talking shoes, leather garments, and a few other things of that nature, just covered in it. We're temporarily using the AC more than comfort alone would require, while we figure out the best solution. I worry a dehumidifier wouldn't be efficient or effective during passive heating/cooling periods since I'm just washing the house in humid outside air at the same time.

Any ideas appreciated.