Who else is going without air conditioning today?

[zephyr911]

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....

Sounds like you need more insulation. I suggest bacon cheeseburgers.

[Villanelle]

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.

When I lived in Japan (hot and humid), I did run the A/C, but they are wall units, not central, and many areas didn't have a unit in them.

I bought giant desiccants at a home store and tucked them in closets and corners that didn't get much circulation.  Worked like a charm.  They were purchased at a Japanese home store, but I'd guess you can find something similar in the US (or wherever you are).  There were different kinds.  Some you tossed when they had a puddle of water sitting in them (meaning they'd soaked up all they could) and others you actually put in the oven to dry out, and then could reuse.  We had the latter because it's what I found when I first went looking.

I had a dehumidifier, but it let off so much heat that I couldn't bring myself to use it when it was hot, and the desiccants worked just fine. 

[Rural]

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.

We try to dehumidify with the AC because the dehumidifier just puts off so much heat, but every now and again things start smelling musty in a closet or the man cave and it's time to pull out the dehumidifier again. You need to stay on top of that in the spring; it's harder to rehab items with mold than too keep it away. You can't save the leather if the mold is deeper than the surface, I'm sorry to say.


Get a thermometer with humidity gauge and try to keep the indoor humidity at 70% or lower, definitely not more than 75%.


Neither the AC nor the dehumidifier will do any good if you open windows at night once the outdoor humidity rises to the point it stays around 80 or higher. You need to close it up around the first of May and stay that way most of the summer. Welcome to the South.


On rare low-humidity days, the sky turns a brilliant blue you will have forgotten it can get. Open then. In October, the sky stays that color all month.

[johnny847]

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.

When I lived in Japan (hot and humid), I did run the A/C, but they are wall units, not central, and many areas didn't have a unit in them.

I bought giant desiccants at a home store and tucked them in closets and corners that didn't get much circulation.  Worked like a charm.  They were purchased at a Japanese home store, but I'd guess you can find something similar in the US (or wherever you are).  There were different kinds.  Some you tossed when they had a puddle of water sitting in them (meaning they'd soaked up all they could) and others you actually put in the oven to dry out, and then could reuse.  We had the latter because it's what I found when I first went looking.

I had a dehumidifier, but it let off so much heat that I couldn't bring myself to use it when it was hot, and the desiccants worked just fine.

I'm a little confused by the kind that you let saturate and then put in the oven to dry out.

When you put it into the oven to dry out, you're boiling off the water vapor, yes? Meaning it just goes back into the air...so your humidity hasn't actually changed.

Am I missing something here?

[Jack]

I'm a little confused by the kind that you let saturate and then put in the oven to dry out.

When you put it into the oven to dry out, you're boiling off the water vapor, yes? Meaning it just goes back into the air...so your humidity hasn't actually changed.

Am I missing something here?

• You do that after the humid season ends.
• If you were careful, you could probably try them out with an outdoor grill, too.
• Properly-installed ranges have fume hoods that vent outside, so if you used the fan you might avoid re-humidifying the house.

[johnny847]

I'm a little confused by the kind that you let saturate and then put in the oven to dry out.

When you put it into the oven to dry out, you're boiling off the water vapor, yes? Meaning it just goes back into the air...so your humidity hasn't actually changed.

Am I missing something here?

• You do that after the humid season ends.
• If you were careful, you could probably try them out with an outdoor grill, too.
• Properly-installed ranges have fume hoods that vent outside, so if you used the fan you might avoid re-humidifying the house.

You speak as if you have done this before. Do you have an idea of how much desiccant it takes to do this for an entire Atlanta summer for option #1? I live in Atlanta as you do (assuming your location in your profile is up to date).

[Daisy]

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.

I've lived in hot and humid Florida my whole life and have never had a dehumidifier. I've never had mold issues. But then, I never open the windows in the summer. I've never felt the need for a dehumidifier.

[Villanelle]

I'm a little confused by the kind that you let saturate and then put in the oven to dry out.

When you put it into the oven to dry out, you're boiling off the water vapor, yes? Meaning it just goes back into the air...so your humidity hasn't actually changed.

Am I missing something here?

• You do that after the humid season ends.
• If you were careful, you could probably try them out with an outdoor grill, too.
• Properly-installed ranges have fume hoods that vent outside, so if you used the fan you might avoid re-humidifying the house.

You speak as if you have done this before. Do you have an idea of how much desiccant it takes to do this for an entire Atlanta summer for option #1? I live in Atlanta as you do (assuming your location in your profile is up to date).

I think the point is that they are sucking moisture out of areas where you don't use any A/C at all and where there is little air circulation.  When you cook them dry, you are doing that in a kitchen that likely has better air circulation and may have some A/C used.  Or, as mentioned, you cook them dry during the cooler seasons.  The disposable ones were pretty cheap, however, so that might be a better option.

As for how many you need, that will depend on how many areas you are drying, and how much A/C you use.  I had them in a couple rooms with no A/C at all, and in the back of a large storage closet.  One desiccant, about the size of a softball I suppose, easily lasted an entire humid Japanese summer. I did use A/C in our living room and master bedroom, and had no desiccants in those areas. 

[Cougar]

 i just went 3 days without air conditioning !

 (but that's because i was in breckenridge colorado and the high was 70)

 i'll be back on a/c in Houston this week as its going to hit 100 with 90% humidity in the morning.

[johnny847]

I'm a little confused by the kind that you let saturate and then put in the oven to dry out.

When you put it into the oven to dry out, you're boiling off the water vapor, yes? Meaning it just goes back into the air...so your humidity hasn't actually changed.

Am I missing something here?

• You do that after the humid season ends.
• If you were careful, you could probably try them out with an outdoor grill, too.
• Properly-installed ranges have fume hoods that vent outside, so if you used the fan you might avoid re-humidifying the house.

You speak as if you have done this before. Do you have an idea of how much desiccant it takes to do this for an entire Atlanta summer for option #1? I live in Atlanta as you do (assuming your location in your profile is up to date).

I think the point is that they are sucking moisture out of areas where you don't use any A/C at all and where there is little air circulation.  When you cook them dry, you are doing that in a kitchen that likely has better air circulation and may have some A/C used.  Or, as mentioned, you cook them dry during the cooler seasons.  The disposable ones were pretty cheap, however, so that might be a better option.

As for how many you need, that will depend on how many areas you are drying, and how much A/C you use.  I had them in a couple rooms with no A/C at all, and in the back of a large storage closet.  One desiccant, about the size of a softball I suppose, easily lasted an entire humid Japanese summer. I did use A/C in our living room and master bedroom, and had no desiccants in those areas.

Yes I realize that the amount of dessicants required depends on the area I'm trying to dehumidify, my use of AC, etc. That's obvious. I was hoping Jack could provide that information so that I could extrapolate to my situation.

[Jack]

I'm a little confused by the kind that you let saturate and then put in the oven to dry out.

When you put it into the oven to dry out, you're boiling off the water vapor, yes? Meaning it just goes back into the air...so your humidity hasn't actually changed.

Am I missing something here?

• You do that after the humid season ends.
• If you were careful, you could probably try them out with an outdoor grill, too.
• Properly-installed ranges have fume hoods that vent outside, so if you used the fan you might avoid re-humidifying the house.

You speak as if you have done this before. Do you have an idea of how much desiccant it takes to do this for an entire Atlanta summer for option #1? I live in Atlanta as you do (assuming your location in your profile is up to date).

I think the point is that they are sucking moisture out of areas where you don't use any A/C at all and where there is little air circulation.  When you cook them dry, you are doing that in a kitchen that likely has better air circulation and may have some A/C used.  Or, as mentioned, you cook them dry during the cooler seasons.  The disposable ones were pretty cheap, however, so that might be a better option.

As for how many you need, that will depend on how many areas you are drying, and how much A/C you use.  I had them in a couple rooms with no A/C at all, and in the back of a large storage closet.  One desiccant, about the size of a softball I suppose, easily lasted an entire humid Japanese summer. I did use A/C in our living room and master bedroom, and had no desiccants in those areas.

Yes I realize that the amount of dessicants required depends on the area I'm trying to dehumidify, my use of AC, etc. That's obvious. I was hoping Jack could provide that information so that I could extrapolate to my situation.

Sorry, I haven't actually tried it and have no idea how much dessicant you'd need.

[freeedom]

I haven't turned mine on yet. I have dual zone and last year i fired up both zones and the upstairs unit was broken. I don't really care, lol. Once you adjust to the heat it's honestly fine.

[Lady Fordragon]

I haven't turned mine on yet. I have dual zone and last year i fired up both zones and the upstairs unit was broken. I don't really care, lol. Once you adjust to the heat it's honestly fine.

Totally agree with you, freeedom.  My husband and I haven't turned on ours at all this summer and only turned it on when we had guests over last summer.

[lifeinhd]

I rent a room in a house, so annoying I can't go without AC. I fucking love hot temperatures, but this family keeps the AC at 72 so I'm always freezing. I actually have to use a space heater in the morning or I'd never want to get out of bed.

On the plus side, it encourages me to go outside more than I would otherwise, where it's nice and warm.

[Villanelle]

The heat and humidity is getting to me.  If we had A/C, it would be on.  Why Germans don't do ceiling fans is beyond me. 

Lots of cold water, lots of breaks as we work around the house, and I'm keeping my hair wet.  Not much else we can do. 

[Cougar]

The heat and humidity is getting to me.  If we had A/C, it would be on.  Why Germans don't do ceiling fans is beyond me. 

Lots of cold water, lots of breaks as we work around the house, and I'm keeping my hair wet.  Not much else we can do.

you could try a dehumidifier but my experience from having one is they really cant do more than one room and unless you have great seals on the windows and good insulation its not going to help much; but it'll drop one rooms humidity by 10 percent.

[Villanelle]

The heat and humidity is getting to me.  If we had A/C, it would be on.  Why Germans don't do ceiling fans is beyond me. 

Lots of cold water, lots of breaks as we work around the house, and I'm keeping my hair wet.  Not much else we can do.

you could try a dehumidifier but my experience from having one is they really cant do more than one room and unless you have great seals on the windows and good insulation its not going to help much; but it'll drop one rooms humidity by 10 percent.

I had a dehumidifier when we lived in Japan and found that it generated so much heat that it was, at best, a wash.  We are only here (in Germany) another 2 months, so I'm not going to buy anything that I can't use elsewhere (220 vs 110v).  But even having one room to which I could retreat, and being able to sleep at night, would be huge. 

But since there doesn't seem to be a reasonable solution, I'll have to tough it out.  I'll volunteer extra hours at the library tomorrow as that is one of the few places that has A/C.

[bsmith]

It's 100 here today, and we have it set on 86. We'll crank it down to 76 to sleep.

[johnny847]

I rent a room in a house, so annoying I can't go without AC. I fucking love hot temperatures, but this family keeps the AC at 72 so I'm always freezing. I actually have to use a space heater in the morning or I'd never want to get out of bed.

On the plus side, it encourages me to go outside more than I would otherwise, where it's nice and warm.

You can't close the vent in your room?

[dess1313]

I considered making it through May/June as an accomplishment with no AC!

For July august i'm not crazy, i do shift work and need to be able to sleep through the hot parts of the day so AC is necessary to my job sanity.  But i'm not keeping it as cool as i have other years, and with that and the new LED bulbs i'm already seeing a savings in my Electricity bill.  It does cool down at night a little but not as much as some other places do.  so the window open/shut with me doesn't work well.  I used to always run a dehumidifier though, sometimes the AC doesn't run a lot in the spring/fall/cool weeks and i find the moisture builds up even though i'm not in a crazy humid climate.  winter is usually fine though its too dry sometimes

[Rosy]

Living in Florida, there is no way I'd do without AC - period. Ain't happenin'.
I refuse to be miserable and hot and sticky - even my brain overheats and I feel like I'm going to ex - or maybe implode. I'm from Europe and I have a really tough time with the climate turning into an inferno in the summer time.

My max tolerance is 76 degrees and sometimes even that has to go down to 72 degrees for a while. I live for the days when the temps are tolerable in the spring and we don't need AC at all.
I hate AC - the noise intrudes even in your sleep and don't even try to tell me all those pipes in the attic don't have mold and who knows what - it's nasty business. Give me the clean air of a real forest anytime.

The humidity is the worst - imagine stepping outside and everything has a layer of moisture/water on it (in the early morning) two hours later you could fry an egg outside.

[Tris Prior]

It finally got hot and humid here in Chicago. I actually love it. Our elderly cat does not; she was visibly suffering (and runs in terror from fans! Freak!). So, the window unit finally went in on Friday.

If it were up to me I would do without AC unless it got over 100.

Now, if my work would just stop cranking it up. One of the managers is having hot flashes - and I know that's got to suck, but it means I want to sit at my desk in my coat.

[HenryDavid]

Living part time in southern France. AC? What AC?
It's been in the "90s" (or high 30s in real money) for a month.
Close shutters during daylight. Open shutters after sunset for cool-ish breeze.
Spend indoor time in stone-walled main floor, always stays cool.

Outside, wear hat. Swim in lake. Dump cold mountain-spring fed river water over head. (Or lie down in river if you can handle it.)
On long bike rides, immerse head in village fountains whenever one appears.
Repeat.

It's worked down here for hundreds of years . . ..