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General Discussion => Throw Down the Gauntlet => Topic started by: ohyonghao on June 26, 2015, 12:29:08 AM

Title: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: ohyonghao on June 26, 2015, 12:29:08 AM
The forecast for the area is 90+ for the next 10 days with a couple reaching into the 100's, with no end in site.  It has been the warmest winter so far, may be the hottest summer.  We made it through last year, we're fairly sure we'll make it through this year.

Who's with me in the No A/C all Summer 2015 Gauntlet?  My windows are open, my fans are blowing.  Come on Summer, bring it on.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: TheContinentalOp on June 26, 2015, 05:40:32 AM
I am in. I've been no A/C since 2009.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: snogirl on June 26, 2015, 06:59:31 AM
I'm a no AC kind of gal.
So yep count me in.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: Kitsune on June 26, 2015, 07:03:48 AM
Count me in... in that I don't own an AC, and the house we're building has central heating but no AC.

Bonus points: my car doesn't have AC. It does have windows. They go down when needed.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: Mrs.LC on June 26, 2015, 08:04:49 AM
Good luck with your plan during the PNW heatwave. Let us know how it works out!
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: 2Birds1Stone on June 26, 2015, 08:20:54 AM
No AC since 2009 as well here.

Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: Heckler on June 26, 2015, 09:16:28 AM
Our cars have AC but we never use it.  House has 200' fir tree forest shading it and windows. 
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: NotJen on June 26, 2015, 09:34:23 AM
Wish I could, but I live in Alabama with no shade on my house, and we're on day 22 of temps above 90 degrees (and not enough cooling off at night).  I'm just glad I held out through the end of May.

I do remember the days when I first moved here and had "4-60" AC in my car... 4 open windows at 60mph. Wasn't bad until I hit a stoplight.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: Cougar on June 26, 2015, 10:04:01 AM

You guys are all nuts, nuts, nuts !

DYK that 90 degrees is just 14 degrees away from the average high in the sahara desert ?

You people thinking temperature above 90 are manageable are plain crazy !


(And yes, I do intend to take up the mantle of hysterical high temperature resident nut; but then I can head outside at 20 degrees in short sleeves; so I'm nuts to in the opposite direction).  :)


Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: snogirl on June 26, 2015, 10:48:13 AM

You guys are all nuts, nuts, nuts !

DYK that 90 degrees is just 14 degrees away from the average high in the sahara desert ?

You people thinking temperature above 90 are manageable are plain crazy !


(And yes, I do intend to take up the mantle of hysterical high temperature resident nut; but then I can head outside at 20 degrees in short sleeves; so I'm nuts to in the opposite direction).  :)

Yeah I understand :)
I survived a "few" military deployments without AC.
Also did training or was stationed at
Ft. Jackson, Columbia, SC,
Ft. McClellen, Anniston, AL,
Fort McPherson, GA,
a few rotations down in Southcom mostly at Ft. Clayton in Panama, City.
My favorite was Ft. Drum, NY, close to home, the frozen tundra.
I'm a cold weather person though cannot stand artificial cooling.  Fans work for me.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: ohyonghao on June 30, 2015, 03:39:03 PM
So far so good, we have made it through the early heat wave so far.  Sunday was sort of mild and didn't even break 90F.  We're debating on getting one more fan to finish off our cool down process, but so far I've managed to work out how to get the house from 80F when we go to sleep down to 71F downstairs.  Still no thermometer upstairs, but the blocking drapes we got have made a huge difference this year, I barely feel a temperature gradient walking up the stairs anymore.

Weather forecast still shows 90+ for the next 10 days.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: simmias on July 01, 2015, 05:22:33 AM
Do you guys not worry about mold?  Or maybe you live in areas with low humidity?  If I tried no A/C here in the South I'd be paying thousands for mold remediation in the coming months.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: Mrs.LC on July 01, 2015, 06:59:23 AM
We find that since we aren't in air conditioning at work all day long our need for AC is less at home. Also do a better job of closing blinds during the day to keep the sun and opening windows at night to let the cooler air in. We did turn the AC on to make sure it worked and will probably use it occasionally if there is a heat wave. This works for us as we live in Wisconsin - we would absolutely melt living in the south!
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: CmFtns on July 01, 2015, 07:13:12 AM
Do you guys not worry about mold?  Or maybe you live in areas with low humidity?  If I tried no A/C here in the South I'd be paying thousands for mold remediation in the coming months.

damn that humidity... I hate it
otherwise id join in
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: snogirl on July 01, 2015, 07:27:58 AM
Do you guys not worry about mold?  Or maybe you live in areas with low humidity?  If I tried no A/C here in the South I'd be paying thousands for mold remediation in the coming months.

nope never had a problem.
we do have humidity in Vermont & extreme temp fluctuations.
Maybe its the way houses are insulated?
My house is pretty well insulated & done properly due to our temp extremes.
Also I keep my house closed up, shades pulled when I am not home & have canopy (trees) to help shade.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: I'm a red panda on July 01, 2015, 07:33:18 AM
Do you guys not worry about mold?  Or maybe you live in areas with low humidity?  If I tried no A/C here in the South I'd be paying thousands for mold remediation in the coming months.

That's what I was thinking.  It doesn't matter how hot it is, really.  But leaving the AC off all summer would mean I need new drywall/carpeting, etc. 

There is no savings there.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: DecD on July 01, 2015, 07:55:51 AM
I had no a/c installed in my house when I lived in L.A.  And in Indiana, we used it only sparingly- just didn't need it much!

But here in Houston, it's not the temperatures that cause the problems.  It's the 60-80% humidity.  We keep our thermostat set to 79/80 degrees all summer, but it's definitely turned on.  No amount of keeping the blinds drawn and windows open is going to make 95 with 68% humidity comfortable.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: ohyonghao on July 01, 2015, 09:44:51 AM
Sometimes at work I have to put on a light jacket or long sleeve shirt.  I lived in Taiwan for 6 years, gets down to a cold 55F in the dead of winter.  Humidity is always 75-100%, with overnight temps getting down to only the 80's starting in the Spring.  When we used A/C it was generally set to 80F.  Living here I guess it just feels very mild with 58% humidity and large temp swings at night.  Also find that if you don't let yourself get used to it being 68F every time you're inside a building or a car that 80F actually is quite comfortable.  Have yet to have any trouble with mold.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: Mrs.LC on July 01, 2015, 01:44:34 PM
I had no a/c installed in my house when I lived in L.A.  And in Indiana, we used it only sparingly- just didn't need it much!

But here in Houston, it's not the temperatures that cause the problems.  It's the 60-80% humidity.  We keep our thermostat set to 79/80 degrees all summer, but it's definitely turned on.  No amount of keeping the blinds drawn and windows open is going to make 95 with 68% humidity comfortable.
Yikes. Houston sounds miserable in the summer. I have a friend from the north woods that moved there a year ago that is having a rough time with the humidity.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: Amasa on July 10, 2015, 09:08:33 AM
I've been doing this already this summer, and it's my plan to continue doing so, so count me in on this challenge! No really challenging temperatures yet, but we'll see what the rest of the summer has in store.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: ohyonghao on July 10, 2015, 06:23:01 PM
Survived the first heatwave.  Didn't even think of touching the A/C.  We actually had to stop leaving the windows opened now because it got too cold.  Weather has cooled off, looks like 70's-80's next week instead of a nice comfortable 90-100.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: brooklynmoney on July 10, 2015, 06:58:23 PM
I am in. My condo is very well insulated and I leave the blinds closed all day barely ever need it
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: OneDollarAtATime on July 10, 2015, 08:55:24 PM
Did no AC and survived (in Portland).  A few days pushed 85 on the thermostat inside (I can imagine my 3rd floor was pushing 90), but the worst was when it didn't get cool enough at night to get the heat out.  Bring on the next one!
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: RWD on July 10, 2015, 10:12:10 PM
Did no AC and survived (in Portland).  A few days pushed 85 on the thermostat inside (I can imagine my 3rd floor was pushing 90), but the worst was when it didn't get cool enough at night to get the heat out.  Bring on the next one!

I lived in a top floor apartment with no A/C in the Portland area the summer of 2006. The hottest day that summer was 108 degrees... I was extremely unproductive at home that summer.

I'm currently living in Arizona where 100+ days are the norm in the summer, so I am very grateful for A/C.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: Thegoblinchief on July 11, 2015, 06:40:46 AM
We tried it last year. Honestly? We can do it but discovered it's not worth it to us.

Main reason is the sheer humidity build up in the house, particularly the basement, putting a lot of our food storage in unnecessary jeopardy for the sake of a few $ worth of electricity.

I do wait until house temp is well over 80 AND it's going to be hot for more than a single day to turn it on. In my area that means we run it less than 30 days all year.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: wienerdog on July 11, 2015, 01:11:54 PM
I was redoing much of the plumbing in the basement when I lost my job in April.  I have only hooked up the main line and haven't hooked up the geo thermal unit so no AC here this summer in the midwest.  July so far has been pretty cool.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: ohyonghao on July 13, 2015, 01:03:43 AM
We tried it last year. Honestly? We can do it but discovered it's not worth it to us.

Main reason is the sheer humidity build up in the house, particularly the basement, putting a lot of our food storage in unnecessary jeopardy for the sake of a few $ worth of electricity.

I do wait until house temp is well over 80 AND it's going to be hot for more than a single day to turn it on. In my area that means we run it less than 30 days all year.

Haven't really had trouble with humidity inside here, but that's our basic plan.  So far we haven't gotten over 81F on the first floor, and the new curtains on the south side have worked wonders for keeping the second floor decent.  Really missing the warm weather now, I was out on a ride and after climbing 1700ft it was only 60F, made it a little chilly to be standing there at the top, not to mention the  fast ride down.

We checked out the weather a few days before it started cooling off and have actually stopped the cooling plan we had in place in order to keep the house warm!

Also learned that working at night with the garage door all the way open is not a good idea unless we want our garage to be bug central.  Now I'll just open it about a foot, which lets the hot air escape, but doesn't seem to attract bugs inside.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: kite on July 14, 2015, 08:47:18 AM
I only had AC for a year in the late 80s when we rented a place with a window unit.  That's also the only place we lived in with a mold problem. We've lived 20+ years in our current place without it.  We have decent shade, a ridge vent and good window fans.  Neither of us grew up with AC, so we don't miss what we haven't had. 

But I'll admit I as I age, I'm quite tempted.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: ohyonghao on July 24, 2015, 02:19:06 PM
This summer has been disappointing, it's been so mild after that initial heat wave I've had to start wearing long sleeve shirts again :-(
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: Bardo on July 25, 2015, 07:42:30 AM
I'm curious.  Do people who try not to use air conditioning also avoid using heating in the winter?
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: pbkmaine on July 25, 2015, 08:25:58 AM
I live in Florida, so yes, I use A/C. I only had the heat on twice last winter though.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: ohyonghao on July 26, 2015, 01:41:08 PM
I'm curious.  Do people who try not to use air conditioning also avoid using heating in the winter?

We avoid it as much as possible, though of course there are limits.  We only run the heater while at home, set it to 50F between 10pm and 8am, so far it has never turned on at night, and have it set to 65F when we are at home during the day.  My wife being home all day means we basically run it M-F 8am-10pm, but when we go out we turn it off.  We just wear more clothes and use a thicker blanket.  Our first year in the house we added more insulation to the attic, and also insulated the garage door.

Having gas water and furnace only we average about $55/mo throughout the year, going from $20/mo during the summer up to $100/mo in the winter.  We hope to reduce this amount each year by adjusting some of our habits.  This summer we got a blackout curtain which has worked great in regulating the upstairs temperature during the summer.  We'll see how we do during our third winter.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: kite on July 28, 2015, 04:28:17 PM
I'm curious.  Do people who try not to use air conditioning also avoid using heating in the winter?

Yes. 

We had a friendly competition  between siblings as to who could go the longest without turning on the heat (NY/NJ) area.  It was in a mild winter that two of us succeeded in never turning it on.  Not this past year, though.  Much too cold.   We never have it on before November, and most years it's into December before we need heat.  Always have it off by April 1.  It's extreme to some, I'm sure.  But when you're in the habit of extreme frugality, it's hard to switch to being more spendy.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: johnny847 on July 28, 2015, 04:37:37 PM
I just got my dehumidifer, so I'll jump in on this no A/C challenge for the rest of the summer.

While I do live in Atlanta, I live in a basement apartment so it stays cooler. I think the highest temperature I've seen on my thermostat is 81 so far.
Title: Re: No A/C all Summer 2015
Post by: kpd905 on July 28, 2015, 10:31:20 PM
With a fan, it is bearable here.  It is 83 degrees downstairs, not sure about upstairs in the bedroom.