Airconditioning - a guilty pleasure or a necessity?

[Anonymous]

We keep ours set at 69 but we have a roof full of solar panels so I don't feel guilty. We had the solar panels before we had central air and lived many years in DC without it, so it is definitely doable. But, I am much more comfortable in my house now.

[Anonymous]

My thermometer said 80 but I know upstairs was warmer than that.The basement is def the coolest I think somethings wrong here. I turned it on because it was getting a lil uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

When it is 78 outside I have my AC on. I'd have it on 68 if my wife would let me.

[Anonymous]

To the PP asking about whether we feel safe sleeping with the windows open: We live in a close-in suburb and also have a large dog. Yes, I feel perfectly safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:holy shit -- we keep ours at 70-72. and i don't know a single soul who keeps it any higher. i grew up with it at 68. ours has been on for months (off and on.) who are you people?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Without A/C, you are risking mold growth/build up in your house. Mold carries not only health risks, but it can damage your house. Houses today are built on the assumption that you will use the A/C. Think of it as a really big dehumidifier.

Some health conditions are made worse by heat. A/C is definitely a necessity for those with asthma, MS, etc. I cannot imagine going without it during high pollen counts, when I have to use an inhaler to be outside for more than 2 minutes.

We don't all live in new construction- my house was built in 1925. We don't have a/c. It's fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not much of an A/C user. For those of you who keep the summer thermostat really low, like around 70, what temp do you keep it at in the winter? Way lower, to compensate for the much warmer clothes you're presumably wearing?

I feel like some places are like 72 in the winter and 68 in the summer. This makes me miserable!

71-73 in the summer.
62-64 in the winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I'm wondering where you all live where you feel safe sleeping with your windows open all night long. Especially in your children's rooms. We use AC more than I would need because we can't leave the windows open all the time - especially overnight. And on the weekends when we're in and out all day long, it's really inconvenient to shut up all the windows and turn off all the fans every time we leave. Not to mention that it gets really hot then while we're out and takes a long time to cool down again with the windows open. Maybe out in the burbs where you are at home all day this works, but not so much in the city (i live on Capitol Hill). Also, I find our house gets hot much faster than where I grew up in the suburbs, because we have almost no shade from trees on our house and get full sun instead.

Do you really all feel safe sleeping with windows open????

I live in PG County, right near Eastern Ave and Rhode Island Ave, so very close to NE DC. Its a great community, but some folks on this forum might consider it to be sketchy.

We very rarely use A/C. The first floor windows get closed when we leave the house, or at least closed down to where the lock is engaged, you know, that lock/latch that prevents the window from being opened more then a few inches. The second and third floor windows can get left open.

At night, we sleep with the bedroom windows open and have window fans to bring in the cool night air. The bedrooms are all on the 2nd and 3rd floor. We feel safe.

For all the talk about "is a/c a necessity" I just have to say... Its only been common for 60 years or so. How could it be a necessity? How do you suppose everyone managed before?

[Anonymous]

When I say AC is a necessity i don't mean we'll die without it - I mean its one of my necessities that I'd rather not get rid of.

Even as a kid growing up in CT I could not sleep when it was warm (and we never had AC). Here its even worse.

But, we didn't start running the AC until yesterday afternoon (and its not running now). I'm minimalistic with it up until I feel like we actually need it 24/7.

[Anonymous]

I suspect that some of the difference in how people set their thermostats is related to differences in how cool their houses actually are compared to the thermostats. Our thermostat is set to 78, but it keeps it cooler than that.

[Anonymous]

If I came to dinner at your house and it was 80 degrees inside, I would never come back and probabky make an excuse to leave early. No, I am not fat or obese, I simply run hot and would be beyond uncomfortable. We normally keep our house at 71.

[Anonymous]

absolute necessity ... but we set it on 80 during the day when we're at work and 74 evening/night, on a setback timer w/ 4 diff. cycles per day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without A/C, you are risking mold growth/build up in your house. Mold carries not only health risks, but it can damage your house. Houses today are built on the assumption that you will use the A/C. Think of it as a really big dehumidifier.

Some health conditions are made worse by heat. A/C is definitely a necessity for those with asthma, MS, etc. I cannot imagine going without it during high pollen counts, when I have to use an inhaler to be outside for more than 2 minutes.

We don't all live in new construction- my house was built in 1925. We don't have a/c. It's fine.

PP, how do you sleep on a day like today? It's hell outside and I can't imagine being inside with no airconditioning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without A/C, you are risking mold growth/build up in your house. Mold carries not only health risks, but it can damage your house. Houses today are built on the assumption that you will use the A/C. Think of it as a really big dehumidifier.

Some health conditions are made worse by heat. A/C is definitely a necessity for those with asthma, MS, etc. I cannot imagine going without it during high pollen counts, when I have to use an inhaler to be outside for more than 2 minutes.

We don't all live in new construction- my house was built in 1925. We don't have a/c. It's fine.

PP, how do you sleep on a day like today? It's hell outside and I can't imagine being inside with no airconditioning.

Just have the windows open and ceiling fan on- it is hot but as long as you are not doing anything it's ok. Cool shower right before bed

[Anonymous]

The temperature comfort zone for the human body is not a fixed thing. Our internal thermostats get "set" depending on what type of environment we're in.

I'm not an a/c user, but had to run it constantly a few years back when I had my house in St. Louis on the market in July. After sleeping in a/c for about a week, I also felt like it was needed, as my body was being re-set to this new normal. There is something about sleeping in an air conditioned environment that makes it very hard to feel comfortable in the hot summer weather. A/C is basically addictive.

My family almost never uses our central a/c. And we always sleep with windows open and window fans pulling in the cool night air. Makes summer so much more manageable. We're reasonably comfortable and save tons of money and resources.