I have allergies, so opening windows sometimes creates misery; also, if it gets too warm and humid inside, it doesn’t take much extra mold to get the indoor allergies going.
AC is set to go off if it hits 79; heat comes on if it gets below 65-69 (depends on the part of the cool season). I try to keep the difference between outdoors and indoors as small as possible. I HATE icebox level cooling.
This is the first house I’ve lived in with central air. The summer we moved here was REALLY REALLY hot. I spent a couple of nights on the floor here because my third-floor bedroom at the old place was just too uncomfortable, despite the strategically-placed fans.
Central air is pretty standard where I live; with temps in the summer in the upper 80s and 90s (last August we had only one day under 90 and six days over 100) I don’t think I could survive without it. I try not to set mine too low and to use the ceiling fans to keep the air circulating. The house I’m buying doesn’t have overhead fixtures in any of the rooms, and after the closing I’m having it wired for them so I can install ceiling fans.
It does sometimes get hot here. But I have some nice trees and that helps.
Maybe 10 days a year and I set it at 85+ (enough to take the edge off)
Brian
Washington, DC: winters like New York; summers like New Orleans.
I grew up in the far southern suburbs of Chicago, the far northern suburbs of NYC, and the western suburbs of New Orleans. We had no central AC and made do with fans until we got to New Orleans. My first apartment, in the DC area, had an ancient window unit that hardly did anything so I bought a new unit and put it in the bedroom, with a box fan set in the bedroom doorway to help circulate the cool air when I wasn’t in the bedroom. Nowadays, I’m in a ~1000’² condo apartment that takes up half of one floor. Four windows in front with two windows and a sliding glass door in back allow for a nice cross breeze. We generally don’t turn on the AC until outside highs hit 85° and stay there. To keep the electric bill even more manageable, we’re on a budget billing plan.
I avoid turning on the air as long as possible, and I open the windows whenever I can, but it gets oppressively humid here, as well as hot. I can tolerate more than my husband can, but I’m not going to make him suffer when relief is a button away. We do keep the ceiling fans running, so we don’t have to set the temp too low (it’s usually 78-80.)
At work, they set it so doggone cold, I have to wear a jacket in the office.
Heck yes, I use the AC. We put in the central air about three years ago. This replaced an old wall unit that only cooled the lower level of the house. Thing is, the lower level stays pretty tolerable even without AC–it’s the upper level which becomes unbearable. Before we could afford to put in the central air, we put a futon in the family room downstairs so that we could sleep in the summer. The people who lived here before didn’t have a garage door opener, either. I think they were just gluttons for punishment.
I leave the AC at 80 degrees. I want it to be tolerable, not a refrigerator. Central air is cheaper than a cabin at the lake up north, which is how many people dealt with no AC in the past. We’re not even close to needing it now. The switch on our thermostat still says “heat”.
I grew up without AC in Montana…the lack of humidity makes a big difference, and I think there were summers where it didn’t even reach 90. Usually rather cool at night, too.
No, and I’m in the Caribbean. I live in a second floor apartment with very good cross-breezes, so fans are enough, and much healthier (not to mention cheaper and less power consuming).
In the car though, I would find it very difficult to do without a/c.