We run our AC almost 24/7 during the summer. It’s a god-send. You can’t open the windows because there is no breeze – just hot, sticky air.
I hate summer.
I have a window fan, the two-fan-reversible kind, in each room. They make a huge difference. If I leave them running even through the heat of the day, it stays at least the same temperature as outside if not a few degrees cooler. I’m on the 4th/top floor with 9.5’ ceilings and ceiling fans in each room - but I find the window fans far more effective for cooling. I use the ceiling fans for when it gets over 85F with humidity, which is when I start to get really unhappy, and I turn on the window units.
My window units are semi-permanently installed. Mounted to pieces of wood that have been fitted between them and the inner slats of the window frames so they fit without any air gaps, then caulked along the sides and bottom. The wood can be painted to match, and the window can still be opened above the a/c unit. There’s a piece of foam along the top of the window where there would otherwise be an air gap, I just have to put it back if I move the window.
I think my physiology has changed as I’ve gotten older (not menopause, nor even male menopause). I now need to have the room about 67 degrees to be able to sleep. Unfortunately, the room where I sleep has no cross-ventilation, even with the door open, so even with the window open and a fan going, the cool night air just doesn’t come in very well. I live in San Francisco, I shouldn’t have to worry about this sort of thing.
We remodeled this space about 4 years ago, and maybe we did too good a job. Before that, I was often too cold because there was no insulation. So now I am thinking about getting one of these installed, because I get miserable lying there trying to sleep and sweating instead.
We have a window unit at our house but we haven’t used it much this summer. We are trying to keep our electric bill as low as possible, so while we do use the AC mostly we use it for an hour or two in the hottest parts of the day. Otherwise we use box fans and we have about a dozen ice packs in the freezer. You would be surprised at just how fast your body cools down if you are sitting in the breeze of the fan with a cold ice pack pressed against the inside of your wrist or on the back of your neck!
I’m outside Chicago in a 2 story 1100 sq. ft. townhouse. I keep my central a/c at 78 during the day, 74 when I’m at home. I also have a portable a/c unit in my bedroom. My electric bill has never been over $75 in the summer. In fact, my Christmas lights use more electricity than the a/c.
I love summer and I love AC. Except for my walk to the train station and to my office in the morning – I hate showing up to work sweaty. But after work and on the weekends, I’m fine with being hot outside and cool inside.
Do you live in an area where you get really cold winters? Just curious because here in the frigid north people tend to take window units out for the winter because even with a cover or some kind of insulation you leak heat through them like crazy. I had a grad school apartment mate from North Carolina who was astonished how much warmer her bedroom was in February after I convinced her to remove the AC unit and put down the storm window.
Yeah, no way am I leaving a window unit installed through a NH winter. It’d be the perfect shelf to collect snow. Which would then turn to ice. Which would then rot my window sill.
I’ve used those units before and they work great.
Just be alert as to where it’s aimed when you install it (if you’re able to pick one wall versus another).
Even the best cool air gets annoying when it’s hitting you and you can’t move away from it.
You could just go out during the days over the weekend. Go wander around a mall and see some movies, or check out a museum or something, or a pool, or visit friends with central air.
Just in case it doesn’t cool off as much at night as you need it to sleep, you may want to install a portable or window unit beforehand, though, rather than lying miserably in bed, sweating,
Our behemoth of a downstairs A/C (30+ years old, wall unit) bit the dust during the first wave of humidity last month. Our house is old, poorly insulated, and retains heat (and cold!) very very very VERY well. However, retention never happens during the season where you need either the most 
My husband NEEDS A/C to exist. He absolutely cannot stand warmth. He breaks into a heavy sweat if he goes outside even for a few minutes. OTOH I couldn’t care less…well, OK, maybe not for a prolonged period of time, but I’m perfectly content with box fans and multiple glasses of ice water.
We now have two window A/Cs and the upstairs wall behemoth in our bedroom. One window A/C is in my husband’s office downstairs just off the dining room. The other is in the front bedroom and will be moved into the living room as soon as the housemates finish moving out.
Downstairs: Husband’s A/C on with door open. All windows closed. Box fan strategically placed to move chilled air from office to living room (it kinda works).
Upstairs: All windows closed. Behemoth A/C off (we only use it at night), window unit on, all doors open. You can feel the change in temperature the minute you ascend the stairs.
Believe me, I’d LOVE to use as little A/C as usual because our electric went up 30% this past winter. This month’s bill is almost $200 :eek: I told my husband about it (I handle the household bills) and he replied, “Well, what else would we be paying during the summer?” :smack:
AC is an absolute necessity for us with summer temps reaching the low 100s and humidity in the 70% range. If either unit isn’t working I’m on the phone getting it repaired asap. We’re not wasteful, all my house is zoned and I’ve got the control units set to where it’s just what we need and just when we need it so for that reason I could care less about the bill… money well-spent!
I grew up on a farm and we never even considered air conditioning. Sometimes I wonder how we all lived with ONE FAN for an entire house. Of course the fan was by the TV.
I hate to use my A/C simply because I over use it. I love, LOVE to turn the A/C so it’s 50 degrees and crawl under the covers and be warm under them. Of course this is a colossal waste of money and energy. So in the end, I wind up using it less than I should.