Good for you, sven. I, however, happen to LIKE the effects of AC, and I’m going to continue to use it.
I’d also like to know if your philosophy extends to central heat in the winter.
ETA: I wasn’t saying that having AC automatically meant heat stroke. Just that the heat CAN be just as bad as cold weather.
You seem to be taking this a little personally, Guinastasia. As far as I can tell, nobody is saying that you should stop using air conditioning. They’re just explaining how many, many people get along just fine without it.
This is a really good point. It seems like buildings should be designed to fit within their natural environment. A house in Arizona shouldn’t look the same as a house in New York.
I never remember being without AC, from the time I was a wee kid. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that my dad was in the HVAC business (I still remember the sight of him and several other guys hoisting this giant AC unit up on our roof when I was little). I got used to it, and really don’t like being without it now. The first thing I insisted on when the spouse and I moved into our house was that we had to have AC installed (and he had no problem with that–he doesn’t like sweltering either). Yeah, our electric bills get a bit high in the summer, but to both of us it’s a justifiable expense.
As far as I know, my parents (in their mid 70s now) are the same way–though I still remember my mom’s weird habit of running the AC during the day when it was hot and then shutting it off in the early evening (when it was still warm outside) and opening windows. She couldn’t seem to get the idea that it stayed cooler in the house if you leave the windows shut, at least until it cools off outside.
As an aside, neither I nor the spouse likes too much heat. Our friends have gotten used to wearing their jackets in the house when they come to visit us in the winter (actually we’re happy to turn the heat on for them–it’s gotten to be a bit of an in-joke with one of them) but when we’re alone we don’t turn it on unless it’s very cold. Since we live in California, it rarely gets cold enough to bother. I particularly don’t like having it on when I’m sleeping.
I have to agree with the posters about building design, here in Seattle its only hot for 2-3 months out of the year and only gets past 85 for a few weeks. but for some stupid reason houses are commonly built facing due east where they will get the full force of the afternoon sun blasting in the front windows for hours every day, a house can easily get 10-20 degrees hotter than outside temps just because of conventional building styles. would it really kill some one to build a house that wasnt facing perfectly with the street? maybe leave some of the trees up instead of bulldozing the entire lot before you build houses? the ones I love the most have really nice big porches that you never see anyone sitting one because they are in direct sunlight all afternoon.
if the house stays reasonably cool and near to outdoor temps its much more comfortable, but if your house is hot as hell its easy to crank up the ac to compensate.
[QUOTE=even sven]
Heat stroke is more about acclimation than temperature. Millions of people live in hot places without air conditioning. I lived two years in a place where it would sometimes dip below 100 at night. Nobody got heat stroke, not even the elderly who worked their fields in full sun.
Drink plenty of water (yeah, even if you “don’t like the taste of water”- you can lose a liter an hour even at rest on a hot day), keep your house dark and breezy, let yourself sweat and be aware of how physical activity is affecting you and stop immediately if needed. Thats all it takes. It’s not comfortable, but it’s not dangerous unless you don’t pay attention to your body and don’t take simple precautions.
[/QUOTE]
Construction safety literature used to warn to keep up your electrolytes; as in sports drinks may be better for you, if you’re working in the heat, than pure water would be. But that’s not pushed so much now. In fact, the Red Cross website warns against taking salt tablets unless your doctor recommends it. All sites agree that you should avoid caffeine and alchohol, which can contribute to dehydration.
The recommendations are slightly different if you’re not an outside worker than if you are.
[QUOTE=burundi]
You seem to be taking this a little personally, Guinastasia. As far as I can tell, nobody is saying that you should stop using air conditioning. They’re just explaining how many, many people get along just fine without it.
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I didn’t mean to. And yeah, I know you can get along without it. Just that I don’t like the idea of letting my body “sweat it out.” (Seriously, I just LOVE my AC.)
[QUOTE=winterhawk11]
. She couldn’t seem to get the idea that it stayed cooler in the house if you leave the windows shut, at least until it cools off outside.
.
[/QUOTE]
She must be related to my grandmother.
She had an even worse variation of that. She likes land yatch kind of cars. Dark colored cars. Dark interiors. BIGGG windows. We live in the deep South. She has almost always lived in large apartment complexes, so the car was usually parked in the middle of an ungodly, unshaded, blacktop asphalt jungle.
You can imagine how hot her cars got. You could literally burn yourself on metal parts inside the car. Even exposed skin on the seats if say you wore shorts.
So, getting in her car was bad enough to start, but she made the bad soooooo much worse.
Being frugal, she couldn’t imagine “wasting AC”.
So, when you got in the car, you were NOT allowed to roll down the windows for the first few minutes of driving so you could at least exhange all the 150 degree air for a pleasant by comparision high 90 degree air.
Therefore you got to enjoy getting baked alive for the first five minutes while the puny car AC dealt with a load way larger than it was capable of. By the time the car was even remotely cool you were drenched in sweat and your clothes were soaking.
She just could not understand how rolling down the windows for a bit would be a good thing.
Ironically, on the otherhand, she has always kept the households AC so far down its like visiting a meat locker. And thats despite her being a child of the depression, not having much money, and basically living from payday to payday.
In nearly every other way she is extremely fugal and careful with money (in a good way), but with AC (besides in the car) you woulda thunk that stuff was free!
Blll
i live in new orleans. it gets hot. unthinkably, unbelievably hot. the humidity just swelters you. after katrina, we were weeks w/o power. no fans, nuttin’ honey. i’d take 6 or 7 baths or showers a day. i’d drench myself outside w/ the hose. to sleep at night, i’d drink to pass out. my elderly parents’ neighbor hooked them up w/ a genny & a window unit. i’d walk over there to check on them & the a/c was never on. if i turned it on, my stepdad raised nine kinds of hell. keep in mind the red cross was footing the bill for the gas to run the genny. didn’t cost him a dime. i’d work outside clearing debris from the yard and come in faint from the heat.
and get yelled at for turning on the a/c.
[QUOTE=saddata]
i live in new orleans. it gets hot. unthinkably, unbelievably hot. the humidity just swelters you. after katrina, we were weeks w/o power. no fans, nuttin’ honey. i’d take 6 or 7 baths or showers a day. i’d drench myself outside w/ the hose. to sleep at night, i’d drink to pass out. my elderly parents’ neighbor hooked them up w/ a genny & a window unit. i’d walk over there to check on them & the a/c was never on. if i turned it on, my stepdad raised nine kinds of hell. keep in mind the red cross was footing the bill for the gas to run the genny. didn’t cost him a dime. i’d work outside clearing debris from the yard and come in faint from the heat.
and get yelled at for turning on the a/c.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah…
these folks who talk about just “living with heat”…most of em are full of it…there is hot…then there is HOT…and then there is HOT with HIGH HUMIDITY…
Give me some water, a bit of shade, and any breeze and I’ll take a HOT desert heat anyday over a somewhat hot with high ass humidity…
Blll, who lives in the subtropical deep south
I’m 26 and I absolutely hate ACs (and heating for that matter) for two reasons:
1- You have to close the windows. I hate closed windows. I want my fresh air all the time, thank you very much. I grew up on the Mediterranean and we had the windows open all the time year round. Living in recycled old rarefied air makes me stupid and lazy. I don’t understand how Americans can live in tightly sealed houses never opening a window (I guess their brains get used to functioning on low oxygen). Now I live in the Midwest and the only time I close the windows is when the temperature reaches 0 F (no I don’t crank up the heating to compensate; I just wear a sweater).
2- Dramatic heat changes make me feel sick. I get a headache when I move in from sweltering heat into freezing buildings. I hate taking off 6 layers of clothes when I move in from 0 degrees into a 90 degrees building in winter. And after baking and sweating in the 90 degree building, I get nauseous when I go outside and get hit by the 0 F wind.
Maybe I need to get back to living on the Mediterranean.
[QUOTE=abby]
uh… you’re kidding about these ones, right?
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I haven’t checked this thread in a few days.
I am absolutely not kidding about the teabags. Usually she and grandpa will share a teabag at a meal; but if she’s the only one having tea, she’ll save it for the next meal. Every teabag gets used at least twice.
With the ice cubes, I exaggerated a little. Actually I think I usually get two small ice cubes. But they go fast, and I like a lot of ice, so it always annoys me a little.
Last time we visited them with my parents, she was preparing dinner and decided that for six adults she would need six chicken drumsticks. Yep, one drumstick apiece. Luckily my mom stepped in and made her cook more.
[QUOTE=billfish678]
Yeah…
these folks who talk about just “living with heat”…most of em are full of it…there is hot…then there is HOT…and then there is HOT with HIGH HUMIDITY…
Give me some water, a bit of shade, and any breeze and I’ll take a HOT desert heat anyday over a somewhat hot with high ass humidity…
Blll, who lives in the subtropical deep south
[/QUOTE]
This Houstonian also loves her AC.
But I’m dismayed by many new & newly renovated houses in my neighborhood–with hermetically sealed windows. Yes, we need AC much of the year. But, Autumn through Spring, we get many quite pleasant days. Days (& nights) for opening the windows!
My father rarely turns on the air conditioning. but not never.
He grew up during the depression in northwestern Louisiana and the concept of 85 degrees just isn’t hot to him. He’ll turn it on if it gets hot enough. I never had an air conditioner in my house till my dad got one in 1971 and I won’t turn the one I have now on till it gets over 80.
An ex-girlfriend would stay out all day in the sun in the 80 or 90’s but complain if i had the air conditioner off and it was 74.
I suspect that in some cases money is a factor, but not in my dad’s, he has no problem cranking the heat on in the winter. He just never had air conditioning for the first 40 some years of his life and doesn’t see the need for it now.
[QUOTE=elmwood]
The “I don’t believe” language I hear from older people seems to be in the context not of “I think air conditioning is a good idea, but it makes me feel cold”, but rather “I don’t think anyone should have air conditioning, and that the entire concept of cooling air below whatever the ambient temperature may be is just plain wrong.”
[/QUOTE]
I guess I just don’t know any old people who feel this way. I’ve never heard anyone I know say, “I don’t believe in AC.”
My in-laws don’t turn their AC on until it’s pretty hot (above 85) and they keep it set high (78 - 80). They’ve only had central AC for 2 or 3 years; and only had a window unit for a few years before that. When I first met them 22 years ago they used fans and open windows only. And it gets pretty hot in central Wisconsin. In their case, it is a money issue. They don’t use their dryer, either, unless it’s raining or snowing. And they keep their heating set at 64 or 65. They are on a pretty tight budget and just consider their use of the AC to be adequate for their needs, I guess.
My parents also keep their AC set fairly high (76 or so). In their case, it’s because my dad is usually cold nowadays. This is fairly new – he always used to like the cooler set pretty low. But since he got diabetes 10 years ago and lost 30 lbs, he’s been cold-blooded. My mom thinks it’s silly for them to pay to cool the house to a level which makes Dad need to wear a sweater. But this isn’t about the money, it’s about comfort – they pay to heat their house extra-warm in the winter.
[QUOTE=billfish678]
these folks who talk about just “living with heat”…most of em are full of it…there is hot…then there is HOT…and then there is HOT with HIGH HUMIDITY…
[/QUOTE]
Hotter and more humid than somewhere like Mombasa? I don’t think so. And people have been living there and running a seaport for several thousand years without AC.
I don’t really believe in AC, it’s kind of pointless and wasteful and has led to the decline of American civilization by making us a bunch of whiny babies when it’s 85 degrees out. I really want to bitch slap people when they start complaining about how hot it is when it’s in the 80s.
I’m only 30. At the same time my AC is running right now. 
In our next apartment we won’t even have AC and I’m fine with that.
[QUOTE=slaphead]
Hotter and more humid than somewhere like Mombasa? I don’t think so. And people have been living there and running a seaport for several thousand years without AC.
[/QUOTE]
They also don’t move as quickly as we do with no reason, they seek shade and they don’t work outside during the hottest part of the day.
I had a friend in school who was (is) from the Democratic Republic of Congo. One day we were out in the field gathering plants and I said to her, “Kabuika, how do you do it? It’s like 184 degrees out here (okay, it was more like 103) and you’re barely breaking a sweat! Do you have less sweat glands that I do or something?” And she laughed at me and said (okay, you have to imagine this in a beautiful rich voice with a Congolese accent), “Oh, you people! You move too fast. Here, follow me.” And the rest of the afternoon, I tried to mimic her pace and stop fighting the heat, and sure enough, I got about 10 times more comfortable.
I still appreciate air conditioning when it’s available, but when I’m outside working or walking in the heat, I hear Kabuika’s voice in my head again, and I stop fighting it and slow down. Helps a lot.
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
They also don’t move as quickly as we do with no reason, they seek shade and they don’t work outside during the hottest part of the day.
[/QUOTE]
Really? You mean they don’t earn a living by e.g pulling carts loaded with bales of stuff through the streets, loading trucks, digging ditches and the like? Because that’s what they were doing when I was last there.