Stepping Back: What are the Consequences?

[pinkytoe]

Comfort standards have changed too. There was a time that very few had AC here in Colorado since we are at 6000+ ft. The house we bought does not have one and we have adjusted to a few weeks of daytime highs in the lower 90s. DD complained a bit last summer when she came to visit that it was kind of warm. All the new houses here have AC. I can't see spending thousands for a few weeks of uncomfortable in the summer. Perhaps a window unit in the bedroom if the temps keep rising. AS far as guests coming, I will mention it to them and if they have to be cool at all times, they can get a hotel room.

[Tybee]

Just a heads up on the airconditioning issue--my pulmonologist said it is a necessity for someone with my lungs, so it is probably a necessity for many, and not a matter of sucking it up. Just something to think about.

And no, we don;t have it, but we do have one window unit and I sleep in there and it helps.

[Gardnr]

I apologized right away about the fact that I haven't started renovating. I apologized for no air conditioning on a hot day. I noticed that my friend's husband would often "rescue" my friend from an insect invader--insects don't bother me much.

Why would you apologize for your choices? This is not something I understand at all. Are YOU uncomfortable with it and your projecting this onto your guests?

[Teacher Terry]

My folks first had to put in a window air conditioner and eventually central air because he had severe emphysema. Also with global warming it is hotter for longer periods of time than before. At 4500!ft we rarely used it 20 years ago and now need it all summer. We do turn it off at night because our house is usually cool enough. I have moderate asthma so can’t leave window open either.

[Yppej]

I saw on the news tonight that Seattle is experiencing record heat and only a third of the homes there have air conditioning.

Many places do not have it, and I have read after a couple of weeks the body adjusts. When I was a kid I did not have air conditioning at home, school, in the car, or anywhere and ran around all day long in the summer. But it is hard now that I am used to it at work and in the car to get out of it into a hot house.

Do people with respiratory issues in other places just die? Consider Haiti, where you might get a couple hours of electricity and then the power goes out. And when they visited my relatives said it was extremely hot and humid there.

[JaneV2.0]

We've had maybe a week of what i consider hot temperatures (Seattle suburb), and we seem to be heading into another one. I don't have AC at the moment, and I've only found one night uncomfortable. I grew up without it, and don't really require it.

[Teacher Terry]

Yes many people with asthma and other respiratory issues die every summer in poor communities with out air. Also the fires without air causes real health issues. I dealt with heat no issues when young and never had air. Now I get overheated and sick much quicker as I have aged. Also need to be inside without windows open when fires are occurring. Can’t do that without air.

[Tybee]

Definitely, many people with emphysema die in summer in hot climates; two of my grandparents did. This was prior to air conditioning, in Savannah.

My dad has lived eight years longer than his dad, and his emphysema is worse. But they have airconditioning.

[jp1]

If we lived somewhere like NJ with long hot summers again I'd want a/c. Northern vermont, no, I'd probably be fine without. I assume that, like San Francisco, there are some hot days but mostly not. Although I say this knowing that we luckily happened to be out of town last summer when there were several days in a row over over 100 degree temps.

The reality is that a/c everywhere/all the time where it's regularly hot is really only a generation old. When I was in college in Miami in the late 80's the on campus apartments didn't have it. One could buy a window a/c (and electricity was included in the rent) but I had plenty of friends who lived in those apartments without it. Or with it only in the bedrooms. And even more friends who had cars without a/c or at least without working a/c. That was just life.

Getting back to the OP. Catherine, if you're happy with your new house that's all that matters. (and frankly, it sounds lovely!) Worst case scenario some of your friends who come to visit may think you're "quirky" or be baffled by your decision on how to live. But they aren't living there. Or paying the bills. You are.

And regarding staying at someone's home vs. getting a room, that's totally a personal preference. Personally I prefer the comfort of a hotel room nearby. SO is in agreement on that. And since he works for a major hotel company and gets super-awesome discounts that's what we do. And when people come to visit us they stay in the hotel he works at.

[JaneV2.0]

Our high so far this year has been in the low nineties, and that not often. Somewhat hotter than normal, certainly drier than normal, but not unbearably so.