Do you have AC in your house/apt?

[jp1]

Old people get cold if it is cooler than 77 or 78.

signed Iris, old person

Indeed. The only old person I’ve ever known who didn’t was my mom.

[Rogar]

Here in the arid west the debate was roof mounted type swamp cooler vs central air. I understand swamp cooler don't work well in humid climates, but they are fairly common in my hood. There are some clear trade-offs either way. I'm not sure I remember correctly, but believe the swamp cooler would not have require an electrical upgrade. My folks had a swamp cooler in a place where summer's could get over 100 degrees several days during the summer and they were satisfied with it, but it did not have the cooling capacity if central air.

[jp1]

Swamp coolers definitely use way less electricity than refrigerator air conditioners since really all they are is a big fan with a big soft pad that has a constant flow of water on it. I also assume they are cheaper to buy since mechanically they are quite simple. When I was a teenager in Denver back in the 80s they installed swamp coolers on all the buses. They had had a small number of buses with "regular" a/c but it was unreliable, seriously hurt fuel economy, caused overheated engines, etc. The swamp coolers were a fantastic alternative. The windows of the buses all had little signs on them telling people to leave them open an inch so that the swamp cooler could do it's thing.

My understanding is that the reason they are viewed as "just not as good as central a/c" is that they basically are capable of bringing the inside temperature down a certain amount from the outside temperature, and that that "certain amount" is measured by the outdoors humidity level. In other words if it's 10% humid out they can bring the inside temp down 25 degrees from outside, if it's 20% humid outside they can bring it down 20 degrees, 30% humid outside 12-13 degrees, etc. (I have no idea the actual numbers, but they are somewhat close to what I've listed.) So in 110 degree palm springs it might get the temperature inside down to 85 since humidity is super low there. Much more comfortable but not exactly cool. When we would go to visit relatives in my mom's hometown in western kansas when I was growing up everyone used swamp coolers. Humidity was super low and the temperature rarely got much over 100 so they were a cheap, effective alternative to standard a/c.

I've said several times to SO and various friends, on the really hot days here in coastal california, that the $20k we spent on our heat pump/central a/c is the BEST money out of all the upgrades we've done on this house. We don't have to use it that often but when it gets super hot out, especially for days on end, it's AWESOME. Checking our nest thermostat we haven't used it since two weeks ago today (it's only gotten into the low 80's every day but one where it hit 90). Most nights it gets into the mid or even low 50's so we can open the windows, open the skylight, put fans in the windows, and by morning my office is 60 degrees and the rest of the house more in the 65 degree range. When I get up I close everything up and it stays cool enough that by the time it's starting to get uncomfortable upstairs the temperature outside is already falling so we can just open the windows and start cooling the house naturally all over again.

[iris lilies]

I remember decades ago when I lived in New Mexico, not using the swamp cooler for at least the first year maybe a year and a half because I had no idea what it was. It was a switch on the wall. I was used to Midwest cooling systems, either central air or window air conditioners. This “swamp cooler” thing was utterly foreign.

It did lower the temperature New Mexico.

[ToomuchStuff]

Old people get cold if it is cooler than 77 or 78.

signed Iris, old person

Not my late boss, when I moved in to take care of the cat, he was running the a/c at 62. Diabetes was always making him hot.

As to swamp coolers, they can be less expensive to more expensive, depending on size. A lot of mechanics garages use them, however the humidity they use to cool, will reach sections of the shop and heat it back up, so you need to be in direct line of ventilation for them to work, step outside that zone and it tends to get hotter.

[Rogar]

Swamp coolers around here are a reasonable choice for people with baseboard heat or other wise no ductwork adaptable to central air. Or budget restrictions. It cost me around $2,000 to upgrade my electrical panel for air conditioning and that was several years ago. My folks house in a dry climate could keep the house in the mid-70's on 90 degree day. They require some annual maintenance to drain the water from the system before winter. For people in dry climates the humidity they add to the indoor air could add some comfort. In my decision making, and probably for most who can afford it, central air was the best choice.

I had people come to my house and give design plans and cost estimates for both systems. I did consider energy use as a factor. My house is smaller and well insulated and the salesperson touted the energy efficiency of modern air conditioners. Ultimately it hasn't added that much to my energy bills as closely as I can tell. Brother has lived in a hot southwestern climate, but has single pane windows, poor insulation, and an older air conditioner. His electric bills are comparatively sizable.

[pinkytoe]

Yesterday, DH used a digital meat thermometer and measured the temp on each floor around 4pm. I don't know how accurate that is but the top floor measured 90 degrees, the middle 85 and the basement 80. It finally cooled off to around 75 in the basement bedroom.

[KayLR]

Nope, like Bae, we live in beautiful WA State where on the few very hot days you just bust out the fans and strip down or find a lake to jump into.

[littlebittybobby]

okay---in my hillbilly shackk, i just have a window AC in my cool-off room. but yeah---i'm gonna take & put another old window AC in the small room of my backyard cottage, ta use as a cool-off(and warm up) room. yup.