May 24, 2007
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Our Experiment
This summer we are planning on trying not to use air conditioners.
Barry (DH) said that a problem that we seem to have every year is we tend to
stay inside during the summer because it is nice inside and “too hot” outside.
Its not good for us to stay cooped up inside, so he suggested that this year we
not put the air conditioners in. That way I wouldn’t mind being outside a
lot. (Plus lower electric usage lol)What do you think? Are we crazy?People used to do it all the time. Actually coming from the background I
come from (conservative Anabaptist) most of my relatives do not believe in air
conditioning. My aunt Rachel actually talks all the time about how bad it is for
you
She is a midwife.
I actually lived with out it until I was 16. At that
age grandpa let me have one in my room but that was the only room in the house
that had it. And he complained all the time about how bad it was for me and
things like that.
Rachel says that as much as they work out side that going
in and out of the air so much is really bad for you. I don’t know how true that
is but I don’t know any of my conservative relatives that have air
conditioning.Would you ever go without Air conditioning???? Has air conditioning affected how much you leave your house?
Comments (10)
I could not live without air conditioning. I’m from the south. We don’t do that. It really doesn’t affect how much I go outside, because I love the outdoors. My family loves the outdoors. And it is really, really nice to come inside after being in 100+ degree weather when you have air conditioning. We don’t have our ac on all the time, though, only when it gets above 80 degrees inside.
And I would be most definitely considered “conservative”. But I come from a Presbyterian background.
I grew up conservative Mennonite, without a/c except for a small window unit in my bedroom.
Since we’re married, we’ve had a/c over the summer. However, we’ve been having the same discussions of going without this summer. Our main reasons are that last summer our a/c unit ran nonstop to keep the house a stuffy 80 degrees. Our electric bill was a killer. We feel that we don’t have excess funds right now to repair/replace the unit and while the weather is so lovely, it’s easy to feel that it’s not a big deal to go without a/c this summer. However, we are open to re-negotiating once the humidity and real heat hits and we may go without a few niceties in order to put the money to a/c. 
For now, it’s our goal to go without. However, we both work in air conditioned buildings during the day, so it’s easier on our bodies to have air conditioning at home too because the house is always the hottest in the evening.
This just isn’t possible for us, we have had 2 hot days so far and that is enough!! I do not physically tolerate heat and WILL pass out, 3 yo is just drenched in sweat at night and cries and cries, baby has heat rash from head to toe! And it’s only been 2 days!!! We have 2 air conditioners (one for upstiars and one for down) and they are going in TONIGHT LOL. I would say it doesn’t really affect how often we go out, because that wouldn’t be too frequent anyway, as I said, I pass out. Poor hubby and I took a walk together one summer and it ended with him literallyc arrying me to a shady spot and trying to revive me! If it were up to me, I’d move to the arctic!!!! We are super active outside in spring and fall, pretty active in winter, but summer is our down time.
I grew up with and without air conditioning. I’ve spent plenty of summers as an adult without it. I would be willing to try, but I know there would be nights of wishing I had it, simply for sleeping. If I remember right, it was sleeping in 100 degree weather that was the most difficult. This will probably never be an issue for me again though, as my husband turns the air on the first day it hits about 68 degrees!!
I do think it affects how much we go outside, especially on the really humid days. I have become a total wimp when it comes to the elements. Although I love to go swimming in the heat!
i love love love my air conditioner!!! those who don’t use one say the key is staying hydrated as much as possible. iced water and iced tea by the tons. let us know how it goes. can you use a fan for sleeping?
Plan on mainly using open windows. That causes a nice breeze. I doubt we will need fans, though we are talking about fans. I dont really trust fans around children. But it could be a possability.
I lived without it most of my life. I got spoiled living in a college dorm *grins.* It’s not so bad if you are used to it.
Wal-Mart sells nifty window-unit type fans for about $30 that work really well and because all of the moving parts are inside the plastic screen and up off of the floor in your window frame they are relatively safe around children.
How old are your kids? My parents taught us not to touch the fans… period. Just like you teach a child not to touch the stove, period. We never got our fingers chopped off in a fan and my folks were prone to using those older models that don’t have good screens, have metal blades, etc. Newer fans even have safety-stops on them so if anything is caught in the blade it shuts the motor off immediately.
Hi. This is going to sound unbelievable, but we don’t have air conditioning. We had a window unit for my mother in law, but she has moved back to KY, so we will not use it this summer. We do well. I really think that the whole problem is that people are so spoiled by it now. It is hard going in and out of it, but if you stay out of it you can adjust. I also believe that all of the air conditioners are heating up the summers…have you stood on the other side of a window unit and felt the heat it produces? Multiply this by the millions that run in a city. We love our ceiling fans and sit out in the evenings enjoying the cooler breezes. I admire you for trying it. Let me know how it goes! I think you will be out more than normal.
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We are going try to be 90% air condition free this year..(this will be the first time for us in over a decade not to use it all the time). We will only use it when it rains/and very hot ..(we would have to shut the windows if it rained and it would be to hot without it)…also only use it at night if it’s too hot/humid..like on nights that it’s in the 90′s…
But other than that we plan on keep it turned OFF!… I have noticed that we are outside more also if we don’t use the air condition…..
We live full sun in a mobile home so you could imagine how hot it will be….we have plenty of fans stirring the air for when we are inside (chores..etc).. and after that we can go outside to the pool.
It is nothing for our electric bill to shoot up at least $100 on the month if we use our air all the time.