I really don't like air conditioning, and have never had it in any home I've lived in, except for a time after moving to the east coast when I was living with my daughter. I hated it then. "I want to be warm in the summer, and cool in the winter", I said.
Having lived in my own AC-free zone here in Delaware for five years now, I'd say I've been pretty successful in learning to live with the heat. Now, when I was growing up in Southern California, there was no such thing as air conditioning. We lived at the beach, so there was no need, but even in the hot inland areas, people just... dealt with it. Back then you'd run across the occasional "swamp cooler," but I found the humidity they caused not worth the modest cooling. Years later, working outdoors in a California low desert summer, I discovered that my body was marvelously adaptable to even pretty extreme heat, so long as I took the usual precautions - lots of water, electrolyte replacement, and wetting down occasionally when it got really hot, 105 and above.
Here in Delaware, it's not so much the heat but the humidity that gets to me sometimes, but when the thermometer really soars, up into the high 90s and beyond, the (relative) humidity always falls, and it's not really so bad out of the sun, especially if you have a breeze or a fan. It's 96 as I type this, and the light breeze wafting in from the window feels lovely. I'm not particularly uncomfortable, except for the dripping perspiration. Which is a good thing... people who become well acclimated to heat also sweat... a lot. Those who don't can get very, very sick.
So I'm really doing fine through our 2012 heat waves, without AC. I get up early and do most of my work in the morning. I take my exercise walk around the park, and then walk the dog. I walk to do my shopping early, too. Then, in the afternoon I sit downstairs where it's cooler, and read or do paperwork, with a big fan blowing on me. I sip a big glass of ice water, iced tea, or iced coffee frequently. I don't do much. If I feel hot and sticky before bed, I take a nice, cool shower. In bed, I have another big fan blowing on me. This is how people lived until just a few decades ago, and they were generally healthier than we are. Before electricity, they didn't even have fans, except for the hand-held kind! Unless you are really ill, I think that staying in a controlled-climate cocoon, as so many do nowadays, is probably actually harmful. But that's just my opinion.
What I do know is that eschewing air conditioning saves a LOT of money. I know many people whose electric bills run several hundred to over a thousand dollars a month in the summer! That's not in my budget, for sure. All that fossil fuel use is also bad for our planet.
Bottom line - I've chosen to live an old-fashioned summer, with fans whirring, Adirondack chairs set out in the grass under a tree, and tall, frosted glasses of iced (diet) lemonade. By the way, your body actually burns more calories keeping you cool when it's hot, just as it does keeping you warm when it's cold. I didn't use to know that. So... win, win, win.
Having lived in my own AC-free zone here in Delaware for five years now, I'd say I've been pretty successful in learning to live with the heat. Now, when I was growing up in Southern California, there was no such thing as air conditioning. We lived at the beach, so there was no need, but even in the hot inland areas, people just... dealt with it. Back then you'd run across the occasional "swamp cooler," but I found the humidity they caused not worth the modest cooling. Years later, working outdoors in a California low desert summer, I discovered that my body was marvelously adaptable to even pretty extreme heat, so long as I took the usual precautions - lots of water, electrolyte replacement, and wetting down occasionally when it got really hot, 105 and above.
Here in Delaware, it's not so much the heat but the humidity that gets to me sometimes, but when the thermometer really soars, up into the high 90s and beyond, the (relative) humidity always falls, and it's not really so bad out of the sun, especially if you have a breeze or a fan. It's 96 as I type this, and the light breeze wafting in from the window feels lovely. I'm not particularly uncomfortable, except for the dripping perspiration. Which is a good thing... people who become well acclimated to heat also sweat... a lot. Those who don't can get very, very sick.
So I'm really doing fine through our 2012 heat waves, without AC. I get up early and do most of my work in the morning. I take my exercise walk around the park, and then walk the dog. I walk to do my shopping early, too. Then, in the afternoon I sit downstairs where it's cooler, and read or do paperwork, with a big fan blowing on me. I sip a big glass of ice water, iced tea, or iced coffee frequently. I don't do much. If I feel hot and sticky before bed, I take a nice, cool shower. In bed, I have another big fan blowing on me. This is how people lived until just a few decades ago, and they were generally healthier than we are. Before electricity, they didn't even have fans, except for the hand-held kind! Unless you are really ill, I think that staying in a controlled-climate cocoon, as so many do nowadays, is probably actually harmful. But that's just my opinion.
What I do know is that eschewing air conditioning saves a LOT of money. I know many people whose electric bills run several hundred to over a thousand dollars a month in the summer! That's not in my budget, for sure. All that fossil fuel use is also bad for our planet.
Bottom line - I've chosen to live an old-fashioned summer, with fans whirring, Adirondack chairs set out in the grass under a tree, and tall, frosted glasses of iced (diet) lemonade. By the way, your body actually burns more calories keeping you cool when it's hot, just as it does keeping you warm when it's cold. I didn't use to know that. So... win, win, win.
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