A week without a/c

[Pamela H in Texas]

So I decided to wait to make a decision about fixing the a/c. I'll eventually either have to ask the elder or I did find a company that will take payments. But for right now, I'm enjoying thinking how low my next electric bill or two will be. LOL

 

It really isn't miserable. Once it has made it up to 90 or so in here. I've been surprised that I have thought, "oh, 85 isn't bad!" A couple mornings it didn't really get cool enough which kinda was yuck. It's awfully damp (Spring in N. Texas). But mostly, it's just be "a little hot." Hubby complains about it but I don't find it too tough and the kids (2 teens and a 6yo) haven't said ANYTHING, even ONCE, about being hot.

 

I can't imagine we'd last all summer like this. In July, with outside temps of 100 or so and the sun beating down, I'm sure we'd have a bit of trouble. I wish we could do without it though. I would guess that computers and a/c are the bulk of our electric bill.

Edited May 28, 2009 by 2J5M9K

[LaxMom]

We've been refusing to turn on the a/c, too. I'm just becoming profoundly cheap, though, and it has been a weirdly cool spring thus far on the Mid-Atlantic.

 

I may change my mind in July or so, but right now I figure it like this: the house is a Victorian, so it was built for ventilation (27 windows, 4 doors). The Victorians wore a whole lot more clothing than we do, and cooked over a wood or coal fire and had gas lights. If they could survive it, we can too... (Come to think of it, our Amish friends have the same deal as those wacky Victorians, and they never look particularly wilted in the depths of the summer. :001_huh:) We've become a bunch of ninnies, and it's time to pull up our big girl panties and man up. Sweating is free.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I was thinking that also. I mean, Texas has been here a long time. LOL And Arizona and New Mexico too! I figure there are plenty of people over the last "very long time" who have done without A/C down here. At least I can wear a really light t-shirt, not skin from some animal.

 

Each year I SAY we're not going to use the A/C much, but each year, I work it further and further down. If we asked in June, rather than September, where each other's thermostat is, my number wouldn't be nearly so righteous. LOL It just seems that if I have it, I use it!

 

I did change around the livingroom in a way that allowed me to open up 2 more windows. And I'm going to get my son to change his room around so I can open his window for the cross flow on that side of the house also. I wish I had a screen on the window in the extra bedroom (I'm highly allergic to wasps and can't seem to get them out of and KEEP them out of the bushes under that window).

 

Okay, thanks Angela...now I feel like I have a little more "ooomph" to do this :)

[Sophia]

I'm one of those people who wait until June 1st to turn on the a/c, even living here in Ga.

Last summer, come June 1st, I turned it on only to discover it was broke!

The whole unit had to be replaced.

We refused to finance it and had already earmarked our "summer money" for vacations and camps for the kids.

So we went without a/c for two months. In Georgia.

It was awful, but we felt we were teaching the dc some good lessons about sacrifice and refusing credit for "wants."

So...after a summer of visiting the library a lot (they have a/c ;)), God blessed us with a new unit for $500. A fraction of what we had originally been quoted.

 

This year I didn't wait until June 1st to see if the air worked.:D

[MamaT]

We don't even have a/c! We live at a pretty high elevation in the mountains, so it only gets hot for about 2 weeks in August. We just plan our vacation then.

 

Coming from Florida, it took living here through the first summer before I really believed we wouldn't need it.

[KellyinPA]

I'm one of those people who wait until June 1st to turn on the a/c, even living here in Ga.

Last summer, come June 1st, I turned it on only to discover it was broke!

The whole unit had to be replaced.

We refused to finance it and had already earmarked our "summer money" for vacations and camps for the kids.

So we went without a/c for two months. In Georgia.

It was awful, but we felt we were teaching the dc some good lessons about sacrifice and refusing credit for "wants."

So...after a summer of visiting the library a lot (they have a/c ;)), God blessed us with a new unit for $500. A fraction of what we had originally been quoted.

 

This year I didn't wait until June 1st to see if the air worked.:D

 

Oh my goodness, I'm impressed!! We traveled from PA to GA last June to see my son graduate from airborn/jump school at Fort Benning. That was the most intensive heat I have ever experienced. It gets hot and humid in PA but nothing like that. All of you southerners who go without a/c are amazing!:thumbup1: