Southerners with no air conditioning

[saraha]

Seriously, how do you do it? We are w/o ac for a while and it is going to be mid 90's with 80 and up percent humidity for next few days.

[craftyerin]

I'm sure there are southerners with no air conditioning, but I don't personally know any.  I can't imagine! We are in New Orleans, and it's HOT!! 

[Truscifi]

Spend a lot of time at the library, Dunkin Donuts, and the pool.  Seriously - we have a/c but often have it set pretty high to conserve electricity.  At those times we just stay gone all day.  And we have at least one fan per person for the evening/night.

 

ETA - When our power was out for almost 2 weeks due to hurricane damage, we went and stayed with my parents.  They got power back very quickly.  Of course, we were on a well so we had no water either.

[FriedClams]

When ours has broken we do as mentioned - pool, library, etc. It's not bad at night. I think in the old south things were designed differently - kitchens had doors and screens... Windows were for air not decoration and they opened.... Porches were shaded and you could sit on them... All the trees weren't cut down for McMansion subdivisions... Now I think it's harder just from a practical design standpoint.

[momofkhm]

When ours has broken we do as mentioned - pool, library, etc. It's not bad at night. I think in the old south things were designed differently - kitchens had doors and screens... Windows were for air not decoration and they opened.... Porches were shaded and you could sit on them... All the trees weren't cut down for McMansion subdivisions... Now I think it's harder just from a practical design standpoint.

:iagree:

 

Also, in the time before a/c, they did a lot less.  Think of Scarlett and all the ladies taking a nap in Gone with the Wind.  And the headaches they had. 

 

And I think back then they were just "used to it" more.  I used to work at summer camp with no a/c during the week (home on weekends.)  It didn't even phase me too much.  Now I would melt in an hour I think.

[TechWife]

I grew up with no AC and never thought a thing about it. It wasn't a big deal. We played outside, went to the pool, library, hung out in the basement. I have AC now, but one of our two units was out last week (it's being replaced right now). It wasn't a big deal to me, I slept just fine, although I admit that I hung out downstairs during the day! 

 

I have a really high tolerance for heat. I sometimes go outside to read because it's too cold to me w/AC running. I'm probably weird, though.

[brehon]

Seriously, how do you do it? We are w/o ac for a while and it is going to be mid 90's with 80 and up percent humidity for next few days.

Do you have either ceiling or box fans? One old trick to use at night is to spritz the beds with cool water and keep the fan on you. The air movement and cool water help keep everyone cool(er).

[lil' maids in a row]

Honestly, in our area it is considered an emergency if your AC goes out.  Meals on Wheels and other organizations check on seniors and the poor.  Community groups pass out window units to people with no AC.  Repairmen will come out 24/7 on emergency calls.  The temp gets up to 105-107 for weeks at a time, and doesn't dip below 90 until the wee hours of the morning.  Our ac unit went out at 5 pm one day last year.  Dh drove to buy a window unit while I called a repairman.  Within an hour the temp. inside the house was over 90.  With the window unit and fans and windows the inside temp. was over 90 at 10pm.  Thank goodness the repairman made it out around 10pm and fixed the unit.  

 

I don't know anyone with no ac.  If I did, I would get them help asap.

 

Edited to add - Home design in years past made it possible to live without ac.  The terrible design of many homes today makes it hard to make it without ac (imo)

[Danestress]

That would be like northerners without heat. We know some people can't afford their heating, but it would be inhumane and dangerous to go too long without it.

A generation or two ago, no one had a/c in the south or anywhere else.

 

They build houses differently, but they also just suffered, and to some extent, they got used to it.

[Ravin]

What lil' maids said, except add ten degrees to the numbers. I know some people who also have evaporative coolers, which are less expensive to run, and also have houses with passive solar design (facing and materials and overhanging roofs, high point vents, etc. to help deal with the heat), but once monsoon hits, almost everyone turns on the AC. Most homes, even inexpensive ones, unless they are very old and very long unrenovated, have central a/c.

[Laura Corin]

I didn't use the aircon the first seven years we lived in Hong Kong.  We took a lot of cool showers and I would often put the boys to play in a cool bath in the afternoon.  We spent a lot of time at the swimming pool and used fans at home.

 

L

[ksr5377]

A generation or two ago, no one had a/c in the south or anywhere else.

 

They build houses differently, but they also just suffered, and to some extent, they got used to it.

 

DH and I were just talking about this.  We live in an older house and I couldn't figure out why I was having such a hard time arranging bedroom furniture when none of my friends do.  It finally hit me.  They have ENTIRE WALLS of their homes that have NO WINDOWS.  Our older house has a window in every possible location.   

[saraha]

We put box fans in the windows at night and close everything up during the day. We have ceiling fans in a few rooms. It is still so stinking humid and the kids are just laying around and crabbing at each other. The second story is definitely warmer, but we don't have a basement. Usually we don't have to run the ac but for a few weeks during the summer if that, but this week is just going to be miserable with unusual heat and humidity. We are definitely making plans to go to the library, but I don't really want to be gone all day everyday.

[Joker]

And I wonder though, does the heat in the south tend to be dry?  Here it tends to be extremely humid on top of hot.  So it feels like being in a tropical rain forest. And I know that because I went to a zoo that had a tropical rain forest exhibit and that is exactly how it felt!  LOL

 

Depends on where in the south, I think. Here in my part of Florida it is very humid. Today it says 80% humidity. I've always had very straight hair, but after several years here I suddenly have curls.

[craftyerin]

And I wonder though, does the heat in the south tend to be dry? Here it tends to be extremely humid on top of hot. So it feels like being in a tropical rain forest. And I know that because I went to a zoo that had a tropical rain forest exhibit and that is exactly how it felt! LOL

Not here! It's HOT + HUMID. It's not uncommon for me to step out of an air conditioned building or my car in the summer and have my glasses fog up because of the heat and temp. Ridiculous.

[craftyerin]

dp, sorry!

[Pawz4me]

And I wonder though, does the heat in the south tend to be dry?  Here it tends to be extremely humid on top of hot.  So it feels like being in a tropical rain forest. And I know that because I went to a zoo that had a tropical rain forest exhibit and that is exactly how it felt!  LOL

 

The south is generally "much" more humid than the north.  The only time we get anything that could remotely be described as a dry heat would be if we were having a hot spell in October or November, or an early hot spell in April.

 

I don't know anyone w/o air conditioning.  We worry about people who just have window units (not central air).

[Firefly]

Yeah, I've often wondered what people in the South (and other hot climates) did before AC.  What a PP said about homes being built differently makes sense:  our house is late 1600s and it was built to maximize radiant heat in the winter and provide plenty of shade in the summer.  I don't think most recently built homes take those kinds of things into account at all.  I also agree that lifestyles were different... people let themselves take it easy and relax during the hottest part of the day. 

 

 

[Truscifi]

Yeah, I've often wondered what people in the South (and other hot climates) did before AC.  What a PP said about homes being built differently makes sense:  our house is late 1600s and it was built to maximize radiant heat in the winter and provide plenty of shade in the summer.  I don't think most recently built homes take those kinds of things into account at all.  I also agree that lifestyles were different... people let themselves take it easy and relax during the hottest part of the day. 

 

I have also always thought the heat and humidity had a lot to do with the development of social forms in the South.  There needed to be fairly set forms for everyone to follow because people were always cranky from being so hot, if left to their own devices there would have been (even more) duels and such.

[Tammyla]

I would have to spend a lot of time at places with AC or in a pool.  Heat I can handle, but heat + humidity melts my soul.  My mom's family is from the south and they never had air-conditioning when we visited.  We played outside during the day (pool or sprinkler) and opened all the windows at night with a fan on.  It was pretty much miserable and hard to sleep.

 

Have you considered purchasing a small window unit?  Walmart had one for $89.00 dollars or rolling non-window units for under $300.

[Kathryn]

Summers are in the 90s-100s here with humidity ranging from 80-100%. It is miserable. And, yes, houses built in the last 50 years or so make living without A/C unreasonable. DH grew up in a home with just a window unit in the dining room. That's where they hug out in the summer.

[fairfarmhand]

And I wonder though, does the heat in the south tend to be dry?  Here it tends to be extremely humid on top of hot.  So it feels like being in a tropical rain forest. And I know that because I went to a zoo that had a tropical rain forest exhibit and that is exactly how it felt!  LOL

Super humid here. I went to Denver and was surprised at how I could be comfortable in 90 degree heat as long as I was in the shade. It's not like that here.

 

Also in the past houses were designed with the winds in mind.  They positioned them to catch the maximum breeze.

People used to get up super early and work, then rest i nthe hottest parts of the day.

But honestly, Florida was not settled thickly until a/c was common and inexpensive. It was just too stinking hot.

[Frosch]

I grew up in GA with no AC.  That was before the days of ceiling fans also.  We had box fans and window fans.   Mom would open all the screened windows and a window fan would do into an unscreened window to blow air out of the house and pull air into the the screened windows.  We used lamps instead of overhead lights and the TV was never on during the day.  (Those make a ton of heat.)  Cooking was done in the early morning and in the late evening.  
We had an older house so we had lots of windows and an attic fan and a tall crawl space.  My friend and I would play in the crawl space (it was almost tall enough to walk in) to keep cool when it was over 100. kitchen was off away from most of the house instead of the middle and open to the house like houses are now.  Every bedroom had at least 2 windows and awnings for blocking the sun.  The wrap around porch kept sun off the main house windows.

The washer was outside on a mud porch off of the kitchen and we didn't have a dryer.  Mom would put damp sheets on the bed in really hot weather.  

 

On a modern slab house with no attic fans and not nearly enough windows....I don't think you cold get through those hot days.  You sure couldn't cook or do laundry.  

 

[Firefly]

To compare, I looked up the average humidity in the most humid month where I live (in the north) and compared it to a randomly selected southern city (Ocala, Florida).  Our average low humidity in that month is 77% and in Ocala it is 72%.  So to say it's not as humid in the north...not true.

 

I can second this.  Very humid here-- especially on the coast!

[linders]

Just spent the week at scout camp in the Deep South - the only AC was the mess hall and medical. There were a couple of afternoons I found excuses to go to one or the other.

[Jeannie in NJ]

I grew up in Texas. We lived in one of those tiny '60's houses that barely had windows.  We had no ac, no window units, no fans, nothing.  I hated it,especially at night.  During the day, we either played in the water hose, went to the community pool and also us kids found a ranch outside of town that the rancher had a nice cold pond far away from his house that was for his horses.  It was shaded by trees.  We would sneak in there and swim with the horses.  None of our parents ever knew about it.

 

My grandmother had a house that was built in the early 1800's in North Texas.  It had lots of windows and a wrap around porch.  We liked staying there except in winter as she also had no heat, only a stove downstairs.

 

THe house I now live in in New Jersey, has no central air, but we do have window units in the bedrooms upstairs.  Downstairs we have ceiling fans in every room and lots of windows and a great cross breeze. 

[dlcricket]

We live in Ecuador, one degree north of the equator, and don't have AC. We keep windows open, have screen doors, use ceiling fans and floor fans,  etc. And YES, it is humid, it's the tropics!

 

Edited to add: We don't have seasons, so it's hot 12 months a year. The temperatures vary some with the rainy and dry seasons, but not significantly.

[Parrothead]

It really is miserable. We lived on the coast in SC. It might have only been 100*, but the heat index was 121*. One couldn't park somewhere in the sun (like the mall or the market) then go jump in the car an hour later. We would stand outside the car with the doors open trying to cool off the inside. This was before A/C was a standard option. But it still needed doing after we got a car with A/C.

 

Lots of fans, lots of shorts, lots of time in the water.

 

We went to southwest GA this past September. Dd said, "How do people live like this in this heat?"

[Lucy the Valiant]

Humidity makes the heat feel so much hotter - I'm in New England, and today is HOT and HUMID!

 

In winter, for example, we keep a pot of water on the wood stove to put moisture into the air, so it will feel even warmer (and easier to breathe).

 

Of course, all summer, I have to run a DE-humidifier in the same room.

[plansrme]

When comparing northern to southern heat, one thing to keep in mind is that a northern heat wave may be as hot as the south, but for a week, not from April to October. I spent a summer in Vermont once when I was in college and experienced a week's worth of what was, at the time, record heat for Montpelier. The locals kept asking me if it ever got that hot in Alabama. Sweetie, you have no idea. But it WAS a miserable week because nothing was air conditioned, even the cars. There was no relief anywhere in town except the grocery store, and one can only stretch that out for so long.

[LibraryLover]

:iagree:

 

Also, in the time before a/c, they did a lot less. Think of Scarlett and all the ladies taking a nap in Gone with the Wind. And the headaches they had.

 

.

Slave children fanned them.

[craftyerin]

Currently it is 92 here, which sounds not bad at all, especially for NOLA in July.  But with the humidity, the heat index is 104.  Gross.  It's been that way for a couple of months how, and we've got a good 3 more to go. 

[vonfirmath]

Seriously, how do you do it? We are w/o ac for a while and it is going to be mid 90's with 80 and up percent humidity for next few days.

 

Well.. people lived in these areas before air conditioning was invented!

 

I, too, am not quite sure how.

 

I grew up in Houston and though we had a/c, we didn't use it much at all.

 

My dad installed an attic fan and my mom went around opening windows/closing windows depending on time of day to help the attic fan do its best. 

These days, I'd also suggest installing solar screens on your window to cut down the sun coming in your windows.

 

Oh, we also spent a lot of time in the neighborhood pool. And she did a lot of microwave/crockpot cooking in the summer. And sandwiches.

[dlcricket]

Just curious, but what is your home made of?

 

We're in a temporary house of wood and sheetrock while we build. Our permanent house will be cement block. No houses here have insulation of any kind or a/c. I think if you're not used to going in and out of the coolness of an air-conditioned environment, your body adjusts to the heat better. Many people world-wide have lived for centuries in the heat without a/c.

 

[Slartibartfast]

To compare, I looked up the average humidity in the most humid month where I live (in the north) and compared it to a randomly selected southern city (Ocala, Florida).  Our average low humidity in that month is 77% and in Ocala it is 72%.  So to say it's not as humid in the north...not true.

 

I think it generally depends on the area. Where I am it is generally not usually as humid as some other places in the south and we have a lot of cool, lovely days. This city is in the foothills of the Appalachians, with many small hills, and that does affect the weather. We just had about two weeks straight of gloomy days where the rain was only interrupted by periods of ghastly humidity. 

 

Today it is 82 with 66% humidity, it is nice. It already rained today once and may rain again later.

 

We do have AC but I turned it off and plan to leave it off for now since it is supposed to be 71 tonight. It's going to be in the 90s later this week and I will likely turn it on then.

[freesia]

Seriously, how do you do it? We are w/o ac for a while and it is going to be mid 90's with 80 and up percent humidity for next few days.

If you have a ceiling attic, open it to let hot air escape. If you can put a box fan in an attic window to blow the hot air out, all the better. Close as many drapes as possible. Consider covering windows on the sunny side of your house with blankets. Spray water on yourself. Don't try to do much of anything. Hang out on the lowest level.

 

And, try to get to the pool (or even spray each other with the hose). We have also hung out in libraries for a break or gone to restaurants (both so I didn't have to cook and so we could cool off).

 

Disclosure: I do not currently live in the south. I did grow up in DC and some of the time did not have air conditioning. Presently, the heat index is in the mid 90s where I do live. We FINALLY have an air conditioning unit on each level of our house and don't use the above recs. :-)

[freesia]

Well.. people lived in these areas before air conditioning was invented!

 

I, too, am not quite sure how.

 

I grew up in Houston and though we had a/c, we didn't use it much at all.

 

My dad installed an attic fan and my mom went around opening windows/closing windows depending on time of day to help the attic fan do its best. 

These days, I'd also suggest installing solar screens on your window to cut down the sun coming in your windows.

 

Oh, we also spent a lot of time in the neighborhood pool. And she did a lot of microwave/crockpot cooking in the summer. And sandwiches.

But run the crockpot in the garage bc I can tell the rise in heat even from the crockpot. The grill is also your friend.

 

And DO NOT run the dishwasher or drier until late evening--and only if you must. Line dry if you can.

[beaners]

We're an even longer drive than the library, but if you want to come enjoy our AC (I mean visit us, of course) just let me know!

[Greta Lea]

I grew up in North Mississippi without A/C. We had a window fan and a couple of powerful floor flans. Of course, we also kept the windows open.

 

During the day, we seemed to be outs de most of the time working in our HUGE garden or mowing/weeding our HUGE yard. If we had peas or beans to shell or corn to chuck or cut off the cob, we'd sit under the shade trees in our backyard.

 

I remember laying in our swing in the backyard reading, then falling asleep a lot of summer afternoons (fond memories:).

 

We had a picnic table under the shade trees where we ate lunch pretty often.

 

At night we slept with the windows open, fan going and just a sheet to cover with. My sibs and I liked to sleep on the back porch sometimes too when we were a bit older.

 

The worst part was when I began wearing makeup when I was about 13yo.  It pretty much melted off my face before we ever left the house (thankfully, by that time we did have a car with A/C...I don't remember not having a car without A/C, but I'm sure we had one without it when I was really little).

 

Honestly, I think a body gets used to it after a while. I mean you still sweat when it's stinkin' hot, but you can just think and function in that kind of heat once you get used to it.

 

After we all got married and/or left home, my parents began to run the window unit we'd had all along. Right after my 19yo ds was born (first g/baby for them) they had installed a heating/cooling unit.

 

Now, I freeze at their house:)!LOL

[xixstar]

Today. 97 outside. 85 inside. Humidity only 65%

Not worth it to turn on the a/c window unit today. It is actually still fine inside because humidity isn't too high today.

 

How this works:

- shrubbery on south side house allowed to grow big and wild for shade

- large tree on north side for shade (leaves out late and drops them early, perfect north side tree)

- windows have blinds and curtains and heavy drapes pulled closed on south side of house. These won't be opened until cool fall weather appears.

- rest of windows closed during day and open with fans pull in colder air at night if cool, or they stay closed if it doesn't cool off.

- place box fans on opposing sides of sitting area during day

- don't cook hot foods or use pressure cooker to reduce cook time. Never use oven in summer.

- be very thankful to have window units in bedrooms for sleeping.

- don't be overly active on brutal days and leave house when needed.

 

Our summer has actually been nice this year. Lots of storms keeping tips down. I have really appreciated it. Not looking forward to the heat coming to stay.

[Slartibartfast]

That's a good point Xixstar, a lot of newer neighborhoods don't have as many large trees to help keep things cooler. 

[MomtoCandJ]

Mobile homes sick in summer, it's like being in an oven! Luckily in the one we own we have a window unit and lots of trees to shade the house. Running the a/c today because its hot and humid but most days we don't need it.

[mamaraby]

Not in the south, but the midwest and we're in a one week's nice, the next week's hot and humid pattern. Last year with the drought it was just hot all the time. The big trees part is actually kind of important. I live in an older neighborhood with big maples and there is a marked difference between the temperatures here and those in the newer part of town. Sometimes we'll avoid leaving home just so we can stay in the neighborhood. It's *that* noticeable.

[FriedClams]

When comparing northern to southern heat, one thing to keep in mind is that a northern heat wave may be as hot as the south, but for a week, not from April to October. I spent a summer in Vermont once when I was in college and experienced a week's worth of what was, at the time, record heat for Montpelier. The locals kept asking me if it ever got that hot in Alabama. Sweetie, you have no idea. But it WAS a miserable week because nothing was air conditioned, even the cars. There was no relief anywhere in town except the grocery store, and one can only stretch that out for so long.

I live in Mississippi but travel to New York and Massachusetts a lot. It just makes me laugh when they're all stressing out about 90 for a week. Try months. Right now it's 86 and I'm outside on my porch. It's not screened, but I am in the shade. It's absolutely lovely. And despite being a Boston-bred Yankee, I won't consider swimming unless it's over 90. Otherwise it's too cold. ;-)

[Deee]

I've had to use a temperature converter to understand this conversation because we use celsius here in Oz.  I have to say I'm horrified by your profligate power use!  We have hot summers in outer Sydney.  35 (about 95) is a reprieve.  30 degrees (85) is almost unheard of.  We have runs of days over 40 (104 F) with high humidity.  We have a 37 degree rule at our house: if its not 37 (98.5) you are not allowed to use the air con.  Even then, it usually only goes on a night.  We have a window unit that cools the lounge and bedrooms.  It physically hurts me to turn it on because it uses soooo  much power (and we have solar panels on the roof).  I just hate it.  But I also hate the heat.  We turned on the air con 5 times last summer.

 

How do we cope? We have an old house with small windows, we close up the house during the day (I'm obsessive about this), we've planted lots of trees, we eat cool foods or quick stir fries and drink a lot of water, we do outside activities in the early morning and late afternoon, we avoid other peoples air con, which only makes you feel worse when you leave, we use fans and vent our roof space, we shade the house with external blinds and verandahs and we take cool showers ((but only once a day because summer is water rationing time).  And we suck it up.  This is where we live.  If we can't take it, we probably need to move.

D

[Melissa in Australia]

we don't have an air conditioner. what we do is have the house open during the night to let the cool air in. then shut the house up, close the blinds during the day. I also have found that when it is over 40 oC it helps to mop the floor.  You get use to it. running an air conditioner just heats up the planet. :coolgleamA:

[Dana]

we don't have an air conditioner. what we do is have the house open during the night to let the cool air in. then shut the house up, close the blinds during the day. I also have found that when it is over 40 oC it helps to mop the floor. You get use to it. running an air conditioner just heats up the planet. :coolgleamA:

I grew up in central SC in a house built in the 1920s, so no AC.

We had window units in the living room, kitchen, and my parents' bedroom.

In the summer, only the front two rooms would have the window unit on...doors closed. At night, you sweated...especially if you were afraid and needed to be hidden under covers. We did get ceiling fans when I was in 7th or 8th grade and that helped a lot.

 

So I can handle heat pretty well at this point and wear sweaters when it's in the 70s often.

 

Due to allergies here though, we CAN'T have windows open....as it is, according to the allergist, we should have the AC set lower than we do (typically 82). It drives me nuts in the spring and fall not to be able to get a breeze through the house, but we'd really pay for it with reactions and the need for medications :(

[JennyD]

I grew up in a house in NJ with no air conditioning.  It was hot but manageable.  Lots of shade trees and the temps drop quite a bit at night, which helps a ton.  And there are really only a few weeks out of the year that are crazy hot.

 

Now I live in TN.  But there is no way I would agree to live here if we did not have A/C.  As others have said, the summers are just too long.  I also can't get used to going outside at 10pm and it still being hot.  Or the thunderstorms that do not cool things off at all, just make the air more humid.

 

My neighbor down the street is in her 60s and was recently telling me about her childhood summers spent at her grandmother's farm in rural Tennessee.  She said when it was time to go to bed her grandmother would drench sheets in cold water, drape them over her and her sister, and then fan the children until they fell asleep.

[KungFuPanda]

I could live without AC. I have coping skills! I grew up without it, did Basic Training at Ft Jackson, and was stationed at Ft Stewart, GA. It CAN get miserable sometimes, but you learn to work around it. You do things early, find a swimming hole, keep the rooms dark during the day, reverse the directions of the fans at night, change how you cook, there ARE tricks. We didn't have AC all last summer, but we managed. If it were a regular thing, I'd set up a summer LR in the (non-walkout) basement. It's always cool down there. I did grow up in the woods and I'm surrounded by mature trees now. I'm not sure how it would work without trees.

 

Our AC is fixed this year. I'm freezing, but the rest of my family is happier. They like it as much for cutting the humidity as for cooling.

[lamolina]

We live very far south, as in South America. Almost no one here has heat or AC and we would use both if we had them! It

gets very hot in the summer and quite chilly in the winter. We just have to use fans and cold showers!