Air Conditioning: Can we get through without it? (Denver, Boulder: apartments, renting) - City-Data Forum

gottagetoutanj · 05-24-2012, 03:16 PM

Coming from the NY area, air conditioning is a must in the Summer months (high heat and obnoxious humidity), but based on what I’ve been reading on the climate in Boulder (in the city) it seems we could get by without it…warm/hot days, cool nights and without the humidity. Am I way off base here and would we be miserable without AC? Welcome any thoughts or experience. Thanks!

Neditate · 05-24-2012, 03:38 PM

Many homes/apartments do not have A/C. I lived in Boulder for 15 years and did without for the first 10. We first got a window unit but eventually put in central air mainly because I was working from home. I hate the heat and our last few summers in town were very hot (90s/100s). Yes, it is a dry heat but it is hot nonetheless. Only you can determine if you need it or not.

Meowen · 05-24-2012, 03:38 PM

I'm originally from Michigan, this will be my first summer here and I believe it's definitely doable. No humidity and cool nights in the 50's even in the summer. We've had a couple days pushing 90 already and I didn't turn on the A/C and didn't even break a sweat in the house.

BadKittehs · 05-24-2012, 03:59 PM

Some days and nights can be REALLY hot, even tho it's a dry heat. My husband is from San Antonio and it even gets to him at times. We no longer use our central air in our apartment because a $200 Xcel bill for a tiny apartment is ridiculous. We bought a couple of portable evaporative coolers and that has worked fine for us for two summers now.

infinitylove · 05-24-2012, 04:02 PM

I am from Colorado. I've never had AC although I have used window units. If you make sure to close your windows and the shades during the day and then open them when you get home from work that helps significantly.

suzco · 05-24-2012, 04:46 PM

There are some factors to consider - things like exposure, i.e. are you south or southwest facing, or are you north facing; are there trees providing shade; is it one story or two story; is it top floor in a multiunit building, etc.

Issues like these greatly affect whether you need air conditioning to be comfortable.

Neditate · 05-24-2012, 06:02 PM

Suzco is right regarding all the factors affecting the "necessity" of A/C.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meowen

I'm originally from Michigan, this will be my first summer here and I believe it's definitely doable. No humidity and cool nights in the 50's even in the summer. We've had a couple days pushing 90 already and I didn't turn on the A/C and didn't even break a sweat in the house.

Just wait until the July heatwave.

When you have several days in a row of upper 90s/100 the nights don't cool down into the 50s.
http://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu/pdfs/...2005_final.pdf

jkcoop · 05-25-2012, 08:24 AM

Neditate is right - the issue is when there is a string of hot, hot days and the nights don't cool down. Our bedroom is on an upper floor and it can be miserable in that situation, even with a ceiling fan going.

We did do without ac for years but I don't know - maybe we got older and less tolerant but we eventually put one in. We don't run it a lot, but are really glad we have it for when it's really hot.

OhioToCO · 05-25-2012, 09:47 AM

I was asking pretty much the same question here when we were moving a year ago: Boulder Without Air Conditioning
We ended up renting a house with central AC, and I'm grateful. We do not rely on the AC as much as we were living in Midwest, but there are still a week or two in July when you really-really like your AC

My advice is - if you are looking for a temporary situation (i.e. renting for a year) then AC is not a factor, you can tough it out for several weeks, but make sure to follow the advice given above - close your blinds in the morning and keep your windows open during the night. If this is something more permanent, I would get the AC, at least, eventually, if not right away.

CosmicWizard · 05-25-2012, 10:34 AM

As mentioned by several posters, it's a matter of personal preference. I live in the desert of western Colorado where it is usually a few degrees hotter than the front range. During the 6 summers I've lived here, there have been only about 30 days in that timespan, when I wished that my house had AC instead of a swamp cooler. AC is not worth the extra expense in my mind.