Renting a house with No AC or Swamp Cooler -- Strategies on surviving. (Denver: townhomes, neighborhood)

[Norrov]

Originally Posted by Quietude

It's unbearable a lot more than two weeks of the year. But if you've got a shaded house and are at work most of the daylight hours, I guess it seems bearable.

It's also not going to get any cooler here, nor summer any shorter.

I grew up in eastern NE without AC.
That’s unbearable. It’s just slightly uncomfortable here. Ha

Either way, window units and fans are pretty cheap, should be able to get them for next to nothing off Facebook or craigslist. Maybe OP can get a quote to get CA installed and work out a payment plan along with his rent. Some dude did that in a property I rent out up north. He sent me a quote and asked if he could just add 300/Mo to the rent til his share is paid off. we split costs since it’ll help me in the future too.

I just added it to his lease, granted the guy already had my trust after living there awhile.

[Quietude]

Originally Posted by Norrov

I grew up in eastern NE without AC.
That’s unbearable. It’s just slightly uncomfortable here. Ha

Way too long in North California, 100+ degree days most of four months. Followed by six years in New England... 4-5 months of 85 degrees, 100% humidity with no letup, day or night, for days at a time.

Even though it's more moderate here, I don't regard cooling as something for sissies who can't take it.

[sheerbliss]

I'm surprised nobody has suggested going to the mountains when it's hot.

[whoisjongalt]

Denver is miserable in the summer without some kind of AC. You should just get 1 or 2 portable AC units (the kind that have a window insert with a hose). They are great for cooling off individual rooms!

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by sheerbliss

I'm surprised nobody has suggested going to the mountains when it's hot.

Exactly.
Doesn't everyone own a mountain home?
This is 'Murica. Get with the program.

[Count David]

I have lived without A/C in metro Denver since 2009.

First was in a north-facing apartment. Yeah, still brutal. Lots and lots of fans, and a few portables.

The house I've lived in since 2014 doesn't have it either. Faces west, on a hill. Bakes the living room all summer. We have a window unit for the living room, and one for our bedroom, as well as a portable for our home office. They all do the trick.

[TinaTwo]

I’d never rent a house without AC. It’s easier to get warm than to get cool. I want to come home to a cool house after working all day.

[Count David]

Re: the cost

Our window unit A/C's don't seem to move our electric bill in a bad direction during the summer. Our highest Xcel bills are in the winter, and even then they rarely exceed $150 (2600 sq ft including the full basement).

[TCHP]

I'm not familiar with the layout of the area, construction type, or age of houses around Sloans Lake area.

Suffice it to say, it varies all over the metro as to whether or not a place is livable without ac. Places with a lot of large trees may manage better than places with fewer trees. Some older construction, like turn of the last century old, do a better job at convection cooling than newer places, yet some older houses with plaster construction will hold on to more heat than a newer drywall house. Some places get morning shade and afternoon sun or vice-versa and this can have a big impact on how easy or difficult it is to cool it offer at the end of the day.

You could also try negotiating an install/compensation arrangement with the landlord for a fixed mount swamp cooler, if allowable within the neighborhood.

[LHS79]

Originally Posted by Count David

I have lived without A/C in metro Denver since 2009.

First was in a north-facing apartment. Yeah, still brutal. Lots and lots of fans, and a few portables.

The house I've lived in since 2014 doesn't have it either. Faces west, on a hill. Bakes the living room all summer. We have a window unit for the living room, and one for our bedroom, as well as a portable for our home office. They all do the trick.

I grew up here and we all talk about how it was cooler in the 70's and 80's and hardly anyone had A/C . We just used fans for a few weeks in those years but it was bearable - being younger probably helped too!

I have one of the large roll-around (portable) A/C units too and it works pretty well. I put the unit in my main room and it can keep the house at 76-77 when outdoors it might be in the 90's.