[P Andrews]

Absolutely and thank you!

[Jo48]

I have lived in the North many, many times without heat. As a little girl when the landlord didn't gve us heat, I slept in my coat. We renovated our house in February. Not only wedidn't have heat, we didn't have a back wall for 3 days. I could take that. I just wore more clothes. What do you do when it's HOT? Back in the 50s, they didn't have home AC. I HATED it. I took a lot of cold showers as a kid, went to AC stores and movies, but summers only lasted a few months. I've been in Florida for 4 years and each year the AC setting gets lower and lower. I have found that when I go North to see my kids, my tolerance for COLD has even increased. I went out in the blizzard 2 years ago with just an Irish sweater on. The cold feels so good now. I take cold showers in Florida and just love SHIVERING when I get out. Don't believe it when they say ALL old people dislike the cold. Not this old person. Having lived through both, no heat and no AC, I will take the no heat.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Jo48

I have lived in the North many, many times without heat. As a little girl when the landlord didn't gve us heat, I slept in my coat. We renovated our house in February. Not only wedidn't have heat, we didn't have a back wall for 3 days. I could take that. I just wore more clothes. What do you do when it's HOT? Back in the 50s, they didn't have home AC. I HATED it. I took a lot of cold showers as a kid, went to AC stores and movies, but summers only lasted a few months. I've been in Florida for 4 years and each year the AC setting gets lower and lower. I have found that when I go North to see my kids, my tolerance for COLD has even increased. I went out in the blizzard 2 years ago with just an Irish sweater on. The cold feels so good now. I take cold showers in Florida and just love SHIVERING when I get out. Don't believe it when they say ALL old people dislike the cold. Not this old person. Having lived through both, no heat and no AC, I will take the no heat.

Have you had your thyroid checked? I'm not being a wiseguy but I wonder about that. My father hated the heat and it was getting worse. He lives in Florida. It was his thyroid. They zapped it and he loves Florida now.

When I lived in Florida I had the opposite problem with my thyroid. I was cold all the time so it worked out.

[Jo48]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Have you had your thyroid checked? I'm not being a wiseguy but I wonder about that. My father hated the heat and it was getting worse. He lives in Florida. It was his thyroid. They zapped it and he loves Florida now.

When I lived in Florida I had the opposite problem with my thyroid. I was cold all the time so it worked out.

Thyroid pills won't make me love Florida. I am a Northern "girl" and miss my Seasons, nevermind my kids. Fall and Winter are my favorite Seasons and always have been. I am just sick of seeing green and palm trees year round. No pill is going to change that.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Jo48

Thyroid pills won't make me love Florida. I am a Northern "girl" and miss my Seasons, nevermind my kids. Fall and Winter are my favorite Seasons and always have been. I am just sick of seeing green and palm trees year round. No pill is going to change that.

Oh, that part I understand. We didn't leave Florida because of weather. We love having the four seasons "lite" but that is not the reason we left.

I'm just worried about you. Your body should at least be acclimating. Instead you are feeling hotter. If that continues you could become very ill.

[Mike1306]

This thread could just as easily have been, Go without a phone, cable, internet, computers, microwave, running water.
A/C is just another technological advancement that makes the lives of some more convenient. I personally wouldn't care if I had A/C but keep it on 82 during the summer and this is more to protect the household than for myself.
I have had the A/C off for about 3-4 weeks now and it will stay like that until usually May or so. So I have it on for 5 months and off for 7, there may be some time in there that we have company so it may end up about a 50/50 split of the year.
As always, if you think the warmth is a terrible thing then you shouldn't be in Florida. And before the posts start, yes, I understand not everyone can just move but there are many that should not have moved here in the first place or have been here for 20 years and should have been able to figure out a way to move by now.

[MartinEden99]

Yeah, there are a lot of factors that go into how long you have to run your AC as well.

If you have a home in a new development, odds are you wont have mature trees to shade your property so your AC will run more than those that do (and have a lot more opportunity to open the windows). Same with the amenities you have available. If you spend a lot of time outside, the AC will feel quite cold to you when you come back inside. If you have a pool (or easy access to one) and can jump in and you'll feel much cooler in general even after you dry off. Certainly being in good shape will help as well if you fin you're not handling the heat well...I happen to sweat more than most even when I'm in my best shape, but certainly I sweat less the better shape I'm in.

As Mike said...you could ask people to go without a lot of amenities we have in society today. And most people won't do it just because they don't have to. But if you had to...most people without predisposed health issues could survive very easily in Florida with no AC. Its just another climate, of many climates in the country/world, and as such you'd live life doing things that made more sense in the climate you live in.

[ncstate09]

Spent plenty of days without A/C in the summer (in NC). It sucked.
Also spent days without heat in the winter in NC. That sucked harder.

People have lived in FL and the south pre air conditioning. Try living in the northeast without heat. I know which of the two I'd prefer.

Even in the hottest day in Florida, max 3 minutes for your air conditioner to get the car cool. Takes like what 20+ minutes to get your car warm (and maybe another hour to get it unstuck) on the worst days of winter up north.

[jp03]

Originally Posted by ncstate09

Spent plenty of days without A/C in the summer (in NC). It sucked.
Also spent days without heat in the winter in NC. That sucked harder.

People have lived in FL and the south pre air conditioning. Try living in the northeast without heat. I know which of the two I'd prefer.

Even in the hottest day in Florida, max 3 minutes for your air conditioner to get the car cool. Takes like what 20+ minutes to get your car warm (and maybe another hour to get it unstuck) on the worst days of winter up north.

But this goes without saying! Of COURSE it would be harder to deal with no heat on a bitter cold night. I don't think that was the OP's point though. It was simply if you say the heat does not bother you then live without AC all summer. How did this thread turn into a northern heat thing...? I love the cold and there is NO way I would live in winter with no heat.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by MartinEden99

Yeah, there are a lot of factors that go into how long you have to run your AC as well.

If you have a home in a new development, odds are you wont have mature trees to shade your property so your AC will run more than those that do (and have a lot more opportunity to open the windows). Same with the amenities you have available. If you spend a lot of time outside, the AC will feel quite cold to you when you come back inside. If you have a pool (or easy access to one) and can jump in and you'll feel much cooler in general even after you dry off. Certainly being in good shape will help as well if you fin you're not handling the heat well...I happen to sweat more than most even when I'm in my best shape, but certainly I sweat less the better shape I'm in.

As Mike said...you could ask people to go without a lot of amenities we have in society today. And most people won't do it just because they don't have to. But if you had to...most people without predisposed health issues could survive very easily in Florida with no AC. Its just another climate, of many climates in the country/world, and as such you'd live life doing things that made more sense in the climate you live in.

Disagree. If you asked most people in FL would they live here without A/C the answer would be a resounding NO WAY.

You're also forgetting the mold issue. You run A/C not only to keep your house cool but to keep it dry and free of mold.

It's not just another climate. It is a hot and humid climate most of the year.

I don't care what kind of shape you're in. If you have to get dressed and go to work in the morning(especially in a white collar job) you need to be able to shower, dry yourself off, and not start sweating as you're trying to get dressed.

In order to do that here you need the A/C on most of the year.