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Well, I have heard that until the advent of a/c, the death rates in the south were higher than in the north and this has been attributed, at least, to a/c making the difference.
i'm not sure when A/C became common, but these health improvements may have been due to the eradication of malaria in the deep south in the 1930's-40's.
I don't think many folks understand just how dangerous heat can be. I'll bet that, without AC, there would be far fewer residents in the Southwest and Southern states. I don't doubt at all that heat killed many people in the south before AC came along. Quite a number of people still die each year from heat strokes or heat-related maladies. I, for one, have a very hard time functioning normally in high-heat situations. And I'm in good shape. My body just doesn't tolerate heat so well... on the other hand, it functions during the cold winters very well--but then, I've always been into winter activities.
I think with a lot of the new construction going on now, especially in apartment buildings, there are not as many windows as there was back in the day, when law stated windows are to be in every room for light and ventilation.
Now apartments are built and bathrooms never have windows, kitchens are combined with living rooms and have maybe 2 windows if your lucky...Most apartments now do not even have cross ventilation, as each unit is facing one direction,then you get the apartments with walls of glass, and nothing opens, why?? because the builders know everyone uses a/c.
So air circulation unfortunetely seems to be a thing of the past.
Oh, I agree... is not only you. I do too feel sometimes "hypothermic" when the A/C is set to low. Some stores have it that way. People in the offices tend to put it on low 60's ( hot flashes or whatever is the excuse). So there is no question about A/C good or not, but the best settings that makes you feel comfortable. I think that in the morning when most people are rested and full of energy - a little lower temperature is ok, but then by the end of the day, when tired, is best to rise the temperature few degrees. At least it works for me...
office a/c is the worst, I'm always warm, my co worker wears a sweater, he has his a/c vent covered, mine is open...upstairs is hot down is cold, some office are stuffy, some are drafty...ugh
The best temperature is when you do not notice if you are hot or cold, meaning feeling neither way, that is the best temperature....usually 72 works good for our family.
Well I wonder if I'm the first to post on this thread in August in New Orleans. There is no debate, A/C is life or death for many people down here. Work outside in the heat and it's rough. You have to literely drink buckets of cold water and know when to back off and take breaks. They go as far to give us AC break rooms and not much complaint when we take breaks. Every now and then a contractor from up north will get a bid and come down to show us southern boy's how to do it. It ain't nuthen nice, heat stroke aint no joke. During our recent oil spill cleanup I watched local TV as reporters complained about how oil cleanup workers were taking many long breaks while cleaning up oil on the beaches, course they were being made to wear tyvec suits. We at time have to weAR TYVEC SUITS TO DO SOME JOBS. Are all TV reporters this stupid when reporting the news. Give the a Tyvec suit and let them go up and down the beach with a shovel on a August day cleaning up oil for a week or so and let them report the same story, it would be completely different from the storyies they reported before. Just My 2 cents
Well I wonder if I'm the first to post on this thread in August in New Orleans. There is no debate, A/C is life or death for many people down here. Work outside in the heat and it's rough. You have to literely drink buckets of cold water and know when to back off and take breaks. They go as far to give us AC break rooms and not much complaint when we take breaks. Every now and then a contractor from up north will get a bid and come down to show us southern boy's how to do it. It ain't nuthen nice, heat stroke aint no joke. During our recent oil spill cleanup I watched local TV as reporters complained about how oil cleanup workers were taking many long breaks while cleaning up oil on the beaches, course they were being made to wear tyvec suits. We at time have to weAR TYVEC SUITS TO DO SOME JOBS. Are all TV reporters this stupid when reporting the news. Give the a Tyvec suit and let them go up and down the beach with a shovel on a August day cleaning up oil for a week or so and let them report the same story, it would be completely different from the storyies they reported before. Just My 2 cents
I agree, I work construction in Missouri. I drink about a gallon of water a day during the summer, and sometimes you have to take a break. On my lunch break, the AC from the truck/restaurant helps make the day tolerable. A little while to cool down goes a long way.
I'm skeptical that anyone "needs" A/C. Does it feel nice? Sure. I don't know that it's "bad" for you (it does dry out my eyes when I walk into a business that has it on though). But I think it's a luxury.
I live right outside Death Valley. It's a rare day in the summer for the temp not to get above 100. No one I know around here has air conditioning in their house (we do have swamp coolers and fans). No one in town has died of the heat this summer yet. It does get to 95 in my house by early evening sometimes, but I don't die. I get a glass of cold water or iced tea. I take a shower maybe. I read on here about people insisting you need A/C over 80 degrees... sheesh. I wouldn't even think about putting the fan on if it was only 80. And yes, it does go down to the single digits in the winter here, so it's not just that everyone here is used to high heat year round.
I guess places with high humidity in addition to the heat are a little different, but still... if human beings needed A/C then those places would never have been settled, at least not before the invention of A/C.
I guess places with high humidity in addition to the heat are a little different, but still... if human beings needed A/C then those places would never have been settled, at least not before the invention of A/C.
"Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play"
You are kidding, right? Death Valley is the driest place on the continent having an average humidity in August of less than 30% and you are surprised that its comfortable there even with an average August temperature of 85?
Do you know that Springfield Mo has an average August daytime humidity of almost 90%?
"A little different . . ."
Last edited by Wilson513; 08-08-2010 at 05:22 PM..
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And yes, it does go down to the single digits in the winter here, so it's not just that everyone here is used to high heat year round. 
