Central Air? (Concord: real estate, new house, construction)

[scottbros.]

We are looking at real estate in the lake region and a realtor told us that in that area central air in homes are not common because it does not get that hot. Is this true? Thanks in advance.

[nicolem]

I live in the Lakes region and have central air. I would not live without it. When we lived in Concord it got very hot and humid. Now that we live in the Lakes region, it is not as bad as Concord but we still get the hot and humid times. I guess it depends on what you can tolerate. We used to live outside Philly in SJ and it got extremely hot and humid-very oppressive. The Lakes region is no where near that but my husband and I are bothered by heat and humidity and we use it when we need it during those times-especially to get a good night's sleep. That is not to say it is on all the time as it is not and we do enjoy the many days when we can open all the windows and enjoy the nice breeze.

Even during this past summer, when we did not see the sun until August as June and July were washouts, we still had some pretty humid weather-at least humid to me.

Whenever this topic comes up, I am in the minority and most people will tell you that you don't need central air for the "few hot and humid days"- so keep that in mind.

I have noticed that the newer construction in the area has central air-at least that is what I have noticed in the real estate books and newspapers, where as the older homes do tend to not have the central air as much.

[NH2008]

It's not true. Most houses don't have central air because they're older. I think people who build new houses tend to put in a/c, although when my parents did an addition they chose not to. What is true is that the nights tend to get pretty cool so you can usually cool the house off at night, and an attic fan can work wonders. Also, people used to think of that area as really temperate in the summers but we seem to have had some pretty hot and sticky days over the past few summers.

[fishnfool]

It's not hot and humid ALL summer long like most places outside the northeast, but we definitely have a few bad weeks of temps every summer.

Some folks are willing to deal with those periods rather than install or pay extra for central air....

Like mentioned above, an attic fan would be great as the evenings are quite nice here. If I worked from home or did not spend most of the day at work I would probably want AC....not sure if I'd be willing to pay for it though.

[steveusaf]

My vote is for central air - it's worth it to me for those 2 or 3 weeks in the summer. Helps me sleep at night. Fans are OK, but you can't cool down your bedroom by running a fan after sunset (it may still be 80 degrees at that point) and expect your bedroom to be cool by 10 or 11 oclock when you go to bed. You sweat for half the night, then when the house finally cools down it's almost time to get up. I will gladly pay the extra for humidity removal and the chance to sleep well at night....

[Cindy, CA]

I think it has a lot to do with how well you can handle the heat and humidity. I, for one, do not handle either well so I will definitely be looking for a house with central air.

[SarinKilgare]

is a blessing in FL. Down here some of the "'ol timers" have found the answer to the particularly muggy/hot evening and bedtime. Put in a window or room A/C unit. Run it for about an hour before bed, works like a charm. Just make sure to dump the basin bfore you go to bed if it's an in-room unit.

[skinut74]

if sleeping in the coolness is your only problem, consider a room ac. it would be much less expensive. also look at where in the house you spend most of your awake time. again -maybe a room ac would do. remember if you have central ac and it needs repair , it is probably at a time when the weather is hot and other people also need service for their ac. with room ac i find it cheaper and know that i will have someplace to stay cool

[steveusaf]

Room A/C? Loud, especially when it's cranked up. I don't want to be lugging it in from the garage and hoisting it up into the window when I'm 70 years old, or even now for that matter. I'd need a big one for my open living room/kitchen/dining room, one for my son's room, and one for the master bedroom. That's 3 window units. I'm just tired thinking about moving all of them. If you can zone heat, I assume you can also zone A/C since they use the same ducts? I also don't like that I can't use the window when there's an A/C unit in it. I have central air in the house I'm in now, and I can't even hear it running most of the time. the whole house is nice and cool - even temp all around. I'll suck it up and pay up front...

[BF66389]

I like having central air; because I only sleep well in the cold. That said- there are only a few days where it's hot enough to "need" it and only a few weeks where you are really going to miss it (depending on where you are from...someone from south florida will probably find even the hottest/most humid days up here tolerable)

Remember too that in a house without A/C there are small units now you can get where the noisy stuff is outside but you only need a 2" hole or whatever for the lines coming into the room from outside. The name escapes me now for what they are called though.

Oh and one reason why it's hard to fall asleep when its hot is because in order to enter "sleep" your body has to cool down 1 degree. Likewise one reason it's less pleasant getting up in the cold is because your body has to warm up 1 degree to wake. For this reason you can really maximize comfort by having the room cool down just as you get ready for bed and having it warm up just before you wake...