Wait.. No A/C's? (Seattle, Pacific: hotel, buy, casinos)

[The A-Team]

I moved here from Arkansas, where we DEFINATLY had AC. I cannot stand not having AC here, i find it unbearable. I was used to/and like keeping my apartment at about 69 degrees, impossible in the summer and sometimes not possible in the winter. At my apartment, i have the option to rent a stand alone ac for 50 bucks a month, which makes it bearable, but you gotta stay kinda close to the ac lol. I keep it on all year, which keeps the temp around 70 degrees, without it even in the winter our apartment is around 74-75. I use the heater probably 2 or 3 days a year. I almost think that we need AC more than we need Heat lol, because we use it ALOT more. For natives maybe its bearable, but for someone used to AC i can say it is NOT. I used to live on Alki, and even there the breeze was not enough, and we burned up in the summer. I know natives here, and in the summer time some of them have to stay out till very late at night because it is so hot in their house, and they say it is still unbearable at night. I can say from experience that this is true, because the first year i lived here i lived on Alki with no AC, and was miserable. Just because some people think they don't need AC, doesn't mean everyone will be comfortable without it! I for one don't like sweating inside lol, I enjoy coming into a cool, comfortable home! I was unpleasantly surprised about the lack of AC when i first moved here, and it is one of the few things I will not miss when i move to San Diego. The only things I dislike about Seattle is the weather(can't stand the gloom and drizzle) and no AC.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I would say samsmom's post is more believable than nightjars'. It's more reasonable that a house would have both heat and AC than just heat. After all, Seattle does have a summer. The notion that one doesn't need air-conditioning was popular in Denver, too, when we first moved here, even though it regularly gets into the 90s in the summer. And I think that is true if you're not in the house during the day. When my kids were little and went to day care, the house would stay cool on the days I worked. When they got older and stayed home and went in and out and in and out, etc, the house would be stifling when I came home from the office.

Seattle and Denver have a completely different climate. I grew up here and I can tell you beyond any shadow of a doubt that I had never heard of central A/C either. So, I guess I just don't know what I'm talking about or maybe I'm just not being reasonable or I can't be believed.

Have you been to Seattle in the Summer...?

[MarketingGuy]

I think first investment, once home is purchased, is A/C.

I don't think I'm going to like not having A/C.

[jwb123]

But here's the thing that bothers me. If it's hot, then everyone has all their windows open. And everyone knows that everyone else's windows are open. That's a little scary, seems to me. Anyone that wants in your house need only approach with a box knife and they're in, silently. Am I just paranoid?

No you aren't paranoid... you hear about robberies that have have occured like that, in the summer, and you will also hear on the news a lot about little kids falling out of the windows in the summer - with the windows wide open, so with a young child, remember to consider that.

We used to keep our downstairs closed up at night, and *our* bedroom windows open - but the room that our 3 boys shared had both a ceiling fan and we bought a big oscillating fan and we had that on all night, so the windows stayed closed.

Originally Posted by Katiana
I would say samsmom's post is more believable than nightjars'. It's more reasonable that a house would have both heat and AC than just heat. After all, Seattle does have a summer.

I agree with Katiana. I am originally from the Northern VA/DC area, and I too was surprised to hear that homes out in Seattle didn't have AC (because having not lived here - just visited - I could not appreciate the difference in weather) - but to be confused that a house would have it? That sounds off to me - as I said, *every place else* other than a home is air conditioned in the summer time, in the PNW. It's pretty logical to think that a place known for heat and humidity, aka any location other than the PNW, would need more AC than businessess... But, whatever....

[Katiana]

To answer those who have asked, I've been to the PNW in the summer. I also know what it's like to be melting in heat while saying "You don't need air conditioning in (insert name of city here)". That is what people in Denver used to do. Any more, homes are being built with A/C here. To say you have never heard of a house with central air-conditioning is a little unbelievable, or else the poster has never even visited anywhere else. They have central air throughout most of the US.

[MarketingGuy]

Honestly, I don't think his comment was intended to be taken as literal.

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by argo69

This is true! San Francisco and Seattle are two cities in this country where the vast majority of homes (and many apartments too) can get by without a/c. I live in a second floor apartment with shady trees outside and have NEVER needed an a/c unit. Would I be more comfortable with one for those few nights of summer that get pretty warm? Sure, but if I open the windows and run my Cinni fans it's OK. If I was in a unit higher up or one with lots of direct sun I would want one though...even here in Seattle.

I noticed a lot of people mention the nights, how it cools down so sleeping isn't too uncomfortable. But having AC is not just for comfortable sleeping, but to keep the house/apartment comfortable all day and evening as well. If it climbs up to the upper 70's inside the house during the day but does cool back down at night, that's still uncomfortable during the "awake" hours. Maybe those of us in areas where we do have central AC as a standard feature just get spoiled being able to lock our indoor temperature at a comfortable setting and never have to worry about it being too warm in the heat of the afternoon, evening, or at night, because I do notice that I end up using it even in cooler weather just to keep the whole house at a uniform nice temp.
But I've got to say, I am jealous reading about how AC is even marginally necessary only a short time each summer up there, because I can't stand heat.

[wannabeaTexan]

Here's another vote for never heard of central air conditioning...at least not until a few years ago. I really never thought of air conditioning until I went to Vegas 4 years ago. Of course, I like heat, so that's probably another reason I would say you don't need a/c here. But I don't know anyone who has it.

[Katiana]

Did you never go to a mall, a movie, or an office in the summer, anywhere?

[seattlerain]

WannabeaTexan, don't you know that nothing a longtime resident of the area or native Seattleite says can be believed. Shame on you!