Air Conditioning?? (Seattle: home, live, floor)

[VeronikaW]

Originally Posted by Moon Waffle

This thread cracks me up...the lack of A/C is one of the most bizzarre, ridiculous things I ever experienced while living 6 years in Seattle.

There is a funny little cycle in the Puget Sound:

1) It rains for 9 months.
2) People get sick of this weather and "can't wait" for summer.
2) Summer finally arives in July, the sun comes out, and it warms up into the 80's.
3) People can't sleep at night because of the heat, they complain about it and look forward to cloud cover and a day of summer rain to "cool things down".

Repeat cycle.

It's RIDICULOUS that people in this area try to convince themselves that A/C "really isn't needed". Such bull. Live with A/C for a while and you'll quickly realize that if you had it in Seattle, you'd use it a lot more than one or two weeks a year.

Your house is supposed to be a place of comfort - a place where you can go to relax and feel good! Not a place you avoid until "the sun goes down", and then sit around and sweat buckets, pray for rain, and have to leave the windows open with 5 fans running all night so you can listen in on your neighbor's conversations (among other things) who also have their windows open all night long.

ABSOLUTELY. RIDICULOUS.

Amen. My neighbors smoke outside, so since we have to have the windows open, it all pours into our house, because we have fans in the windows. The trash guys come twice a week, and without fail wake my baby because the windows are open. Then one day a week, its the gardeners and they wake up my baby. So three days a week, my baby is getting woken up early, and his schedule gets thrown off. I'd kill not to have to have my stupid windows open all the time, just so we can breathe in the house.

V. =)

[jenlion]

Originally Posted by Moon Waffle

... and have to leave the windows open with 5 fans running all night so you can listen in on your neighbor's conversations (among other things) who also have their windows open all night long....

Well, there is one benefit to it being so hot that having windows open isn't enough, you need five fans.

The five fans do serve to drown out your neighbor's conversations and the other things.

Well, at least I'm hoping they do.

I know my powerwashing neighbor doesn't bug me when I'm dripping sweat and have a fan behind my head blasting into my ear.

BTW, we've gotten a few quotes on replacing our furnace and adding a heat pump. The quotes literally range from $3k to $18-f-ing-k. Wow.

[tada]

Originally Posted by Moon Waffle

This thread cracks me up...the lack of A/C is one of the most bizzarre, ridiculous things I ever experienced while living 6 years in Seattle.

There is a funny little cycle in the Puget Sound:

1) It rains for 9 months.
2) People get sick of this weather and "can't wait" for summer.
2) Summer finally arives in July, the sun comes out, and it warms up into the 80's.
3) People can't sleep at night because of the heat, they complain about it and look forward to cloud cover and a day of summer rain to "cool things down".

Repeat cycle.

It's RIDICULOUS that people in this area try to convince themselves that A/C "really isn't needed". Such bull. Live with A/C for a while and you'll quickly realize that if you had it in Seattle, you'd use it a lot more than one or two weeks a year.

Your house is supposed to be a place of comfort - a place where you can go to relax and feel good! Not a place you avoid until "the sun goes down", and then sit around and sweat buckets, pray for rain, and have to leave the windows open with 5 fans running all night so you can listen in on your neighbor's conversations (among other things) who also have their windows open all night long.

ABSOLUTELY. RIDICULOUS.

I don't have trouble sleeping unless we get a heat wave and it's 90+ degrees, which is hot to most people.

For me the cycle is:
1. It rains for 9 months, usually around November and December I contemplate suicide. The holiday season sucks enough without Seattle weather; with it, it's plain unbearable.
2. I get sick of this weather and can't wait for summer. Not quotes.
3. Summer finally arrives.
4. In September, I know the end is near and panic.

Thank god that in March, I have a chance to break the cycle.

[dcoolbro]

In my first apartment I lived on the first floor so those rare hot days in Seattle didn't bother me at all since heat travels up. But when I moved to a third floor apartment the heat did become somewhat annoying. But the fan was enough for me. I guess we all have different tolerences. Here in Houston you can't survive without the AC.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by Moon Waffle

This thread cracks me up...the lack of A/C is one of the most bizzarre, ridiculous things I ever experienced while living 6 years in Seattle.

There is a funny little cycle in the Puget Sound:

1) It rains for 9 months.
2) People get sick of this weather and "can't wait" for summer.
2) Summer finally arives in July, the sun comes out, and it warms up into the 80's.
3) People can't sleep at night because of the heat, they complain about it and look forward to cloud cover and a day of summer rain to "cool things down".

Repeat cycle.

It's RIDICULOUS that people in this area try to convince themselves that A/C "really isn't needed". Such bull. Live with A/C for a while and you'll quickly realize that if you had it in Seattle, you'd use it a lot more than one or two weeks a year.

Your house is supposed to be a place of comfort - a place where you can go to relax and feel good! Not a place you avoid until "the sun goes down", and then sit around and sweat buckets, pray for rain, and have to leave the windows open with 5 fans running all night so you can listen in on your neighbor's conversations (among other things) who also have their windows open all night long.

ABSOLUTELY. RIDICULOUS.

For many people A/C is not needed. My home for instance stays comfortable on all but the hottest days...and I'm talking about those couple of days when it is in the upper 90's. Some years we don't even get temperatures like that.

I don't need to try and convince myself that A/C is not needed here, I know that for me and many, many others it is not needed...

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by seattlerain

For many people A/C is not needed. My home for instance stays comfortable on all but the hottest days...and I'm talking about those couple of days when it is in the upper 90's. Some years we don't even get temperatures like that.

I don't need to try and convince myself that A/C is not needed here, I know that for me and many, many others it is not needed...

I second seattlerain's post. My body and mind can't take heat -- anything over 70 and I start getting unhappy. I installed ceiling fans everywhere in my home, instead of A/C, and often don't need the fans because I keep the windows closed and covered during the day. Every night at sunset I open all the windows and let that COLD marine wind blow through the house on its own (no fans needed) and cool everything overnight, down to the studs in the walls. Works very well. For over 20 years I've been comfortable and happy in summer, and sleep like a baby.

[vnodak]

My house is well insulated so it keeps the heat in so when it is warm outside, my house heats up and stays that way. We have a heat pump and have it on automatic so when the temp in the house goes above 72, then the AC goes on and when it drops below 67, then the heat goes on. I find that the heat hardly ever goes on in the summer and that the AC runs quite a bit more than I would have thought in the summer. It is so nice to have and I might add, it is a real money saver. Our bill was cut by a third a month. I also might add that I keep the windows shut do to allergies and noise so for me this is great.

[seattlenextyear]

72 is a really low temperature to keep the A/C at, much lower than the recommended temp for energy conservation (I think around 77-78).

[CityGirl72]

Originally Posted by allforcats

anything over 70 and I start getting unhappy..

Anything UNDER 70 and I'm miserable - you can tell I should not live here.

I'm foggy today too so I haven't posted but I swear it boogles my mind to hear people say that over 70 it gets uncomfortable. I beg all year long for warmth...

[vnodak]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

72 is a really low temperature to keep the A/C at, much lower than the recommended temp for energy conservation (I think around 77-78).

I am old and almost dead. I spent alot of money to get an energy efficient system so that I would be using less energy and if my bills are a reflextion of that, then I am conserving less energy than before.