Do any of you use A/C in the summer? (Vancouver: big home, buy)

[MtnSurfer]

While the PNW is known more for its rain and cooler temps, I know summer can get hot. Some inland parts of CA are experiencing triple digits this week. And I see that Vancouver is supposed to hit 90s in the next week or so. Given that, do most locals simply 'tough it out' during the hotter times of the year? Or do some of succumb to a little A/C cooling?

Also, is it more common or uncommon for homes to be built with A/C?

Thanks,

Derek

[Jane917]

I am definitely on the A/C. Windows open in the AM, then A/C when the house hits 75. I think all new construction has A/C, although it is often an option.

[notnamed]

Absolutely. Have our central air set for 72 in the day and 69 at night. Live here because we hate the heat.

Central air is just recently becoming more common here. Most just have a window a/c that comes out for a month or two or get by with windows open since it cools off so quickly at night here. We could survive with that and a exchanging fan in the window if not for all the road noise from the turbo diesel trucks rolling around.

[StealthRabbit]

Whole house fan works pretty well in PNW (cool nights).

Basements are great! (winter and summer)

[USDefault]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Given that, do most locals simply 'tough it out' during the hotter times of the year? Or do some of succumb to a little A/C cooling?

When it's in the high 80s or low 90s, people start turning on the AC. Same is true if it's a hot, humid evening. Cool room = necessary for proper sleep. It's also the case around 10:00 p.m., it starts to cool off. A whole house fan, or even a big window fan, used as an exhaust could pull cool air into the rest of your home, even a big home.


We use the AC a few times a year, and I'd consider two weeks of use to be heavy for us in the PNW.

Also, is it more common or uncommon for homes to be built with A/C?

I think it's pretty common for homes to have AC, including central air. Most homes will have natural gas forced air heating and ductwork. This makes it easy and cost-effective to throw in a central air conditioner -- it uses the same duct work and registers.


Also, electricity is very cheap in Washington state, and especially southern Washington (which is why all the crypto miners set up shop here). We have one low base rate in Vancouver/Camas/Washougal, and our utility is customer-owned and no profit is built in to the rates. When I run the big central air unit, the impact on the bill is minimal.


Contrast this with southern California: you get annihilated with California's "tiered electricity pricing" - if you use more, you pay much, much more. No exaggeration, for a 1700 sq. foot house, our electricity bill could be $500 to $600 a month when we ran the central AC. It absolutely sucked, because the California utilities are profit-driven publicly-traded companies, and a major ripoff. There's a reason Californians pay $30,000 to install big solar systems -- to avoid gouging.


So this is one big plus to living in Washington state, and Vancouver/Camas/Washougal/southern Washington. Water, natural gas, and electricity rates are reasonable, and I'd go so far as to say the cost is low compared to many other states.

[texasdiver]

Most older houses don' have AC (or at least central air). They might have the old fashioned window units that someone put in.

Most newer upscale houses are now built with central air and heating. As USDefault notes, they use the same ductwork. When we were shopping for homes in the Camas area 2 years ago we only came across one house that didn't have AC installed. It had a the standard HVAC system setup with circulation fans and gas furnace. They just never had the AC component installed.

Honestly we just leave the windows open and it is mostly pleasant. The mornings are cool and nice. On a hot summer day I might close windows in late afternoon when the outside temperature exceeds the inside temp. On a really hot day I might run the AC for an hour or so in the evening to cool the house down before going to bed because I like it cooler when I sleep. But that is infrequent. Usually just opening the windows at night and turning on the ceiling fan is enough. So far this summer I think I've only turned on the AC 2 or 3 times but it hasn't been very hot this year so far.

If we did not have AC I'd probably buy an additional fan or two from Costco to push air through the house at night but that's about it. I most likely would not invest much money in installing AC. My parents in Salem don't have it and don't seem to mind. We never had it growing up in Eugene and never noticed.

[MtnSurfer]

Thanks everyone for shedding some light on A/C usage there. Its great to know that if needed it is relatively inexpensive to run. Yes, CA charges much more for these things. We have friends and relatives who live in the inland parts who cannot live without it. After living on the coast most of our lives we cannot stand the heat! We'll take fog, rain and cold any day over 90+ temps.

Derek

[Redbelly]

Compared to my native, Michigan, it cools down here at night more predictably. We have central air, but we generally just run a box fan in a window at night to cool the house, then close it up and close the blinds to keep it cool all day. Electricity is 8 cents a kilowatt hour, so even running the AC electric bills are very reasonable.

[PNW-type-gal]

I ran the A/C (or at least the fan setting) from spring to fall, mostly because I couldn't open the windows because of allergies and I needed the air to circulate.

I used to wilt once it hit 80° but I've since developed a better heat adaption. When we lived south of Crater Lake we only had a minisplit for A/C in the large upstairs master BR (the rest of the house had radiant floors for heat, hence no ducting). Here in Southern Oregon I don't need the A/C until it hits the low 90s (so we run the A/C from July through August, sometimes into Sept) and I don't have the allergy problems here. (Yet.) I do run fans or ceiling fans just to move the air around.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

I ran the A/C (or at least the fan setting) from spring to fall, mostly because I couldn't open the windows because of allergies and I needed the air to circulate.

I used to wilt once it hit 80° but I've since developed a better heat adaption. When we lived south of Crater Lake we only had a minisplit for A/C in the large upstairs master BR (the rest of the house had radiant floors for heat, hence no ducting). Here in Southern Oregon I don't need the A/C until it hits the low 90s (so we run the A/C from July through August, sometimes into Sept) and I don't have the allergy problems here. (Yet.) I do run fans or ceiling fans just to move the air around.

Interesting, I never thought about allergies in relation to summer heat. However, now that you mentione it, not being able to open the windows would be a big problem. I guess some regions are worse than others even with the PNW.

Do you recall the specific allergies which affected you in Vancouver? Or was it just the normal summer garden variety? I've heard the grass pollen can be a significant issue for some. Also, the Willamette Valley is the grass seed capitol of the world. So it also has lots of grass pollen.

"According to pollen.com, Eugene and Salem are consistently ranked in the top five as worst cities in the U.S. for allergy sufferers. They are especially bad between April and mid-July when most of the grass seed and hay baling seasons are completed." -- https://www.statesmanjournal.com/sto...egon/86199844/

ETA: I started a new thread on this topic in the Oregon forum so as not to stray too far off topic here. Though they obviously do play a role in dealing with the heat and the need for A/C vs. windows wide open with fans blowing like crazy.

Derek