Do you need air conditioning living in Highland park? (Evanston: how much, house)

[Honeybear6703]

We are currently looking at a place in Highland Park that has no air conditioning how hot does it get in the summer there?

[4122]

It can get as hot as 90-100. Typically 70s or 80s. You absolutely need a/c

[ToriaT]

You might be able to get by with several room air conditioners if you can't put central air in or don't want too. big thing is to have some good fans, like ceiling fans and open up the windows at night when the temperature drops to get the cooler air in.

[mr roboto]

Yes. Not absolutely (people lived in the south without AC 60 years ago) but it's going to be uncomfortable.

[nana053]

Actually, it depends on how shaded the house is. I lived in my house in Evanston without air conditioning for years, but we had trees shading the house and we had fans. We finally did put in central air a few years before we sold the house.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by nana053

Actually, it depends on how shaded the house is. I lived in my house in Evanston without air conditioning for years, but we had trees shading the house and we had fans. We finally did put in central air a few years before we sold the house.

There are wide variations in how much shade mature trees can provide -- in many older towns, even far from the lake in areas like the Fox Valley, the need for central A/C is greatly moderated by being in areas where the mature trees can make a noticeable difference in comfort.

Of course, if the region gets socked with high humidity and extended period of temps in the 90s than even trying to sleep in a gazebo on the lakefront is going to feel like some sweaty excursion to the Amazon...

More than a few folks in older homes that have previously resisted central AC with it need for ductwork have found the "mini-split" systems that can hide the working Freon to a compact air handlers to individual rooms to be great boon to maintaining the charming looks of their homes will adding the humidity reducing benefits of AC...

Panasonic Heating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Professional Series

[nikitakolata]

Can you live without A/C? I think that entirely depends on you. Do you have trouble sleeping if the temperature is 80 degrees+? If not, then sure, you can go without A/C. I have a couple friends who do not have central air in their house. They are just used to the warmer temperatures in the summer.

Personally, I would never opt to go without A/C, but I don't like being hot, especially when I need to sleep.

[ToriaT]

There are very few really hot days in the 90's especially near the lake. I used to live near the lake in my younger years and it never got really hot there. It was sometimes ten degrees cooler by the lake than it is in a place like DuPage county where you will die without air conditioning. By the lake our house had a whole house fan in the attic and it had two large air conditioners built in the wall of the dining room and one bedroom. These items would take care of any warm days where you needed air conditioning. At night when the temperature dropped to seventies or below if you put on the whole house fan it would just cool everything off. On really hot days we would turn on the air conditioning. So you can do without it if necessary.

[Paige65]

It's not necessary, but it can be uncomfortable. We did not have AC in our original house in HP. We had a window unit in each bedroom (2) and one in the Living Room. In a small house (1,000 s.f.). We survived with the window units for 9 years. The first few years we only had the bedroom unit. We are in a fairly shaded area, and about .75 miles from the lake.

[ChicagoMeO]

If you only have a fan on, when the weather gets hot enough, your fan will not work. Its either the dew point or the thing that has to do with humidity, when it hits that, you need air conditioning.