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My mother lived in southern KY w/o AC until she was a teenager. My mother / father in-law lived in Southern Indiana w/o AC until the 1980s. When you're poor you do what you have to do.
As other have noted, houses used to be built to maximize cooling or heating w/o electricity. They had windows all over the place, large porches, etc. Modern dwellings are made so if you're power goes out you could die LOL. My sister owns a 1980s ranch house where the 3/4ths of the sides of the house have no windows that will open! That's why I want to buy an older home.
Exactly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scotty011
I grew up in Charleston, SC and lived my first 22 years without AC, and never felt uncomfortable in the summer. Now the winters were a little different, we definitely needed heat. Fans were sufficient in the summer.
Interesting you say this. The people of Shanghai and other locations in Southern China, as I've posted before, would find the conditions of Charleston during winter quite pleasing without Heat; Charleston averages upper 50s, lower 60s for daily highs, and lower 40s for lows during winter months, whereas Shanghai averages mid 40s for highs, and mid 30s for lows. And yet people in Shanghai live without any form of central heating during winter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by peterlemonjello
You're trying to prove a point that would make almost every miserable in the modern world.
In 2015, living in a place like Houston without AC is horrid. Yes, you can do it, but for the love of God why would anyone do it? Its comparable to living in Montreal without heat and yes I know the early settlers didn't have heat there.
Houston is not Southern California nor a tropical paradise though I know those are the points you're trying to prove.
Given the climactic and environmental circumstances around Houston, and the Coastal South, it is very reasonable, and justifiable to live in those locations without AC or Heat; as long as those circumstances are used to ones advantage, living in the Coastal South without those climate control commodities is quite doable, and even enjoyable.
Montreal's average winter highs are below freezing, only in the upper 20s, with lows averaging teens and single digits, lethal conditions for the human body. Houston, and the Coastal South, on the other hand, average low 90s at most for summer highs, with mid 70s for summer lows, accompanied by mitigating environmental factors such as large shade trees, frequent cooling thunderstorms, swift breezes from the sea, and lots of clouds in the sky for relief from the shining sun; merely stifling at most for a human being. Hence, as SDP stated, the two cannot be compared at all.
And you are right, Houston, along with much of the Coastal South, clearly is not Southern California, or a tropical paradise; whereas Southern California offers a pleasant Mediterranean climate, and a tropical paradise offers a pleasant tropical climate, Houston, and the Coastal South offer pleasant SUBtropical climates. All three climates exhibit the alluring qualities that draw people towards them, such as the offering of a great respite from harsh cold during winter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by peterlemonjello
How do you think the early settlers did it?
By the way people have died from heat exposure on the Gulf Coast.
Some people may have died from heat exposure on the Gulf Coast (although several other factors contribute along with the heat in those deaths); but every human being would die of hypothermia upon experiencing a Montreal winter without any form of heat.
But you can, New Orleans was a bigger and more thriving city in the age with no AC.
You're not going to be as comfortable as you are with AC ofc, no one claimed that.
Anyways, one more point what also matters is temperature variation throughout the year. Here in Miami it's always 80s. You are acclimated to it. However northerners (and Texans to a lesser degree) have to acclimate to freezing weather and then re-acclimate to heat. It makes a huge difference.
Here in Miami we get the odd day in the winter in the low 70s, or upper 60s. While most people would think that's GREAT we think it's COLD. Seriously, just look at the coats people put on then.
Very good point, but the thing is, for much of Texas (especially southerly and/or coastal areas of the state), and the rest of the Coastal South, it's not like freezing weather is a long-lasting experience; when freezes do occur, they last only for a handful of hours in the wee parts of the day (when many people are sleeping), often times as a result of radiational cooling from clear skies, only for such skies to allow for the subtropical sun to heat temps rapidly up to mild levels, making for a mild day in the end. (i.e. 32F for two hours in the morning, with temps up to 62F by noon).
So, the acclimation-reacclimation cycle you speak of for Texas, and the rest of the Coastal South really is not as marked as you suggest it is.
I dont know how you can say that with such certainty.
When temps get into the high 80s i start suffering shortness of breath and heart palpitations,i'm sure long term (Several hours) exposure would give me a heart attack, and i'm not going to give it a try to prove a point .
I dont know how you can say that with such certainty.
When temps get into the high 80s i start suffering shortness of breath and heart palpitations,i'm sure long term (Several hours) exposure would give me a heart attack, and i'm not going to give it a try to prove a point .
Because it's human biology. It's science. 80s won't kill anyone. You are arguing science here.
I dont know how you can say that with such certainty.
When temps get into the high 80s i start suffering shortness of breath and heart palpitations,i'm sure long term (Several hours) exposure would give me a heart attack, and i'm not going to give it a try to prove a point .
Do you bathe or shower in cold or hot water? I bet its not cold water.
Do you bathe or shower in cold or hot water? I bet its not cold water.
Having a 5 minute warm shower isnt the same as being subjected to temps near 90 with high humidity for several hours..
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