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I'm not the OP. But yes, the thermostat was off all day. The indoor temp was 61-62.
Oops, sorry about that! But yeah, you need to tell everyone your secret, because most people's houses/apartments don't stay at 60F all night when it's 32F or lower outside.
Really? I’m calling BS on this. Unless it’s a tiny studio and you like to do a lot of baking there’s no way a 30-40 year old ground level apartment with single pane windows will stay in the 60’s when it in the 20’s outside without the use of a heater. No way.
It is possible. Could have a warm basement? Enough interior heat from others and maybe not many window to good exterior insulation.
Some people who live in rowhomes on the interior parts, boast they save lots on heat. Can work for some apts.
His can also stay cooler in hotter weather if it diesn't get the exterior sun heating it up and/or trees shading it. Also can open windows at night to it stays to warm. I do till nights stay warm the windis are open. Winters being well insulated and keep it low to mid-60s. Especially when not home. Pets do not care. Bedroom window cracked all winter and nice plush down comfortor.
Coastal southern California. I've lived here without heat or a/c for many, many years.
Caveat: you do have to be willing to adapt to the ambient temperature. In the winter, we're often wearing jeans and sweatshirts in the house. In the summer, it gets a bit warmer than some would consider comfortable. If someone demands an environment of 72F at all times, there is nowhere on earth that can supply that. If you can deal with an indoor range of 60-80F (give or take a couple of degrees on either end here and there), then coastal California is an option.
Certain times of winter, you can freeze to death in Southern CA if you're near the coast, and, there are those summer days, you need A/C.
Guatemala City comes to mind, 5000 feet in altitude is what does the trick. And Cali/Medellin Colombia also come to mind. Quito, Ecuador (9400 feet) and Bogota, Colombia (8600 feet) also come to mind, but cooler winters, might need a little heat then.
Certain times of winter, you can freeze to death in Southern CA if you're near the coast, and, there are those summer days, you need A/C.
I lived no more than 2 blocks from the water for over 20 years in San Diego in several different apartments that had neither heat nor AC. Freezing to death obviously is a bit of an exaggeration, but it did get downright chilly many nights. Sweats and socks were common. Honestly AC was needed far less than a heater. I could probably count on one hand the days when it would’ve been nice, but not a necessity.
I live inland now, as I did growing up (about 20 miles, maybe 15 as the crow flies) and you’ll need both more often. We didn’t have AC growing up and I rarely use it now. My wife likes it though. The same goes for the heat. The only time it goes on now is at the crack of dawn when she gets up for work, or sometimes late at night. Both instances is only for 10-15 minutes max. I will say our house is insulated very well. I probably wouldn’t be saying this if it was like my old apartments with shotty windows like I had at the beach. Apparently this isn’t a problem in OKC though?
I will say our house is insulated very well. I probably wouldn’t be saying this if it was like my old apartments with shotty windows like I had at the beach. Apparently this isn’t a problem in OKC though?
I don't know, maybe the owner renovated the apartment complex to have great insulation. Maybe my thermostat is off.
Still, it goes a long way to say that, as long as you have great insulation, you basically don't need heating, even in OKC. With great insulation, you'd be surprised at how good you can manage without A/C even in many hotter climates. So when someone says "We don't need A/C" that doesn't mean the place has mild summers. All it means is they have:
1. Great insulation and/or lots of shade trees
2. A very high tolerance for heat, so high that they think an indoor temp of 80-82F is tolerable.
3. Portable fans
With both of these, you could even go to large swathes of the South and get by just fine with hardly any A/C.
The main reason why most Southerners use their A/C is because very, very few of them will put up with indoor temps of 80-82F, and many of them live in older houses with poorer insulation.
Phoenix has been having fantastic weather lately. We have been leaving our windows and screen doors open and getting temperatures of 78 in our home with our A/C and heating off. Mid to high 80s outside. Sun is the biggest game changer here. We are expected to reach the 90s next week and our first 103 degree day (a game Zonies like to play where if you guess it right might win a couple grand) is expected by the end of the month or the first week of May.
As I am typing this at 8:00 pm dark as ever it is 77 here. Soon 77 will feel like some kind of intangible pipe dream.
I live in a mostly brick house with good shade trees, it certainly helps. But it's not enough for when the triple digits roll around. Most Zonies keep their indoor summer temps within a range of 78-84 degrees Fahrenheit (generally A/C is still required to keep 82-84 here, just less of it), most don't really go lower than 78 due to prohibitive electricity costs that exist here (seriously, when my family moved to Florida their bill was cut by more than half) unless they have a good money stream.
Construction wise, the best thing built here to prevent high indoor temperatures naturally are:
- Less windows
- Being in a basement
- Thick exterior walls (and I mean really thick like a true adobe/pueblo or brick, not what they build now)
- Trees and shade structures on the south and west sides of your house
- Low ceilings (see: prohibitive electric costs)
- Fans help
The South benefits from having grass and trees, which we really don't have. So your best bet in the desert is to build with that in mind and sacrifice natural light in your home. And stop building vaulted ceilings!! Come on people.
If you look at indigenous communities in the Southwest or the Sahara such as Tunisia (think Tatooine in Star Wars and how the buildings were built in those scenes) those buildings are peak efficiency here for keeping things cool inside. Notice how nothing modern here gets built looking like that? That's the problem. We could easily avoid a lot of A/C use if we want if we just built our cities differently. But no - all American houses and cities must look a like, not factoring in geographic, cultural, and climatic variation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot
Oops, sorry about that! But yeah, you need to tell everyone your secret, because most people's houses/apartments don't stay at 60F all night when it's 32F or lower outside.
You should ask the indigenous of the Great North like Alaska and Russia. Igloos actually will hold to the 60s even when it's -60. Assuming your fire doesn't go out.
I don't know, maybe the owner renovated the apartment complex to have great insulation. Maybe my thermostat is off.
Still, it goes a long way to say that, as long as you have great insulation, you basically don't need heating, even in OKC. With great insulation, you'd be surprised at how good you can manage without A/C even in many hotter climates. So when someone says "We don't need A/C" that doesn't mean the place has mild summers. All it means is they have:
1. Great insulation and/or lots of shade trees
2. A very high tolerance for heat, so high that they think an indoor temp of 80-82F is tolerable.
3. Portable fans
With both of these, you could even go to large swathes of the South and get by just fine with hardly any A/C.
The main reason why most Southerners use their A/C is because very, very few of them will put up with indoor temps of 80-82F, and many of them live in older houses with poorer insulation.
And possibly, many of them are not in apartments where they are receiving a lot of heat from their neighbors.
You should ask the indigenous of the Great North like Alaska and Russia. Igloos actually will hold to the 60s even when it's -60. Assuming your fire doesn't go out.
I think you missed the "no heating" requirement. Regular houses will do the same thing, as long as the heat doesn't go out.
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I think you missed the "no heating" requirement. Regular houses will do the same thing, as long as the heat doesn't go out.
