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Things get cooler when you go high enough up in elevation.
Indeed. In the high desert (most of New Mexico, n. Arizona, s. Colorado, parts of Utah and Nevada) you will have very low humidity and higher elevations such that an A/C unit is pointless unless you have serious allergies and have to keep the house sealed up. Most people use evaporative cooling (swamp coolers) for a few hours in the day but have windows open a bit all the time. Temperatures seldom top 100 where I live (@5500'), and humidity is often single digits so the cooler work wonders at a fraction of the cost of A/C. It gets too cold at night if you leave it on as high desert nights are cooler anyway.
I have extended family in Metro Detroit and just outside Grand Rapids that don't have central AC. They have some free standing AC units they use sometimes, but primarily use open windows and ceiling fans. I don't think they represent a majority of people, and in my experience it can get unpleasant on occasion, but they've lived that way for decades.
The entire country gets hot in the summer. The Great Plains can be the hottest place in the USA during the summer.
To not get hot in the summer, you need to be within 5 miles of the ocean and in one of the northern states. Or else really high in elevation, where you will have snow as high as the rafters of your house in the winter.
And the ocean thing doesn't always work. It's over 90 degrees in Seattle all week. You can get a little further north and still be in the USA, but not much, and Seattle is right on the water.
Canada has been known to suffer from a heat dome where air temperatures are 120F degrees, so Canada isn't far enough north.
Honestly, I don't know of anywhere in the U.S. that you wouldn't want at least a window unit "just in case". Remember a year or two ago people in Alaska saw 90-degree temps?
I grew up outside Rochester N.Y. in the 60s-80s and we didn't have A/C but there were several summer seasons we could have used it. Yes, you could probably get by without it today BUT expect a few uncomfortable weeks in the summer.
Well Neah Bay on the northwestern most tip of WA has only had an all time record high of 82F, and that’s with the insane heat wave from last year. Otherwise the average high in the middle of summer is just under 60F
I grew up near Lake Erie, we never had an air conditioner, I survived.
It is MAINLY not that warm here, even in the summer, that an open window and a fan don't suffice.
I just spent a week 400 miles NORTH of Lake Erie - and it was "air conditioner" weather every day (85 degrees-plus) - so if you want a guarantee, you'd have to go farther north than that.
Ditto for the Pacific Northwest coast of Oregon and Washington.
Also northern Maine....like the Caribou area,
higher elevations in Green Mountains of Vermont,
White Mountains of New Hampshire,
and the Adirondacks of New York.
Parts of Michigan's UP, and extreme NE Minnesota.
Higher elevations in the Rockies...
above 8,000 ft for the Southern Rockies
above 6,000 ft for the Central Rockies
above 4,000 ft for the Northern Rockies
Also high plateau areas in the west...even as far south as northern AZ and NM.
Temperatures drop like a stone at night.
I live in the mountains of Georgia. Despite this, summers are pretty darn miserable and winters are almost non-existent. I've been thinking about moving to the Great Lakes and would like a good understanding on far north I should go to where I don't need to worry about it getting so hot out that I'd have a bad time without A/C. The most I can bear is the mid 70s (or low 80s if there is a breeze).
Location: San Diego CA>Tijuana, BC>San Antonio, TX
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Yes, its not necessarily how far North you go. For example, I was down South in the mountains of Queretaro and Guanajuato in Mexico 3 weeks ago. They don't use AC down there either because the air is dry during the day and crisp and cool at night.
Now I am in HOT HOT Texas and the AC never shuts off.
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