Does anyone still live without A/C? (Houston: apartment, college)

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Originally Posted by SteelBubble

Aren't houses required by law to have A/C in Houston?

Well they should be!!!!

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by SteelBubble

Aren't houses required by law to have A/C in Houston?

This was the laugh of the day.

[Topaz]

Our A/C went out today. We put in a service call but didn't really expect to hear back from anyone until tomorrow.

Absolutely miserable.

[TFW46]

daniel, when I was 31, I kept my thermostat very low too. But that was more than 30 years ago. As you age, your skin and blood thin out -- and you really seem to not feel the heat so badly as in your youth (in my opinion, anyway).

Now, as for the cold...I lived in Denver for years and never wore more than a sweater, even in the dead of winter. However, as I've aged, I feel the cold more than ever.

[TFW46]

Sadly, most houses arent built for cross ventilation anymore. Who would leave windows open at night anyway?

But I'm here to tell you that running ceiling fans at the highest speed in every room really does make it feel cooler. (And going nekkid helps a lot too. )

[crone]

When my next door neighbor got a thousand dollar light bill, she turned on the ceiling fans and turned the thermostat off of 68. We keep ours at 78 and run the fans. We lived in older houses that were sited on the lots to get the prevailing breeze. It worked.
After some storm recently, we were without electricity for 12 days. We slept upstairs with the windows open. It would take some adjustment but I'm sure we could live without air conditioning again. You just have to think about it. Keep the sun out of the house, keep astringent in the frig, run the window fan or attic fan.

[Grunn]

Still haven't turned on my a/c yet although I will crack when the temps get towards the higher 90's.

I wonder if the level of obesity here in Houston has something to do with the requirement for everything to be air conditioned for most of the year. Bloaters do seem to sweat a lot, even when at rest.

[Svensk08]

Originally Posted by texasfirewheel

Sadly, most houses arent built for cross ventilation anymore. Who would leave windows open at night anyway?

We"re in an old bungalow that was designed with cross ventilation. At bedtime, the central A/C is turned off and windows are opened. It's a matter of personal preference.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Originally Posted by Grunn

Still haven't turned on my a/c yet although I will crack when the temps get towards the higher 90's.

I wonder if the level of obesity here in Houston has something to do with the requirement for everything to be air conditioned for most of the year. Bloaters do seem to sweat a lot, even when at rest.

Nope, thin person here and I'm hot all the time. AC set on 72 with window unit in bedroom set on 68.

[NTT]

Originally Posted by I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA

Nope, thin person here and I'm hot all the time. AC set on 72 with window unit in bedroom set on 68.

I agree. My sister is very thin and hot all the time. On the other hand, I'm older and like Texasfirewheel mentioned, I'm feeling colder as I grow older. 2 years ago, I was comfortable at 78F degree in the summer with fans running on medium. 78F is too cold for me now so I turned it up to 79-80F in the summer with fans running on medium.

Fans help to circulate the air around the house. It is more comfortable to have fans than just having the A/C running. I have one in the kitchen too that helps tremendously.

I'm running the A/C mainly to lower the humidity. If we didn't have such high humidity, I would be comfortable with just having the fans running (no a/c), like the folks in California.

My home is mostly tile flooring. This is another plus to keep the home cool.