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Lots of older homes were built with airflow in mind. I lived in a nice, old duplex with no A/C, but didn't need a window unit even on the top floor because I could open the windows and get a breeze, and a nice crossbreeze going in the common spaces.
It really gets more precarious in the city or in more modern buildings that almost assume you'll use a window AC. For instance, my last two apartments had windows that opened into narrow spaces between the other houses and no trees, so it was stiflingly hot. My current apartment holds heat (great in winter, not so much in summer!) and with only two north facing windows/slider doors in the entire apartment, there's no air flow in summer. And even here, I could probably do it if not for the humidity.
Growing up in Georgia, it was so abnormal for anywhere to lack central air and I had never seen a window unit. It can take some recalibration here.
Not the meat of your question but I never set up search filters on amenities because I'm paranoid about missing a house that in fact has the amenity but was inadvertently not flagged as such in the database. I only set filters on bedroom count, bathroom count, location, and max price.
Not the meat of your question but I never set up search filters on amenities because I'm paranoid about missing a house that in fact has the amenity but was inadvertently not flagged as such in the database. I only set filters on bedroom count, bathroom count, location, and max price.
Agreed. When I'm setting up searches for my clients I don't filter by amenities. I also don't filter by neighborhood (if I can do a map search then I'll do it that way but not by neighborhood name) or by school district. Mostly, it's because those items are often dependent upon accurate input by a real estate agent into the MLS. I've dealt with enough real estate agents that I know "accuracy" is not a skill many of them possess. The house I live in was listed as having "forced hot air heat" but if you step in the door it clearly has baseboard radiators.
Lots of older homes were built with airflow in mind. I lived in a nice, old duplex with no A/C, but didn't need a window unit even on the top floor because I could open the windows and get a breeze, and a nice crossbreeze going in the common spaces.
My home came with a Whole House fan.
I had never heard of it before, and thought i would be removing it, but it's easily become my favorite feature. I use it a lot in the spring/fall as it will easily cool down a house in the evening. Often times i will run that instead of AC if it's not too humid out.
I suppose at this point you don't need another person saying this, but to the extent it makes a difference I agree with the majority here that in this market you should not be screening for air conditioning for houses in MA.
I grew up in MI without air conditioning - somewhat similar to here. In what I call my first tour of duty in the Boston area I lived here for 7 years at three different addresses, none of which had central air. The one I lived in the shortest time had one mini split unit, the others had no air conditioning. I got a single window unit for the last place for my bedroom and that was fine. I ended up moving to Florida and I look back at my immense naivete - I was worried about how my 2 Maine Coons would deal in the Florida heat and I actually reached out to a couple of breeders in Florida to ask how they helped their cats cope with the heat. Not surprisingly, I never heard back. They probably thought I was trying to pull something pretending to not know that just about everywhere has central air in Florida.
Now after 15 years in FL I am back in MA and my house does have central air. I'm very glad of it, but it was just an extra plus when it came to this house. As others have said, I've known plenty who put it in afterwards, and in this market you really are doing yourself a disservice not considering that.
I lived on the North Shore and only had a window air conditioner in the LR. We lived by the ocean and got a coolish breeze so only used the a/c a few times in August.
You are coming from VA so you will probably not feel comfortable without a/c, at least at first. But people live without it in many cases. I think the key points are a good older house that has cross ventilation (windows with air flow) and rooms that can be closed off.
In one house I had a/c in the room we hung out in but not in the LR because it had doors we could close. The a/c kept the kitchen-dining area good enough, not great, but not dying of humidity. Remember, it's for about three months and not every day. In those three months we never used the LR because we could gather outdoors instead and anyway our family room was where we hung out.
A ceiling fan can be a wonderful thing too--the breeze helps with the humidity. Look for rooms that can be closed off, cross ventilation, trees around the house that can keep it cool, ceiling fans. You can always install window air conditioners in the bedrooms. With bedroom windows facing the back yard, the window air conditioners aren't even visible. What you do need to watch out for is do NOT get electric heat!!!!!!!!!!!
I had never heard of it before, and thought i would be removing it, but it's easily become my favorite feature. I use it a lot in the spring/fall as it will easily cool down a house in the evening. Often times i will run that instead of AC if it's not too humid out.
Back in the day, a co-worker relocated from Florida to new construction in southern New Hampshire. His house had a whole house fan. Moving in in July, he automatically put the thermostats on 90 and wondered why his house was blazing hot and he blew through a tank of oil in a couple of weeks.
Lived in MA most of my life. Two of my homes had central air....never used it. I loved having my windows open, even in the heat....winters are very long, and we are shut in for to long.
I agree with the poster who suggested a whole house fan. We did have ceiling fans, which we did like.
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