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No more than 30C. Anymore than that and evaporative coolers, A/C or fans would certainly be going, curtains would be kept closed and outside blinds would be down. (in SE Australia anyway)
Probably a bit less actually. Maybe indoor temp of 27-28 would be the maximum. After that there would definitely be some measures to cool the place, particularly in summer, when people come indoors to cool down.
If you were trying to save money and electricity was expensive
would you honestly rather spend $50, $100, $150 or more per month
to keep your house at your favourite temperature than letting it reach 90 F by late afternoon?
Personally, 25-28 C (77-82 F) indoor temps are nice even when the humidity is already low,
but I would not want to pay even $50/month to drop the temperature from 31-33 C.
I would value an optimumly-house temperature no more than $1/day.
Relatively high indoor temperatures don't bother me, so I don't see the fuss.
It's also surprising to me because almost no one seems indifferent to an indoor temp of 90 F,
yet 100 years ago there was no such thing as A/C and summer wasn't a "wasted" season.
I wonder if the only difference is most people are spoiled now, thinking "perfect comfort" is a necessity.
The good thing about dry climates is that inside temperatures will be lower than outside and are further lowered with shade.
Evaporative coolers are inexpensive to run (compared to A/C), so in hot dry conditions, I would definitely use one to lower inside temperatures. It's not just about human comfort. Though the savings in electricity wouldn't cover the cost of cooling, you would save some electricity from other devices like refrigerators since they won't have to work as hard if it's cooler inside.
It's different if it was humid though. Humidity draws me outside, so assuming I could stay outside, I wouldn't be as fussed with indoor temperatures. This is only for home though. If I went somewhere, humid or dry, it would have to have cooling.
I'm not sure what people did 100 years ago. They still would have been uncomfortable, but whether they would have been more accepting of hot temperatures, I don't know.
The prevalence of screen porches, sleeping porches, sleep outs etc in older homes would indicate that even back then, people did what they could to be more comfortable.
The good thing about dry climates is that inside temperatures will be lower than outside and are further lowered with shade.
Evaporative coolers are inexpensive to run (compared to A/C), so in hot dry conditions, I would definitely use one to lower inside temperatures. It's not just about human comfort. Though the savings in electricity wouldn't cover the cost of cooling, you would save some electricity from other devices like refrigerators since they won't have to work as hard if it's cooler inside.
It's different if it was humid though. Humidity draws me outside, so assuming I could stay outside, I wouldn't be as fussed with indoor temperatures. This is only for home though. If I went somewhere, humid or dry, it would have to have cooling.
I'm not sure what people did 100 years ago. They still would have been uncomfortable, but whether they would have been more accepting of hot temperatures, I don't know.
The prevalence of screen porches, sleeping porches, sleep outs etc in older homes would indicate that even back then, people did what they could to be more comfortable.
Interesting read. I forgot about evaporative coolers. we don't have them in Toronto.
Would you be willing to sacrifice other luxuries if money was tight, to have a cooler house?
I like all those older tech ways of cooling down, only they are very rare to find in my lifetime.
I did what I could do to be more comfortable too;
go to Australia and still close the windows at night to trap in the day's warmth.
The downstairs of my house usually stays pretty cool during the summer, but my bedroom gets really hot and probably reaches at least 86 F during the afternoon. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets warmer than that since it often feels unbearable. I usually turn on the ceiling fan and hold out as long as possible, but I often cave in by 5PM or so and turn on the A/C. It really depends on how much willpower I have on certain days.
Here no AC for obvious reasons. My room usually tops between 85 and 90F, depending on the summer. This is uncomfortable to me. Most of the summer, it's around 75F, which is mostly fine, though still to warm since my perfect indoor temp would be around 60F (for sleeping).
One thing I have notice is that when opening the window, the indoor dewpoint seems to adjust much quicker with the outside than the temperature, leading to uncomfortable heat indecies inside when we have both the outside humidity and the inside warmth.
The downstairs of my house usually stays pretty cool during the summer, but my bedroom gets really hot and probably reaches at least 86 F during the afternoon. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets warmer than that since it often feels unbearable. I usually turn on the ceiling fan and hold out as long as possible, but I often cave in by 5PM or so and turn on the A/C. It really depends on how much willpower I have on certain days.
Hmm. One of the reasons I don't complain much about summer heat must be because everywhere I lived (except two summers) my bedroom has been downstairs. Been like that so long I take it for granted.
One of the summers I lived upstairs I had a corner room with big windows that created a very big cross breeze, which let the room cool at night. The windows had no screen, so the bugs would get in. My friend had the adjacent room, hated bugs, and refused to open the window even in a heat wave that reached in the high 90s. His room was unbearably hot in the evening and he hated heat, but not as much as bugs.
As I type this it is 26 C / 79 F in my room and I couldn't be happier. About 24 - 27 C / 75 - 80 F is my ideal (with sunshine this may drop to 65 - 70 F). The last few days have seen my room exceed 30 C / 86 F and I found myself becoming too sweaty, so I opened the window.
Interesting read. I forgot about evaporative coolers. we don't have them in Toronto.
Would you be willing to sacrifice other luxuries if money was tight, to have a cooler house?
I like all those older tech ways of cooling down, only they are very rare to find in my lifetime.
I did what I could do to be more comfortable too;
go to Australia and still close the windows at night to trap in the day's warmth.
There would be plenty of them in southern WA. They are very common in Victoria, South Australia and parts of NSW and central Australia.
If I though it was too hot and cooling was necessary, then it would become a necessity rather than a luxury.
One thing to point out is when I think of hot and dry, I don't think of places like Las Vegas that stay hot at night. I think about places like inland SE Australia, particularly places close to the GDR. A drop of 20+C from day to night is common. It's only the afternoon that is hot. Mornings and night aren't, which is why I think trying cool homes in the afternoon makes sense, since only about 12pm to about 8pm that cooling is needed.
Its not like a place that is hot all day, where you could argue residents should just accept the heat and get use to it.
Reno, Nevada would be a US example of what I'm talking about.
There would be plenty of them in southern WA. They are very common in Victoria, South Australia and parts of NSW and central Australia.
If I though it was too hot and cooling was necessary, then it would become a necessity rather than a luxury.
I'm very confused by that.
How can 91 F/33 C inside be somewhat-comfortable for me
yet so high it's considered "too hot" by many others,
thereby taking idea of cooling from "luxury" to "neccessity?"
My room to me feels no different than driving in a car on a sunny day under 80 F with no air-conditioning.
I'm very suspicious, because I work in conditions outdoors that people who hate heat can handle, although they might be grumpy about it...
I have never seen potentially-lethal amounts of heat indoors,
anywhere that didn't have heavy machinery running continuously, or a sauna.
Quote:
One thing to point out is when I think of hot and dry, I don't think of places like Las Vegas that stay hot at night. I think about places like inland SE Australia, particularly places close to the GDR. A drop of 20+C from day to night is common. It's only the afternoon that is hot. Mornings and night aren't, which is why I think trying cool homes in the afternoon makes sense, since only about 12pm to about 8pm that cooling is needed.
Its not like a place that is hot all day, where you could argue residents should just accept the heat and get use to it.
Reno, Nevada would be a US example of what I'm talking about.
You make it sound like most humans have a risk of death if they're exposed to 90+ F/32+ C for more than 3 hrs.
Perhaps eskimos are like that, because they probably never see temperatures above 20 C/68 F.
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