raeoflyte
Senior Associate
Joined: Feb 3, 2011 15:43:53 GMT -5
Posts: 14,997
|
Post by raeoflyte on Jul 19, 2013 0:16:43 GMT -5
It's a freaking oven in my house and takes all night to get to any comfortable temperature. We've tried all kinds of window ac and swamp coolers and fans, but none of them are that great. I don't know if it is the eastern exposure, or siding instead of brick, but this house just heats up hotter and faster than any house I've been in. It's miserable I tell ya!
|
|
ZaireinHD
Senior Associate
Joined: Mar 4, 2011 22:14:27 GMT -5
Posts: 12,407
|
Post by ZaireinHD on Jul 19, 2013 0:23:16 GMT -5
it's night here and it's a freaking oven! Ac is not really blowing cold air, just cool but it's something!
|
|
mmhmm
Administrator
It's a great pity the right of free speech isn't based on the obligation to say something sensible.
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 18:13:34 GMT -5
Posts: 31,770
Today's Mood: Saddened by Events
Location: Memory Lane
Favorite Drink: Water
|
Post by mmhmm on Jul 19, 2013 0:37:08 GMT -5
I've been reading about some of these temperatures! We've been lucky so far. High 80s to low 90s during the day and low 70s at night. It rains just about every bloody day, but it's not horribly hot (although, the humidity is high). The air conditioner here in the house has been able to keep us cool, which is fortunate. Mother wants the house around 68F. I freeze, but she's miserable if it's any warmer, so I just wear a sweater. As long as the AC keeps up, we're golden. Sorry that's not true for everyone! Just read this evening they're expecting things to start cooling down for those who have been sweltering. Sure hope they're right!
|
|
Jaguar
Administrator
Fear does not stop death. It stops life.
Joined: Dec 20, 2011 6:07:45 GMT -5
Posts: 50,108
Mini-Profile Background: {"image":"https://cdn.nickpic.host/images/IZlZ65.jpg","color":""}
Mini-Profile Text Color: 290066
|
Post by Jaguar on Jul 19, 2013 0:56:20 GMT -5
My sister & BIL ran out and got an AC today and paid an exorbitant price cause we are officially into a heat wave here with temps being 42°C / 108F with the humidity now three days straight. The AC unit done NOTHING for their apartment cause it's that freaking hot.
|
|
marvholly
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 11:45:21 GMT -5
Posts: 6,540
|
Post by marvholly on Jul 19, 2013 5:38:31 GMT -5
rae Know what you mean & are feeling. In metro Chicago it was still 82 at midnight. SOOOO glad my new a/c went in on 7/13.
Today is supposed to be the hotest day yet. Staying home & NOT cooking. Will do something on stovetop, fridge and/or freezer stuff (microwave).
|
|
giramomma
Distinguished Associate
Joined: Feb 3, 2011 11:25:27 GMT -5
Posts: 22,139
|
Post by giramomma on Jul 19, 2013 5:48:31 GMT -5
We didn't have A/C in the house that I grew up in. We used to manage during the day fine, but the nights were the pits.
|
|
mmhmm
Administrator
It's a great pity the right of free speech isn't based on the obligation to say something sensible.
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 18:13:34 GMT -5
Posts: 31,770
Today's Mood: Saddened by Events
Location: Memory Lane
Favorite Drink: Water
|
Post by mmhmm on Jul 19, 2013 6:11:24 GMT -5
We didn't have AC when I was a kid, either, giramomma. We finally got a "swamp cooler" when I was about 12, if I remember right. Thing used to run a virtual river of water onto the ground under the window. It seemed like bliss to us, considering what we'd lived with prior to having it. Summers in Oklahoma could be brutal!
|
|
constanz22
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 14:32:17 GMT -5
Posts: 4,219
|
Post by constanz22 on Jul 19, 2013 6:23:21 GMT -5
It's been brutal here in PA too. I think my AC has run more so far this summer than the last 2 summers combined. Ugh, I don't know how anyone can go without AC in this heat. I just have a couple window units, a small one in the BR that I don't really run until bedtime and a medium unit in the LR that has been on from the time I get up til I go to bed. They actually do a good job keeping it cool in here. Sometimes for a few hours late afternoon when the sun is the strongest and beating in the big bay window, the AC doesn't keep it as cool, but I have no complaints with my little window units. Today is supposed to be the last day of the heat here.
|
|
busymom
Distinguished Associate
Why is the rum always gone? Oh...that's why.
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 21:09:36 GMT -5
Posts: 29,222
Mini-Profile Background: {"image":"https://cdn.nickpic.host/images/IPauJ5.jpg","color":""}
Mini-Profile Name Color: 0D317F
Mini-Profile Text Color: 0D317F
|
Post by busymom on Jul 19, 2013 6:52:54 GMT -5
Our heat index has been 100 here the last couple of days. When I was a kid, we didn't have air conditioning either. And I was a city kid. I can remember how exciting it was to get one of those window units when I was older. Us kids used to play outside, then stand right in front of the a/c to try to cool off. We drank lots of Kool-Aid before we had air conditioning.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 7:29:59 GMT -5
It's a freaking oven in my house and takes all night to get to any comfortable temperature. We've tried all kinds of window ac and swamp coolers and fans, but none of them are that great. I don't know if it is the eastern exposure, or siding instead of brick, but this house just heats up hotter and faster than any house I've been in. It's miserable I tell ya! Raeoflyte first off I pity you. I've been there & done that. We live in a rock house (thick chunks of rock) & in really hot weather I'm guessing the rock really cools down about 1 to 2 am. We haven't really had a problem for the last few years after we replaced our A/C unit. (except what it cost's of course). Something that we just did to try to save a little on electricity: We have always had a fan in our bedroom (good background noise & maybe it cools a little). Anyway we got to thinking about replacing that fan with a bigger, better fan. We were looking around one day & ACE hardware had one of those stand fans that you would see in a car repair place. Large metal blades & large size (about 6 in bigger than the one we had). Well it was $140 or something like that & we figured that we would give it a try. (I guess that I should make sure to get across that this is basically a smaller industrial fan). Anyway last night I raised the A/C temp in the house 3 degrees HIGHER than we have ever had it & I slept like a baby. This sucker churns some air. It's a fairly cheap fix if it helps.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 7:47:17 GMT -5
It's a freaking oven in my house and takes all night to get to any comfortable temperature. We've tried all kinds of window ac and swamp coolers and fans, but none of them are that great. I don't know if it is the eastern exposure, or siding instead of brick, but this house just heats up hotter and faster than any house I've been in. It's miserable I tell ya! Raeoflyte first off I pity you. I've been there & done that. We live in a rock house (thick chunks of rock) & in really hot weather I'm guessing the rock really cools down about 1 to 2 am. We haven't really had a problem for the last few years after we replaced our A/C unit. (except what it cost's of course). Something that we just did to try to save a little on electricity: We have always had a fan in our bedroom (good background noise & maybe it cools a little). Anyway we got to thinking about replacing that fan with a bigger, better fan. We were looking around one day & ACE hardware had one of those stand fans that you would see in a car repair place. Large metal blades & large size (about 6 in bigger than the one we had). Well it was $140 or something like that & we figured that we would give it a try. (I guess that I should make sure to get across that this is basically a smaller industrial fan). Anyway last night I raised the A/C temp in the house 3 degrees HIGHER than we have ever had it & I slept like a baby. This sucker churns some air. It's a fairly cheap fix if it helps. Yes, my ex-BF had one of those small industrial fans. We used it to cool off the sunroom when we were having company. They do churn some air. But we just bought a window a/c for the sunroom. It was less than $200. I may be wrong since I'm used to central air, but if you could get just one room cool with the window unit, it ought to be enough. Sleep wherever the unit is.
|
|
bookkeeper
Well-Known Member
Joined: Mar 30, 2012 13:40:42 GMT -5
Posts: 1,782
|
Post by bookkeeper on Jul 19, 2013 8:02:35 GMT -5
When I left my house in Arizona last spring, I made some black out window coverings. We leave the AC on 90 degrees in that house. My electric bills have been lower this summer than last and it was a half hour fix.
I bought black out drapery liner at Joann's Fabric, pulled out the sewing machine and sewed two pieces together large enough to cover the sliding glass door. Total cost around $10
Proper window coverings make a huge difference in your AC performance. Try blocking every bit of sunlight in a room before you turn on the AC and you will be cooler, sooner.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 8:18:28 GMT -5
Try blocking every bit of sunlight in a room before you turn on the AC and you will be cooler, sooner.
When I was a kid & window A/C came to be popular many people used tin foil on their windows to reflect sun & heat. I guess that it worked because a lot of people did it.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 8:21:30 GMT -5
My parents live 10 miles from the nothern CA coastline, so we never needed AC growing up; I called it newt weather, always cool and slightly damp with all that fog and greenery.
OK is pretty extreme in both directions though. In the summer having a ventilated attic that acts as a buffer helps a lot, and since we're cheapos, we just try to keep the house in the 80s, and have two fans whirling air in the bedroom at night. We sleep with a sheet, no blankets in the summer. We find bodies acclimate pretty decently to each extreme if it happens gradually.
One of our old roommates used to weird us out though; he loved to give the middle finger to weather. It was his apartment and he had health issues, so we just let him do whatever, but he would crank the heat so high in the snowing winter that we'd wake up sweating and panting in the night, and he'd step outside himself to cool off rather than turn down the heat, no joke. He'd do the opposite in the summer, so we'd wear sweaters in heatwaves and bundle up at night, it was so cold inside. It sucked paying 2/3 of that, but we didn't want to battle over it.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 8:41:45 GMT -5
Being 18 miles inland, we are used to highs in the upper-80's, low 90's right now. The evenings do get into the 60's though. During the day, the solar production is completely offsetting our A/C usage.
|
|
sarcasticgirl
Junior Associate
Joined: Jan 4, 2011 14:39:51 GMT -5
Posts: 5,155
Location: Chicago
|
Post by sarcasticgirl on Jul 19, 2013 8:47:57 GMT -5
I have central a/c, a guest room and a la-z-boy sectional. First come, first serve.
|
|
wvugurl26
Distinguished Associate
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 15:25:30 GMT -5
Posts: 21,880
|
Post by wvugurl26 on Jul 19, 2013 9:27:28 GMT -5
Our lows in the evenings has been about 75. The heat index yesterday was 109. Thank god for ac!
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 9:29:32 GMT -5
I tried to survive my first summer without AC when I lived in an apartment near school before junior year - I lasted all of 3 days. I don't do extreme heat and I'm not about to force myself to suffer. DS is extremely intolerant to heat (he starts sweating at 80 degrees) so not having any type of AC where we live is not an option.
|
|
tractor
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 4, 2011 15:19:30 GMT -5
Posts: 3,489
|
Post by tractor on Jul 19, 2013 9:56:14 GMT -5
I never really saw the need for AC as we live in Michigan. However, a couple of years ago we had a geothermal system put in for heat. The side benefit of that unit is it also acts as an AC unit during the summer. I have a two story house, and the basement could be used to stored meat in the summer. It's been hot enough here that I don't even go outside when I get home, too damn muggy. Supposed to break and cool off by tomorrow. Do your best to stay cool, and make sure your furry friends get plenty of shade and water.
|
|
973beachbum
Senior Associate
Politics Admin
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 16:12:13 GMT -5
Posts: 10,501
|
Post by 973beachbum on Jul 19, 2013 10:57:01 GMT -5
We only have widnow AC units in this house. It nevert bugged me as we are close enough to the bay that we stay cooler and normally have a steady breeze. This year has been brutal! If we didn't have money I would do what SS said and buy a small window unit and close up that room. Everyone can pile in it at night to sleep comfortably. sure beats trying to sleep in an oven!
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 11:02:22 GMT -5
The house I grew up in is a turn of the century colonial, so no central air. We had a window unit in the dining room that would cool the main floor enough to make it tolerable, though.
All of the bedrooms were upstairs and I remember the whole family sleeping in the LR on really hot summer nights.
|
|
Sam_2.0
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 15:42:45 GMT -5
Posts: 12,350
|
Post by Sam_2.0 on Jul 19, 2013 11:04:50 GMT -5
That stinks, Rae! Hopefully you find something that works soon!!
|
|
raeoflyte
Senior Associate
Joined: Feb 3, 2011 15:43:53 GMT -5
Posts: 14,997
|
Post by raeoflyte on Jul 19, 2013 11:42:24 GMT -5
We bought a portable swamp cooler this year, but it just isn't cutting it. Plus I don't like to sleep with the windows open on nights Dh works since there is only one car on the driveway, and the swamp cooler needs it really dry and windows cracked to actually cool.
I'll check into a window unit this weekend though, and if we can get 2 will. I'm so tired I could sleep under my desk today.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 11:44:10 GMT -5
The house I grew up in is a turn of the century colonial, so no central air. We had a window unit in the dining room that would cool the main floor enough to make it tolerable, though. All of the bedrooms were upstairs and I remember the whole family sleeping in the LR on really hot summer nights. Same with me. We had box fans in our bedrooms. I remember getting naked and sleeping on the floor in front of the box fan on hot nights. My parents finally bought an ac unit for their room so on really hot nights we would all sleep in their room.
|
|
greeniis10
Well-Known Member
Joined: May 9, 2012 12:27:09 GMT -5
Posts: 1,834
|
Post by greeniis10 on Jul 19, 2013 13:48:06 GMT -5
I whined about this on another thread, but my problem is we HAVE AC at work, but my manager does not like it so she turns it off. She doesn't even have AC at her house which is pretty much unheard of around here. It's 90 - 100 degrees most of the summer and cools off some at night, but not much.
Then I go to the gym and the AC units are either not big enough to cool the entire area or they just don't work so a lot of the time it will be 80+ degrees inside the gym. Makes me turn into one sweaty mess by the time I'm done with 60+ minutes of cardio.
It's surprising how much you adapt, though. I can't say that I'm terribly miserable as I've gotten used to these temperatures and it's been this way for several years.
At home, it's the opposite: years ago after we added on our master suite, laundry room, and utility room we installed central air. DH bought a unit that was WAY too big for our house, but the unit the next size down would have struggled, so at night I freeze to death! I generally wear long sleeves and have to have a blanket or towel to sit on the leather furniture because it gets so cold. Extremes!
|
|
toomuchreality
Senior Associate
Joined: Sept 3, 2011 10:28:25 GMT -5
Posts: 16,865
Favorite Drink: Sometimes I drink water... just to surprise my liver!
|
Post by toomuchreality on Jul 19, 2013 16:18:59 GMT -5
UGH! I would hate not having central a/c! I am another one that didn't have a/c growing up. Some of the older homes I've lived in as an adult didn't have it either. They make a window fan (2 fans really) that help quite a bit, if that's the route you have to take. You can either have both fans blowing in or both blowing out, or you can have one drawing cooler air in and the other blowing the hot air out. In my bedroom, combined with the blackout curtains, it was a life saver! I was a little apprehensive about bugs, spiders, flies etc. getting in, but it was never a problem. It's really hot here, this year. I've got my a/c set at a lower temp. than I ever have in the past. The electric bill is going to kill me. But at least it won't be the heat that kills me, so I'll be more comfy when I go! Have you tried using one of those things you put in water then chill or freeze, and wear it around your neck? I was surprised how much one of those helps, when you're really hot. Wishing you a cool breeze...
|
|
Spellbound454
Senior Member
"In the end, we remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends"
Joined: Sept 9, 2011 17:28:42 GMT -5
Posts: 4,094
|
Post by Spellbound454 on Jul 19, 2013 16:56:29 GMT -5
hmmm some interesting tips on this thread. We have a heat wave in England at the moment. I've been teaching all day in an upstairs room with a tin roof.....its been like a freakin oven despite having 5 fans and the windows open. That coupled with getting no sleep has been quite distressing. We don't have air con at all... but its an attractive proposition.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 18:37:05 GMT -5
Try blocking every bit of sunlight in a room before you turn on the AC and you will be cooler, sooner.When I was a kid & window A/C came to be popular many people used tin foil on their windows to reflect sun & heat. I guess that it worked because a lot of people did it. Heck, I still use foil on a West bedroom window. The sun just beats something awful in there. Not even drapes helped. The foil really helped drop the temp. in that room. Someone should sell foil drapes. Lonewolf this is kind of Redneckish & I shouldn't say it but here goes. Seven years ago when we moved in the area where the TV went was flooded with light so bad that we couldn't see the TV. Well we were in the process of unpacking & I just threw a dog blanket over the window. By the time we got everything unpacked I was so used to the blanket that I didn't even "see" it anymore. Well a couple of month ago I realized that it was still there so we finally went out & bought a screen for that area to block the light. Really the screen we bought does about the same good job in blocking the light but I can't imagine what people thought when they saw a dog blanket over the window.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 19:47:05 GMT -5
Spring a year ago, we had a major building project at our school, and they had to cut the a/c off. Spring in Alabama can be really hot, and it was. Everyone was so miserable. We were, of course, expected to buy our own fans.
I kept wondering how I survived high school in the same state without a/c. We didn't have it at home, at school, or even in the car. I actually think that was the key. You never knew what it was like to be cool. Lol. But, oh, how awful it was to stick to the single sheet covering you!
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 6, 2024 18:28:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2013 19:55:14 GMT -5
Lonewolf this is kind of Redneckish & I shouldn't say it but here goes. Seven years ago when we moved in the area where the TV went was flooded with light so bad that we couldn't see the TV. Well we were in the process of unpacking & I just threw a dog blanket over the window. By the time we got everything unpacked I was so used to the blanket that I didn't even "see" it anymore. Well a couple of month ago I realized that it was still there so we finally went out & bought a screen for that area to block the light. Really the screen we bought does about the same good job in blocking the light but I can't imagine what people thought when they saw a dog blanket over the window. LOL Tex! Around here, blankets over windows means druggies live there. Heck I take more drugs that most druggies do.
|
|