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Anyone else here not like air conditioning?

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iGas

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2009
6,240
1
0
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: BoomerD
I also hate the air conditioning. The stuff makes my light bill go through the fucking stratosphere...BUT, we use it. A LOT. Gets too dammed hot here in Kahleeforneeya's Central Valley NOT to use it.

Dude, how old is your A/C unit? Maybe you should think of getting a more efficient unit if it's more than 15 years old.
Check the rating plate on the heatpump (normally it is on or near the service access door).
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,584
984
126
Originally posted by: miri
we live in southern california about 4 miles from the beach, summer highs are usually in the 70s so we can live comfortably without it

I'm in north county San Diego (coastal) and there were a couple weeks last summer that it was in the high 90s. For the most part though, we don't need it. Sure is nice to have when it does get hot though.

Our house has the master bedroom and the kitchen/family room facing west so we get the hot afternoon sun on those rooms and they get mighty uncomfortable without A/C when the temps get into the 90s.
 

MikeyLSU

Platinum Member
Dec 21, 2005
2,747
0
71
I feel the same way about heaters, but I live in Louisiana where the summers are brutal and winters are easy. We may get an overnight freeze just a few times a year at most.

But humid summers are tough. Without A/C, your house would be filled with mildue/mold from the humidity.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
66,293
14,712
146
Originally posted by: iGas
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: BoomerD
I also hate the air conditioning. The stuff makes my light bill go through the fucking stratosphere...BUT, we use it. A LOT. Gets too dammed hot here in Kahleeforneeya's Central Valley NOT to use it.

Dude, how old is your A/C unit? Maybe you should think of getting a more efficient unit if it's more than 15 years old.
Check the rating plate on the heatpump (normally it is on or near the service access door).

The house is 12 years old, but they cheaped out when they built these places and only put in SEER 10 units.
My neighbor is a HVAC guy and he says that replacing it with a higher SEER unit won't pay for itself in these houses. (stucco houses with dark tile roofs)
I may install some type of improved attic ventilation though. Get the hot air out of the attic should make things more comfortable...and reduce the AC bill.

The local electric company has rebates for whole house fans ($100) which would cover about 1/4 of the cost of an inexpensive unit...but the cheap ones are noisy as hell.
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
it's not necessarily the heat but the humidity that I rely on it for.

I don't know what it's like in VA, but when I wake up on a summer morning and step outside of my air conditioned bedroom, it's like I'm swimming through the air.

the impact to my utility bill is negligible... I have 2 window units and they're never on at the same time. it's almost like a game of hiding from the sun.

my living room windows face east, so it's hot as hell in the morning and I hide out in the bedroom with the AC on... but my bedroom windows face west, so when it heats up in the late afternoon I retreat into the living room and turn the AC on in there. till it's time for bed and I change rooms again. at the very least, it allows me to be super comfortable without having to turn the AC up to max.
 

Ackmed

Diamond Member
Oct 1, 2003
8,499
560
126
Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Originally posted by: Ackmed
AC is a wonderful thing... http://i39.tinypic.com/sdzp6b.jpg

When its this hot, and you dont have it, life just sucks. It got hotter, that was around 11am.

Is that thermometer accurate?, I didn't know Tenn. got to 125+ in may..

As ironwing stated, thats not from here. Its from last Summer in Iraq. Kuwait was even worse.
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,819
1,999
126
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
Here in Southern Mississippi, I value air-conditioning very dearly. High temperatures coupled with very high humidity makes for a brutal experience without it:(

Yup. I remember not having AC after Katrina hit. I'd rather be standing out in the storm than trying to sleep at night with 85° temps and 90% humidity.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
Originally posted by: Ackmed
Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Originally posted by: Ackmed
AC is a wonderful thing... http://i39.tinypic.com/sdzp6b.jpg

When its this hot, and you dont have it, life just sucks. It got hotter, that was around 11am.

Is that thermometer accurate?, I didn't know Tenn. got to 125+ in may..

As ironwing stated, thats not from here. Its from last Summer in Iraq. Kuwait was even worse.

Ouch, how people live there is beyond me, I know there is acclimation but over 120, damm.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,608
13,816
126
www.anyf.ca
Originally posted by: Ackmed
AC is a wonderful thing... http://i39.tinypic.com/sdzp6b.jpg

When its this hot, and you dont have it, life just sucks. It got hotter, that was around 11am.

Holy crap. And I thought +30 was hot (that's 86F). Then again if we got this here I would not complain, I'm sick of the cold. Only thing good about living here is no destructive forces such as tornadoes, floods, hurricanes etc.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,864
31,359
146
Originally posted by: MichaelD
If you don't like air conditioning, you are a Communist. A damn, dirty, red, Communist.

I agree with this sentiment 100%

 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,864
31,359
146
Originally posted by: BoomerD
I also hate the air conditioning. The stuff makes my light bill go through the fucking stratosphere...BUT, we use it. A LOT. Gets too dammed hot here in Kahleeforneeya's Central Valley NOT to use it.

you must be way older than I thought if you still call it the light bill.

Were you born in 1879 or something? :p
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,864
31,359
146
Originally posted by: Newbian
Originally posted by: ironwing
Originally posted by: ebaycj
Originally posted by: jmebonner
Greatest inventions of all time:

1.)Internet
2.)Air Conditioning
3.)DVR

So no, I'm not with you on this one.

You forgot the real #1: Antibiotics.

If you have:

1.)Internet
2.)Air Conditioning
3.)DVR

then you never need to come in contact with another human again so antibiotics are no longer necessary.

They are when you get computer viruses while making love to your computer's floppy drive.

antibiotics aren't going to help you against virus... :p
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Originally posted by: zinfamous
Originally posted by: MichaelD
If you don't like air conditioning, you are a Communist. A damn, dirty, red, Communist.

I agree with this sentiment 100%

Thank you. And I came back to this thread specifically to reiterate my previous statement. But you did it for me. :beer::D

I grew up in an apartment building in NYC; every window in the house faced the alley in the back. In the summer if it was 90F and humid outside it was 100F, humid with absolutely no breeze inside. :(

Spent many years in San Antonio, TX. From May to September it's 90F by 9:00AM_and_freakin'_humid!

Spent a few years in Nebraska too. Nebraska? Pfft! It doesn't get hot in the midwest! Oh, bullshit!!! It gets freakin' HOT and HUMID...like San Antonio but only for two months, not five months.

Fans only recirculate HOT AIR. Your house is 90F. Turn on your big fan, bucko, and you're now in a convection oven. Congrats on that.

Swamp cooler? Open windows? Bahahahahah! How prehistoric. Yup, I'm a'gonna take this here fan and blow it across this stream of water. See how the mist blows on'ya? FEels good, right?

Ah, no. It feels like I'm an even sticker, wetter, more pissed off person than before....do I hear dueling banjos playing....????

Air Conditioning. Get it. Use it. Love it.

If you don't like air conditioning, you are a Communist. A damn, dirty, red, Communist.
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,819
1,999
126
Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Originally posted by: Ackmed
AC is a wonderful thing... http://i39.tinypic.com/sdzp6b.jpg

When its this hot, and you dont have it, life just sucks. It got hotter, that was around 11am.

Holy crap. And I thought +30 was hot (that's 86F). Then again if we got this here I would not complain, I'm sick of the cold. Only thing good about living here is no destructive forces such as tornadoes, floods, hurricanes etc.

I kind of like the idea of four seasons. I'm surrounded by water and live along the gulf coast; we just get two. Summer and not summer. Summer lasts about 9 months.
 
Dec 10, 2005
28,806
14,002
136
I lived in Chicago last summer without turning on the AC in my apartment. I didn't feel it would be worth the cost of electricity to cool a 2200sqft apartment when only 2 people would be living in it and gone for most of the day.

It'll be the same this summer, except I'll have no AC option in my new place. I'll probably be at work at the hottest points of the day (in AC) and it gets cooler at night. I'll just stick with the oscillating fan.
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
I lived in Chicago last summer without turning on the AC in my apartment. I didn't feel it would be worth the cost of electricity to cool a 2200sqft apartment when only 2 people would be living in it and gone for most of the day.

It'll be the same this summer, except I'll have no AC option in my new place. I'll probably be at work at the hottest points of the day (in AC) and it gets cooler at night. I'll just stick with the oscillating fan.

You know you can turn off the AC when you're not home, right? You can buy a programmable thermostat and have it come on about an hour before you get home and shut off right before you leave for work in the AM.

YES: I know that cooling down OR heating up an enclosed space from a hot/cold temp uses a lot of juice. I also know that getting a good nights' sleep and having energy during the day is priceless. :)