Living Without AC 2012

This is our third summer, in the deep south, living without AC.  This time through has been so much easier than the first one!

What has contributed to the improvement?  Well, I do think the temperatures have been slightly more temperate.  But it's still been quite hot many days with no relief from an evening rain.  We love evening rains around here!  (They do an awesome job of overall cooling and, if it's late enough in the evening, it doesn't get all gross and sticky hot muggy before the sun completely sets, which, in iteself is hugely cooling!)

Also, we have learned that we need to close the house up early in the morning to preserve whatever cooling the night has brought about within it.  On super sunny days, this only lasts until about 2:30 or 3pm, but by 6 or 7pm we're able to open up the house and find some relief from the outside coolER air.  Even with the 21 foot high ceilings in our living room (which are a definitely saving grace to living without AC), the house can get oven-hot by about 4-5pm!

Covering windows has helped.  It would help even more if we could get real curtains that actually blocked a majority of the sunlight.  We're making do with a blanket over the hottest window at this point.  It definitely does help, though, as redneck or ghetto as it is.  (Every little bit!)

This year we didn't really start turning fans on during the day until late July.  YEAY!  We sleep with them on through the night from late Spring, but still cover up with a light blanket.  Jessie still uses a blanket by about 2am, but I'm compeletely blanket-free through the whole night almost every night currently.  It's hot, I tell ya!

Showers are integral.  Cold showers.  We do turn the temp guide for the shower head to warm to start, but then turn it all the way cold for the majority of the shower.  This makes a distinct difference in heat perception through the night.  Without a shower every night, it just feels hotTER through the night of a missed shower.  Honestly!

Keeping the house more closed also helps with mold and that sort of gross stuff.  The items that just sit for a long-ish time still have a problem and get moldy.  But I haven't had tons on walls thus far, which is a great blessing!

So, contrary to opinions expressed by most people who consider living without AC... it can be done without a great deal of discomfort.  It might take a few years to get used to... but who said anything in life would be fast and easy or that we'd get it just our way?  Oh, well, besides Burger King, of course!