How-to Live Without Air Conditioning
Posted: Thursday, July 31, 2008
by Kathy Case
Case Exchange Co., Inc.
Sure everybody likes the convenience of having air conditioning, but who likes to pay for it? My husband and I certainly don't, and haven't since 2001. When we first made this choice it was mainly because it would have literally put us in debt. Every since then we have found other ways to beat the heat. Even after we finally got to the point that we could afford to pay for air conditioning we still chose not to do so.
Here in Arkansas the temperature is often between 90 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit for a month or two. The humidity seems to be up in the 70's quite often making the heat index rise as high as 110 degrees. The temperature inside our home during July and August is usually up in the 90's during the night. It gets very uncomfortable needless to say.
It's really not as hard as everybody thinks it is to go without AC. However, if you can afford it, before you shut your air conditioner off you will want to install ceiling fans in every room. We run all of our fans day and night and we have a total of six excluding the bathroom. Currently, we also have two floor fans for our bedroom and living room. Our highest electric bill today, after a recent price hike of about $15 a month, is about $53. Once the ceiling fans are installed open all the windows, and block the sun from shining in the home.
The real secret to staying cool is the use of water. During the daytime hours we use an inexpensive, one hundred dollar swimming pool from Wal-marts. Since this one didn't come with a tarp to put under it or a cover for the top, we bought two twelve-foot trampoline covers for twenty-five dollars, which works perfectly. We just tie the two together. So far this swimming pool has lasted us for three years. Now it's not big and elaborate and some of our neighbors laugh at us because they have a bigger one, but it definitely works and helps up to tolerate the heat.
During the evening hours when the humidity starts rising, it gets a bit tougher. What I do to is stand in a cool shower to bring my body temperature down. Then I wear as little as I have to, and put a cold wet hand towel around my neck, on my legs or arms, or where ever I need. At night when I sleep, I will put a wet cloth over my torso. The hotter it is, the bigger the towel. By doing this I can sleep soundly through the entire night.
Then finally, it is very important to stay hydrated throughout the day because you will obviously sweat more than you did when you were using an air conditioner. Ice cream or other cold treats will also help keep your body cooler. Cold food or cooking out doors will help keep the home cooler as well. Eliminating the use of an air conditioner not only saves you a lot of money, it also helps the environment.
If anybody can give us more tips on how to stay cooler, please don't hesitate to give us your thoughts.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Enjoyed your article; I have used a cold wet paper towel around neck for menopause past (like on the job)... never thought to use a cold hand towel for humid nights.- Jessie.
Thank you Jessie,I'm happy to hear that you will get some use from my article.
Well I guess here in Florida nudist camps will be on the rise. God help us with all those aging shapes. Like I said this state was populated long before AC and people survived in the hot humid heat. How, well I guess those fans, a slower pace and staying in the shade would help quite a bit plus a dip into some cool water where it could be found. I suspect in place of central air perhaps separated cooling would help with AC. Cut the home into zones and cool appropriately?Hello Robert,I agree the heat does slow you down and you don't want to have a heat stroke.We have been known to close off rooms in the past, not only in the summer but the winter too. Out bed ends up on the living room floor. Now a days, it's much harder to get up off the floor.Kathy
Great article with some sensible ideas. Great to hear from someone else from Arkansas and Amen I know all about the Arkansas heat and humidity. You, however, are much stronger than I--I can't quite give up my air conditioning. And yet, I don't remember ever missing it when I was a kid growing up and we were lucky to have one fan for the whole house. (eight kids plus two parents). We put one window fan in one window--pulling the air out--so that it pulled air in through all the other windows. That worked well for us.Sandra From Paragould, Ar.Hi Sandra,Thank you for your complement on the article. Turning one fan outwards is a good suggestion and I will defenatley do that. It should help to draw the hot air out during night much faster.Kathy from Batesville, Ar.
hi kathy,this was a great article, since we had a fire in our furnace over the winter, and haven't been able to replace it yet, and the unit that goes outside also makes the air conditioner run. not this summer.i am at my computer most of the day, and i bought a stainless steel 8 inch fan for my computer desk, and it has helped wonderfully. i also have a ceiling fan in my bedroom, and kitchen, and they never stop, and we alternate opening the windows at night, if it's cool, and close them during the day when it's hot. so far, so good.on other days, we just did the good old sweating routine:)thanks for a great article, and for joining my fan club, i truly appreciate it.my best regards,sueYou're welcome Sue,We too open and close the windows as needed.Sandra Graham also made a great suggestion to help people like us in her comments. She wrote, "We put one window fan in one window--pulling the air out--so that it pulled air in through all the other windows".Something else that can make a big difference (that I neglected to include in the article) is to close all the curtains on the side of the house where the sun comes through.Sincerely,KathyP.S. Yesterday I left a note in your mailbox.
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