this is a thread about one of the greatest achievements of our time: AIR CONDITIONING

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Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 6 July 2003 06:30 (twenty-two years ago)

mmmm, A/C. I have central air in my apt and the electricity is paid for. So I keep that sucker at about 68F all the time baby. Brr.

That Girl (thatgirl), Sunday, 6 July 2003 06:34 (twenty-two years ago)

ice is pretty urgent & key too

Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 6 July 2003 06:39 (twenty-two years ago)

We don't have aircon in our house, and we don't need it. If they just used decent building materials in modern buildings nobody else would need it either.

Andrew (enneff), Sunday, 6 July 2003 06:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Obviously you don't live in Texas Andrew.

That Girl (thatgirl), Sunday, 6 July 2003 06:43 (twenty-two years ago)

This is the THIRD thread wherein I've read something That Girl's posted that I could've posted too! (I don't mind one bit -- I just think this is hilarious. We are of similar minds.)

I could not live without air conditioning, especially during May - September. There is no way you can force me to go without, no matter what you construct the house with. Air conditioning is like food to me, i.e. an absolute necessity. And I set mine at 72 degrees because I like it that way.

I lurve a/c.

Innocent Dreamer (Dee the Lurker), Sunday, 6 July 2003 07:36 (twenty-two years ago)

god bless a/c.

luna (luna.c), Sunday, 6 July 2003 07:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Nobody really has air conditioning in their houses over here. It's horrible in cars, and makes me feel sick, coz you can't have the window open. But, I guess it's pretty useful if you live somewhere really hot.

jel -- (jel), Sunday, 6 July 2003 07:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I like having airconditioning in my car, even in the UK's temperate climate. I use it a lot, but I think it may have gone a bit wonky lately as sometimes it seems to chuck snow all over me as I drive along. I ought to get that looked at, really.

C J (C J), Sunday, 6 July 2003 08:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Thank you for my existence

the City of Phoenix (Oops), Sunday, 6 July 2003 08:36 (twenty-two years ago)

As jel says, it's rare in homes over here, and it isn't so hot so much of the time. It's important and good at work, and I have a mini a/c unit here at home - it only really cools the immediate area, but since I don't take up a big area and it's easy to move around, that suffices.

Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 6 July 2003 10:54 (twenty-two years ago)

that's cuz you fuckers are halfway to the north pole!

James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 6 July 2003 11:11 (twenty-two years ago)

We have the gulf stream, so we have a very mild climate - our summers are less hot than NYC, for instance, but our winters are less cold too. Admittedly we're crap at dealing with the 'extremes' we do have. No air conditioning except in our nicer offices, and half an inch of snow and everything grinds to a halt.

Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 6 July 2003 13:02 (twenty-two years ago)

New Orleans = not habitable without A/C, though I have a window unit and it sucks cuz I have to get up constantly and adjust it when my hole-in-the-wall gets freezing. Central A/C is the best.

jewelly (jewelly), Sunday, 6 July 2003 14:05 (twenty-two years ago)

a/c makes life much more tolerable in many places, for sure. Like any technology, though, it has had unintended consequences. In the Southern U.S., the whole community porch culture -- people sitting on their porches in the evenings, visiting their neighbors' porches, etc. (as described, for example, in Agee's "Knoxville Summer 1915"), the idea of a communal outdoor life -- was driven mostly by the fact that it was too damn hot inside the houses. Air conditioning has pretty well killed that; go find one of those old neighborhoods in a Southern city, with porches and sidewalks, and see how many people you actually see on their porches.

I'm no Luddite on this. I run the a/c all summer long. But it has inevitably had an insular effect. Air conditioning and suburbia go hand in hand. (One solution I like is the outdoor misting spray systems I saw on patios in Arizona -- keeps people cool and still allows them to be outside. Of course, the problem with that is that it uses a lot of water that Arizona doesn't really have in the first place...)

JesseFox (JesseFox), Sunday, 6 July 2003 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll take the insularity, though (I do know what you mean -- but I think there are other factors, like More Reasons To Stay Inside and Near-Universal Telecommunication). There are still people who die in New Orleans -- and especially Acadiana -- every year because they don't have air-conditioning. It's not quite as necessary as having heat or a fireplace in the northeast -- the people who die of heat exhaustion are always elderly and infirm -- but it's not quite optional, either.

Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 6 July 2003 15:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Jesse's right about the porch culture. However in big Southern cities, in poor neighborhoods, this type of community still exists. Many people have nothing more than a teetering old window unit and will go outside to seek refuge from the stifling heat of the house. Before I lived in these apts I lived in a rambling ancient house with a couple of unreliable a/c units so we pretty much lived out on our huge porch . . .like the rest of the street. I'm still in the same 'hood but sadly I have no porch now so the point is moot.

Still drive through poor 'hoods and everyone's hanging outside in the summertime evenings. Give any of these suckers the chance at central air however. . .

That Girl (thatgirl), Sunday, 6 July 2003 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

OK this is a subject about which I tend to get pretty lit up ever since I moved from California where I grew up to the Midwest which has been my home since '95. A/C is fine as far as it goes: sometimes to get to sleep you gotta cool down a little. But out here they take that shit to EXTREMES. Case in point, my workplace. As soon as the sun comes out after the thaw, you've got about one week in which to enjoy the exceedingly pleasant natural A/C of OPENING THE MOTHERFUCKING WINDOW AND LETTING SOME COOL AIR IN. As soon as some o' these fuckers notice that it's 70 degrees or warmer, though, down go the windows and on comes the ass-cunting ICE BLASTER. From May through October, you can depend on my workplace being sixty-one toe-felching degrees celsius, if not lower, and all hope of enjoying of one God's own cool breezes is, you'll forgive the expresssion, "out the window," since the window's been hermetically sealed for the summer.

A/C as only possible remedy for heat = dud beyond dud, wedded forever in my mind to the types of people who forward those annoying "You're blessed today if you enjoyed any of the following things..." types of emails. A/C as respite from humidity obv. classic. But if there's one area (and there may only be this one) in which I'd preach the virtues of moderation, it'd be with regard to air conditioning, which out here anyway is emblematic of how my adopted countrymen consider nature their sworn enemy.

J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Sunday, 6 July 2003 16:01 (twenty-two years ago)

My parents have central A/C in their house, but in my apartment there is none. No one I know in Denver has A/C; it usually doesn't get that hot, and it hasn't been until the past two weeks where it's been 105 degrees everyday. But even with a crapload of fans and living in a basement, I've found it hard to sleep and this weekend I am at my parents house and its true bliss at 68 F.

Mandee, Sunday, 6 July 2003 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

andrew nf and J0hn Darn1elle on the money. In architectural review a few months back there was amazing hoose situated in the arizona desert out side phoenix which had no a/c. Its all in the design.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 16:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Those houses are like the guys who point out that there'd be no traffic jams if everyone drove at the same constant speed with the same amount of space between each car to allow for turns without neighboring cars slowing down. Great in theory. In practice -- you'll never avert a traffic jam that way, and you can't do much for the millions of people who can't and won't redesign their house to save ten bucks a month on the electric bill.

Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 6 July 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

these were beautiful houses with huge (north facing) glass walls.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 17:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Whatevah. Take yr fancy houses and wherever the hell it is you live that has *cool* breezes (wtf?). Me? I'll take my frigid climate-controlled enivrons any day of the week. Anyone else who has lived in Texas year round would agree. . .

*ice crystals form around fingertips*

That Girl (thatgirl), Sunday, 6 July 2003 17:38 (twenty-two years ago)

icy A/C sucks, (blows, maybe).

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes it blows nice, hard and cold, Ed. yum.

That Girl (thatgirl), Sunday, 6 July 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

i have had more colds from over active A/c than i've had from winter.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 17:50 (twenty-two years ago)

winter?

That Girl (thatgirl), Sunday, 6 July 2003 17:51 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, we get that up here.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 17:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Its all in the design.

yeah, those all stupid poor people who live in the projects, what do they know? if they moved into yr fabulous arizona house they wouldn't complain so fucking much.

Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Public schools are insane w/ temperature control. In the summer I would bring a jacket because they kept the AC on "freeze", and in the winter I would wear short sleeves under my coat because the kept the heat at "bake."

If there were no AC, then you or I probably wouldn't be living in the South in the first place. The population of the South was tiny until the invention of the AC caused a huge migration southward. AC in your house + AC in your car = 99% time spent in artificial enviroments. AC is a huge energy drain, and will be one of the first things to be sacrificed in the coming energy shortages.

fletrejet, Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I keep my a/c on the Energy Saver setting, so it shuts off whenever the room is sufficiently cooled down.

Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

i have had more colds from over active A/c than i've had from winter.

This is what I hate most about it! When I have shows or a tour coming up, I really really can't afford to get sick, and I'll go to work and there's this rank freonified air blowing out of vents that haven't been cleaned since they were installed through filters that needed replaced back during the Ford administration, and it's just the PERFECT environment for mold growth, etc., and I sit there goin' "Please God don't let me get sick, what could be worse than 1) getting on an airplane while sick 2) touring while sick."

Like I say, moderation - we finally broke down and bought a window unit for our bedroom, which we turn on an hour or so before bed. But the whole every-home-should-be-a-convalescent-hospital mode of A/C, brr, it gives me the hard creeps.

J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:17 (twenty-two years ago)

This is not a jibe against people who have to have A/C because of poor or outdated building design. All building built nowaday ought to be build to use the minimum of heat or cooling. I was just providing an example where design can overcome the need to use A/C in the most extreme situations.

However look back at botn tenemant and other house design in hot countries going back through the ages and you willsee that it is possible to do without A/C and still keep the house cool. (Big thick walls, shutters on windows, central courtyards, largely in shade, all features of ancient roman tennemant design and used in southern europe till the rise of A/C, I guess in the 80s).

Having lived through a hot italian summer. I can testify to the fact that it is possible to keep a flat cool (20?C in a 40?C heat) with no A/C and a rotation of shutters.

A/C is hugely wastefull and widescale use of A/C goes to contribute to a hotter exterior ambient tempurature in cities (not to mention all the greenhouse gasses produced in powering the things).

Now add to this the devlopments in the past 10 years or so in passive ventilation, smart glass, building control systems, insultation, building materials etc. you can design buildings with a very small need for heating and cooling.

As for energy saving setting that should be an un alterable stautory setting.

Don't even get me started on open fridge freezers in supermarkets or how the heat from this wastefull machines is not ducted away.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:21 (twenty-two years ago)

But if there's one area (and there may only be this one) in which I'd preach the virtues of moderation, it'd be with regard to air conditioning, which out here anyway is emblematic of how my adopted countrymen consider nature their sworn enemy.

Here in New Orleans, the emblem of nature as my countrymen's sworn enemy is hurricanes and stifling heat!! Nature = DUD.

jewelly (jewelly), Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:22 (twenty-two years ago)

central courtyards

My building has a central courtyard and my apartment (which faces the courtyard) still gets unbearably humid in summer. There's also very little natural light coming in here -- you'd think that would help keep things cool, but no.

Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Nature = DUD.

Yeah see that's where we disagree.

J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Different natures at hand, John.

As far as summer-smart building design and the like -- sure, some designs work better for some climates than others. Drive through New Orleans: most of the buildings that are older than a few decades were made to try to maximize coolness. Big open shutters at opposite ends of the house, to get a breeze going through. Shotgun houses with narrow alleys between them, so the wind is forced through faster and carries warmth with it. Little use of upper stories except as places where excess heat is funnelled. They're sometimes just shy of brilliant. They're as picturesque as they are picaresque. They're quaint. They're often beautiful.

And they suck.

No one wants them. I could make a down payment on one by selling my four year old computer. They're hot as fuck -- cooler than standing out in the sun or a chicken coop, sure, but "slightly less hot than tons of fuck" is still "hot as fuck." They're humid, so much so that the walls sweat and the paint peels long before its time. They're crawling with cockroaches and may flies. The gaps between the walls and the plaster are home to mold which kills you if you breathe in too many of its spores. The refrigerators sweat and the cabinets become mildewy.

There is a limit to how much you can do with a given set of resources. Some climates are more easily tamed than others.

Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

The courtyard has to be designed correctly, so that very little sun enters. Also you need shutters that let air, but not light to pass through. Humidity is a problem but not indurmounhatble, with forced or passive ventilation. Passive ventialtion systems can adequately de humidify the air inside the building through clever use of basements to encourged condensation in the air entering the building.

A/C is the easy lazyu way of taming climates. it take ingenuity to do it properly.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 18:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Iowa in July ain't exactly tropical breezes - the South still ownz humidity, natch, but it gets mighty brutal around these parts.

Again I'm not saying "Abolish air conditioning!" I'm just saying when I go into a house in the summer and it's COLD in there, I start making shit up about how I got an appointment to be somewhere real quick-like.

J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Sunday, 6 July 2003 19:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Ed, I kinda had to laugh, cause this is so not your fault and you had no way of knowing :) Clever use of basements might work ninety nine times out of a hundred -- but there's no such thing as a basement in the New Orleans area, where nearly all of the city is below sea-level and the water table is barely a footprint beneath the surface. You can't even build buildings too tall, or they'll sink.

Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 6 July 2003 19:06 (twenty-two years ago)

What is "clever use of basements"?

Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 6 July 2003 19:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Filling them with clowns, for example

J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Sunday, 6 July 2003 19:16 (twenty-two years ago)

whoop,s for got about that re NO

Heat rises as part of your building design you build in in your foundations vents that suck air down to the bottom level. Air is drawn up through the basements, duck so it passses as muched exposed concrete as possible. If the temp of the air in the basments is below the dew point (quite possible) Water will condense out drying the air. The draft is suppllied by the hotter levels of the building and chimenys on the roof, constructed of thin black metal. Drawing air through the building. Ventilation can be improove by lacing your inlet in the prevailing wind direction. Water can be used to precool the air on entry or in the basement sections.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

constructed of thin black metal

res ipsa loquitur - this is clearly the best way to get your building's core temperature down to frosty Nordic levels

J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Sunday, 6 July 2003 19:27 (twenty-two years ago)

it is the way to use convection to draw air through your building, remember that we are talking about the exhaust from the building here.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 19:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Also re NO. Guess where is going to be one of the first places to sink beneath the waves global warming induced sea level rises occur.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 6 July 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Or if a hurricane finally makes a direct hit, or etc. It's a pretty precarious place.

All's fair -- the city would be long since gone if the Army Corps of Engineers weren't redirecting the Mississippi River, so it's all bonus time at this point anyway.

Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 6 July 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I lived through a whole Texas summer once without turning on the AC. It was a feat of will, I tell you. And big props the the gi-normous box fans all over the house. With so many fans running all the time, I'm not sure we saved much money.

I can see how living without AC is possible -- perhaps even preferable -- in many parts of the world. Again with the Chicago weather: 81 degrees today. Not bad at all. I could even sleep at that temperature.

But down here, AC prevents needless death. It's very hot. And sex is impossible without AC down here... who wants to touch someone else when you sweat 24 hours a day and feel sticky and gross all the time?

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 6 July 2003 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

I was miserable living without A/C in my car for a few months last year - in Florida not only do you need it to combat the heat, but also to defog the windows as a result of the whole consensation phenomenon. Without A/C your windows fog over in the morning, and the evening, and when you're driving, and when it's raining ... scary and not fun (well, depending on one's definition of 'fun' I guess).

I'm Passing Open Windows (Ms Laura), Sunday, 6 July 2003 22:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm getting better about AC. I've been driving around more and more with my windows down and the A/C off. As a bonus, I get to annoy rednecks and Republicans with my music.

But at home? Half the windows in my house don't even open anymore. And say all you want about "smart building," but it's not possible to create a comfortable, permanent structure in North Texas year-round that's affordable to the average person. Too much humidity to go with the heat.

I'm still nursing my desire to live somewhere that stays 35-75 all year round. I have no idea where that is. Vancouver?

miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Monday, 7 July 2003 03:06 (twenty-two years ago)

People Who Live In Suburbs: Classy, Icky, or Dudes?

iatee, Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:17 (fifteen years ago)

I should probably stop ruining this thread, but I'll only reiterate that yeah, I do the A/C thing too, I don't mean to strongly criticize what is pretty much totally normal in our culture. Sometimes the cognitive dissonance that is apparently necessary to live functionally in our society overwhelms me and I react by pretending that I know what's going on

"goof proof cooking, I love it!" (Z S), Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:18 (fifteen years ago)

'if you are able-bodied' is key though - buses are the only form of transt for millions of old/disabled people in this country

I kind of thought of the arguments against A/C to apply very generally, and not take into account stuff like disabilities that might make A/C necessary for life (or at least good health), so I was applying the same to the notion that buses could arguably be luxuries.

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:19 (fifteen years ago)

Z S, you're not ruining anything. Your criticisms are well stated and not unilateral.

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:20 (fifteen years ago)

if my apt was 83° i wld never sleep, ever, from sweating all the time

TEEN LESBIAN (Lamp), Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:21 (fifteen years ago)

my bf always wants to turn off the a/c & im like, dear god, no. i justify its wastefulness w/ the fact that i walk or bike everywhere & let the apt stay really cold all winter & barely use power for anything else

TEEN LESBIAN (Lamp), Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:22 (fifteen years ago)

I dunno I think a lot of it is just what people are used to?

iatee, Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:23 (fifteen years ago)

I agree that we're spoiled by cheap energy, however, my budget would have to change to pay for A/C. I mean, it does already, but if electricity doubled in price, other things would get cut before A/C (eating out, Netflix, name-brand groceries).

As I said upthread, I barely use heat in the winter. This worked out nicely in my previous place b/c the landlady was super stingy with the radiators, so it rarely reached even 65 inside and I never complained.

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:26 (fifteen years ago)

i grew up in new england and then canada so, yeah, i am not great w/ heat. although tbqf toronto summers are way more brutal than sf ime

its mostly just funny or not funny but s.thing bcuz i feel guilty abt how much ive been running the a/c this summer but it makes such a difference to my qol that i could probably justify murdering every polar bear currently alive, with my own hands, if it became necessary, tp preserve a 70° apt

TEEN LESBIAN (Lamp), Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:28 (fifteen years ago)

seriously

o sh!t a ˁ˚ᴥ˚ˀ (ENBB), Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:39 (fifteen years ago)

I'm trying to backtrack and pretend I'm the other side of the argument that says blast the A/C, if you got it, flaunt it. And while I kind of viscerally disagree with that, I also see tons of holes in my own perspective. Because really, I guess my view boils down to the fact that I wouldn't be comfortable living in my apartment with A/C in July if I happened to live next door to a dude in Pakistan that was sweating his balls off. And if I lived in a hypothetical, representational neighborhood where it was like me and 19 other people with A/C and then 80 others who went without, I'd feel super awkward around them. And I definitely would not feel comfortable talking to my A/C-less neighbor and complaining about how hot it was and how the A/C can't seem to get the temp below 76, no matter how long I kept it on. It's like talking to someone without a job and complaining about how the raise you received wasn't as big as what you deserved.

But really, all of that just boils down to "We're living a lifestyle that is exceedingly luxurious compared to the rest of the world, and I feel guilty because I did absolutely nothing to deserve it." Which unfortunately isn't really a winning argument, it convinces no one to change anything. And of course, you can make the same argument about loads of other luxuries that we feel entitled to enjoy.

the whole thing - modern life - is absurd.

"goof proof cooking, I love it!" (Z S), Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:42 (fifteen years ago)

I grew up in coastal california in a city that doesn't use a lot of a/c and I never really even thought about the concept outside of like...malls/grocery stores.

anyway my opinion remains the same - everyone is spoiled - but this thread has probably made me think I should just let my gf win the 83+a/c argument (she already did of course) cause I guess she's the average person and I'm the weird one.

iatee, Thursday, 29 July 2010 04:42 (fifteen years ago)

We are accustomed to a lifestyle that is far more comfortable than so many other people, and we take it as a given that this is what we deserve - A/C, cheap food, free time, cheap gas (in the U.S., anyway). As with anything, it's a matter of how close you are to seeing something different - if I moved to Mexico City, I think I would really struggle with owning two cats that get fed daily, get treats, toys, and regular medical care, when there are tons of people living in shanty towns who don't get any of that. And I cringe to think what kind of animal suffering, pollution, and waste go into making cat food.

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:01 (fifteen years ago)

Basically, we do owe other humans and the earth something, and I think reasonable and good people recognize that and make efforts to be helpful, but we will never individually meet our due, however hard we try, and guilt is not helping anyone.

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:05 (fifteen years ago)

I need to stop posting and give in to the Ambien b/c I think I'm heading into some kind of stoner talk.

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:06 (fifteen years ago)

I dunno the guilt does help on some level, people who feel guilty are probably willing to support attempts to fix these problems - even if it requires them to pay more $ / change their lifestyle in some ways.

iatee, Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:07 (fifteen years ago)

obv that theoretical mechanism of change still needs to appear, but at least the guilty parties aren't gonna be pushing against it

iatee, Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:08 (fifteen years ago)

old people don't need to be going places. unless it's to the bank to get a crisp $5 bill to put in my birthday card, i guess. maybe restock their supply of hard candy, fine.

hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:18 (fifteen years ago)

been stayin in a house in bmore (94 degrees right now at 1:20 am, been much worse tho) and turnin into the most pro AC dude ever

underwater, please (bear, bear, bear), Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:21 (fifteen years ago)

go AC

underwater, please (bear, bear, bear), Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:22 (fifteen years ago)

which this house does not have

underwater, please (bear, bear, bear), Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:22 (fifteen years ago)

Seems to me that pro/con has as much to do with the humidity of your local climate as with the heat... like, I don't care how HOT it gets in scenic Italy or the mecca of adobe huts or SoCal - - - you would DIE if you moved to Atlanta even if you knocked ten degrees off the temperature. It's just a swamp, and yes, everything gets moldy and mildewy and gross so if you think you get sick from being in a place that's too air conditioned you should move into some of the rattletrap old houses I've been in in Georgia.

Mind you, I have a great fondness for those rattletraps, and I'm sympathetic to J0hnD's position, esp. after living in India for a little while and discovering how unbelievably fucking insanely cold the movie theaters are. Basically the few places there that have A/C just bombard you with it, and it takes its toll. But yeah, I have some education as an architect and I'm a little skeptical of the "if the building were just designed right it would feel just as comfortable" - - - this is totally true in hot-and-dry climates but totally NOT true in hot-and-wet ones.

Doctor Casino, Thursday, 29 July 2010 05:38 (fifteen years ago)

a/c basically unknown in residential london. no need for it :(

progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 29 July 2010 09:35 (fifteen years ago)

the a/c on the new london overground trains is pretty brutal

r|t|c, Thursday, 29 July 2010 09:37 (fifteen years ago)

oof yes

at work i need to have a sweater at my desk, which is just stupid

progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 29 July 2010 09:40 (fifteen years ago)

oh man i disagree. travelling on the east london line a few weeks ago was a treat, even when it got stuck in some east london crapwater for twenty minutes.

Upt0eleven, Thursday, 29 July 2010 10:04 (fifteen years ago)

i am kind of amazed that ppl 7 years ago knew what was up. because no matter where you are and when, AC = miracle.

a CRASBO is a "criminally related" ASBO (contenderizer), Thursday, 29 July 2010 10:16 (fifteen years ago)

But unless something totally unexpected occurs (massive new fossil fuel reserves are discovered + global warming really is a massive global conspiracy with 10,000s of climate scientists in cahoots, or clean energy ramps up way faster than expected + the Senate passes strong climate/energy legislation looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-*FOREHEADSLAP*), the idea of someone saying 83 F is unbearable without AC is going to be hilarious in the near future.

Air conditioning is going to be the least of our worries when we get to this point. And the thing is, there are so many modern conveniences in Western countries (and particularly the US) that deserve demonization as much if not more than air conditioning. I mean, entire cities (LA, Las Vegas) are built on deserts without enough water to sustain them and only thanks to modern engineering miracles that waste untold resources can people live in those areas and have lawns. LAWNS. Grass in the desert. What purpose does that serve? AC at least improves quality of life and in some climates and for some people, allows people to function, but actual grass as opposed to xeriscaped yards? What the hell is that all about?

And here's the thing that always chaps my ass about the emphasis in this society on the responsibility of the individual to save the planet, etc.: it is impossible for an individual acting alone or even groups of individuals acting collectively to effect change that matters in any way without some level of institutional support and change. And these groups of individuals can protest and take part in movements and lobby and sometimes nudge these institutions in one direction or another, or consumer patterns might encourage paper towel companies to put a li'l bit of recycled content in their products (and slap a big old green label on the packaging), but without serious sweeping, institutional level change, "Ten Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Planet" is only so much guilt-alleviating wankery. Guilt-alleviating wankery in which I habitually participate, mind you (like ZS said, it takes a fuckload of cognitive dissonance to exist in this wacky modern world), but I'm not fooling myself into thinking I'm a superior Green Being, because the actual difference I'm making in light of the harm that is happening on a major global scale is practically non-existant. And frankly, when we're talking about capitalist institutions specifically, any time there is a conflict between profits and anything else, profits will win. If it costs too much money to make a change that supports sustainability, it is just not going to happen.

What I mean is that my foregoing air conditioning because a fellow in Pakistan doesn't have any is meaningless. It just means we're both going to be hot. The only solution is an honest to god, global equitable re-distrubtion of resources and that's going to require a complete overhaul in human behavior and thinking AND world leaders who are not power-mad egotists with an "I got mine, fuck you" (whether that "you" is their own constituents or the residents of other countries) mentality and maybe that will happen some day, but it's not going to happen because I turn off my window unit and spend my nights lying in a puddle of my own sweat, wishing for a swift and mercifully cool death.

(For a hilaritragic example of what I mean by the pointlessness of individual action when unsupported by institutional change (or when actively stymied by institutional inertia), see this article about Chicago and recycling: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicago-recycling-blue-carts-service/Content?oid=2135422.)

sinister chemical wisdom (Jenny), Thursday, 29 July 2010 13:27 (fifteen years ago)

it is hard to believe that Las Vegas - both the strip and the metro area - would exist in its current form without a/c

iatee, Thursday, 29 July 2010 13:30 (fifteen years ago)

LA prolly would, even when it's hot there it's better than most of the country

iatee, Thursday, 29 July 2010 13:33 (fifteen years ago)

Jenny I agree with almost all of your post but I don't think it's incompatible with the notion of maybe keeping the A/C set at a more reasonable level in your own home

dyao, Thursday, 29 July 2010 13:34 (fifteen years ago)

sorry, that sounds more accusatory than I meant it to be. I just feel that adapting to existing in hotter temps is not... so hard*. I dunno, I feel this probably varies from person to person.

*obviously if your inside temp is 95 or above like poor bear up there it's not doable.

dyao, Thursday, 29 July 2010 13:43 (fifteen years ago)

No, I agree. Keeping the AC so low that you need a sweater in July, for example, is absurd. I might run the AC when it's 83 out - depends on the humidity and whether that's a high or low. If it's 83 at 10 am or after dusk, hell yeah. If it tops out at 83 at 1 pm, prob not.

sinister chemical wisdom (Jenny), Thursday, 29 July 2010 14:24 (fifteen years ago)

I like sleeping with just a sheet, the idea that I would actively make this more difficult to achieve boggles my mind

progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 29 July 2010 14:30 (fifteen years ago)

I guess here's how I break it down to an extent, and I don't really involve dudes from pakistan in my calculations (although they are there in the back of my mind) - I just figure, in terms of the appliances that I use the most, aircon units rank pretty high up there in terms of energy used. way up there. like a window mount can use 600-1000 watts depending on how big it is. my macbook has an 80W power adapter, TVs can go from under 50 to a couple hundred watts etc.

so I try to cut down on the A/C because it's a big power draw, and I don't think it's a big deal to wear less clothing or to cope. right now in the living room it's 78 and to me that's really comfortable, in my room it probably reaches 82-83 and I've learned not to mind.

dyao, Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:19 (fifteen years ago)

And that's very well to make changes in your life as you see fit, but my beef was with whoever it was above it was who called A/C "decadent" and those chided those who use it.

without serious sweeping, institutional level change, "Ten Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Planet" is only so much guilt-alleviating wankery.

I would add that displays of guilt and spreading of guilt are often wankery as well because it seems to me that a lot of times, that guilt makes people feel like they are accomplishing something.

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:28 (fifteen years ago)

desperation and outrage lead to guilt which might lead to inconsequential individual changes, which alleviate the guilt.

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:29 (fifteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

A thermostat is made to control the temperature of an area in a way that is far more granular than the poles of FUCKING HOT and FREEZING COLD. My boss does not fucking get this. So when she feels that it's getting a little chilly (i.e. for her, 72 degrees), she turns the thermostat to 79 or??? she turns the A/C off completely. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 19 August 2010 19:51 (fifteen years ago)

Why not:

1. choose the various options that exist between 72 and 79? Or 72 and OFF??
2. close the vent in her office?

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 19 August 2010 19:55 (fifteen years ago)

You know the answers to these questions. Which is not to say that you shouldn't come here to complain. You should.

Jenny, Thursday, 19 August 2010 20:01 (fifteen years ago)

It's just that I got back from running errands outside in the miserable heat and I was looking forward to a nice cool office, and I come in and it's fucking 80 degrees in here. I was a little short with her (very unlike me) when I said "Well, everyone else is burning up."

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 19 August 2010 20:02 (fifteen years ago)

Also? What bugs me? When the other people in the office come to me and say, "Jesse, why is it so hot in here?"

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 19 August 2010 20:03 (fifteen years ago)

Tell them to go ask Suzie Hotflash.

Jenny, Thursday, 19 August 2010 20:04 (fifteen years ago)

LOL

hahahaaasksjdf

I'm pretty sure she's done with that period of her life.

next person tries to teach me about JOY IN LIFE gets a tubgirl in return (Jesse), Thursday, 19 August 2010 20:07 (fifteen years ago)

four months pass...

Holy kraut, the difference between my power use this past August (a very, very hot month) v. November and December is astounding: 501 kWh versus 150-167 kWh ($76 v.+- $30).

also, that Christmas tree has a dildo on its head (Jesse), Thursday, 30 December 2010 23:45 (fourteen years ago)

two years pass...

What's a good power of ac to comfortably cool a midsize studio apartment? I don't
know the square feet but it's one large-ish long room plus attached kitchen thru an open archway.
I currently have in a 5,000 btu unit and it's not doing much but I fear escalating my electricity. My unit
has been on 60 degrees and high for the past 3 hours and the only positive effect is that I am not sweating.

Virginia Plain, Friday, 31 May 2013 02:42 (twelve years ago)

My apartment is about 450 square feet and I'm pretty sure the one I got was a 12K BTU, and it does the job. I googled suggestions for BTUs per square footage and they were helpful.

Je55e, Friday, 31 May 2013 15:33 (twelve years ago)

I finally gave in and popped my A/C in the day before yesterday when it got above 80º and humid and I knew sleep would be impossible.

Je55e, Friday, 31 May 2013 15:36 (twelve years ago)

The thermostat for our central AC is having some kind of schizophrenic break and thinks the temperature inside our house is in the upper 90s - low 100s. It's actually in the upper 70s, but trying telling that to the thermostat. So the air runs constantly unless I turn it off altogether.

Supposedly a new thermostat gets delivered today and supposedly I'm going to install it. I was viewing this DIY chore with great trepidation until my wife reminded me that I replaced one at our old house about 20 years ago. The positive side of senility! Whatever man has done, etc.

Brad C., Friday, 31 May 2013 17:22 (twelve years ago)

are you getting a Nest Learning Thermostat

0808ɹƃ (silby), Friday, 31 May 2013 19:26 (twelve years ago)


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