Lessons From My Air Conditioner

I've always been amazed at how some of the old victorian homes were built.  Just about every room had windows facing more than one direction.  If the room wasn't on a corner they bumped out the wall a bit in the middle with two 45 degree walls so they could have windows that provided a cross flow for ventilation.  Also a large number of the bedrooms would have small balconies for sleeping outside on those hot nights. 

At least one plus with the Hardiplank is that you will never have to replace it like you would with wood, vinyl or aluminum.

Hi all,

Being from TX as well--I remember my grandparents' home inland (near Austin). It was built in the mid 1800s and big--It had floor to ceiling windows with 12 foot ceilings and a dog trot down the center with rooms opening off on both sides. (Meaning the front entry and a rear entry to a roofed porch on both ends were in line with each other for shaded ventilation--breezes flowed through with the doors open to screens.. We had no air conditioning--just big ceiling fans (I mean --BIG fans). Upstairs the ceilings were a little lower but still tall. And yes, windows on at least two sides for each room. Also very large shade trees in the yard near the house.

I also remember that we took naps in the heat of the afternoon or rested with a book on the porch...and sweated a lot. Activity picked back up again at dusk when it started cooling off and the breezes came up. One reason BBQ is so popular--you cook outside. Another reason for summer kitchens, too.

One important issue to bear in mind--asphalt pavement holds heat. You can easily fry an egg on black pavement (the sidewalk, too--but asphalt is the worst.) Big cities have a lot of black road....I always said Houston would still be a small cow town without AC.  95 degrees and 90 percent humidity at 9:00 pm. Not fun with all that pavement around.

cheers...stay cool.

juli

Thanks for sharing that. We went through a heat wave on the East Coast last week. I remember checking some of the evening temperatures in the cities just to see the "heat island" effect: 10:30PM 91 in NYC and 94, 94!! in Newark, NJ. I think it was around 80 at the same time where I am.

But this is a main reason why I am moving now even though real estate hasn't hit bottom and to a smaller town with lots of trees and with some elevation. I just can't see how cities with millions of people living on top of each other will be able to keep cool in the summers without AC. And once they do figure it out, where will they want to live? At least those who can afford it if/when that time comes and the rush is on, it's probably where I am going. Better to plan ahead while you can.

Back in the 70's I was doing a lot of renovation work near Albany, NY.  I was working on a mansion that overlooked the Hudson River in Troy.  Whoever built this place channeled an underground stream through a trough in the basement floor.  The basement walls were five courses of brick thick.  I happened to be working there during a brutal heat wave with temps in the 90's every day, but the basement was actually chilly all the time.  I understand they used it for food storage, particularly meat, back in the day.

My house, not a mansion, was built shortly after the Erie Canal was completed and has a stone basement.  It's a bit damp down there, but always cool in the summer.  We have four ceiling fans that keep the house livable even during last week's heat wave that Sager wrote of.

I have come to respect the usefulness of basements in regulating home temps.  That mass of earth encasing the basements tends to moderate temps throughout the year.  I you have an underground spring, all the better.

Doug

Great post and topic, JAG.

In our case, we have central air but are planning on a no-A/C future, if only because energy will get so expensive! Our South Carolina house is light-colored with a light-colored roof and adequate ventillation. Still, we added many items to our "to do" list regarding cooling.

1. Solar-powered attic fan. Done, and it's making a huge difference in our energy bills - lopped them by 1/3. Fan + install = $730

2. Repair/replace all screen windows. Materials are all purchased and cost less than $40 - just staples, screening, 1/4"round moldings, and nails.

3. Good quality screen doors are in our future, to be added when nice steel-framed security doors go in. These will add about $300 to each door but cheap ones fall apart. (An inexpensive alternative is a screen CURTAIN, where you push it aside to get  in and out. That's just a strip of wood and a dowel on either end of a roll of screening cut slightly longer than your door opening. Nail the wood above your door and you're done!)

4. We are adding a covered outdoor area for cooking and dining. It will be a patio at first, then we add a metal roof, then, eventually, screening. With some hammocks that might be a nice place for sleeping. Total cost will be $600 for materials.

5. We've turned the front porch into an outdoor room, and we intend to add some bamboo shades and a shading trellis. Should be cheap!

6. Any new materials (flooring, wallboard, paints, furniture) going into this house have to be mold resistant. So far we've replaced an aged bathroom linoleum floor full of cracks with ceramic tile. All towels, rugs and bed linens are bleachable. And yeah, we're stockpiling bleach.

Any other cool ideas out there? We cannot add shade trees since we need the space to grow veggies, but might add vines - great idea growing foodstuffs on a trellis!

- Safewrite

Thanks Jeff.  The A/C loss and possible effects on people is not something I've put much though in and I appreciate the new perspective.  I've always thought that A/C brings with it costs that most people never realize.  I grew up in Pittsburgh without A/C and everyone spent hot afternoons outside.  My parents front yard was the favorite gathering place for neighbors because everyone's house was pretty warm inside.  Window fans and sleeping outside on the back porch were the rule in the summer months for those of us unlucky enough to have bedrooms on the 2nd floor.

Today, on a hot humid day here in Indiana, all you here in the neighborhood is the hum of A/C units.  Without A/C, we spent summers outside and got to know neighbors very well.  With A/C, everyone spends summers inside and we don't know the neighbors nearly as well.  In addition to the impact on home design, A/C has had an impact on how people relate to one another.  In Indiana, we could get by without A/C without too much trouble, but the south could face some real issues if that came to pass.

Tim

Great observation on the bleach, Jager. It prompted me to dig a little and found a great solution (pun?)  here. Another improvement on my preppin'. Woo hoo!

earthwise,

The bleach is to kill germs and mold and make whites WHITE. But there's another way to bleach and disinfect things: sunshine. The next thing on my list is a clothesline. A tall post, a couple of pulleys and some clothespins and we're good to go.

All:

Some clothesline ideas can be found here:

http://startrightstarthere.com/project_repair_april_10_beg.aspx#one

I am installing the pulley one, but there are other choices.

I don't....90% of them are internal, and insulating them would detract from the work they do, absorb heat and stabilise the inside temperature....

The only walls facing out are very short (12 ft long) and face due E & W thus getting sun for only half the day (less shading from trees) and because they are core filled (solid 8" thick concrete) they never get hot enough in summer to be an issue.

The W wall is insulated to some extent by having a library of books against it.

It works!  The temp only goes over 27 deg C for maybe ten days a year, and above 30 for one or two.

Three years ago we had a monster frost, and when it was -6C on the S verandah, it was still 16C inside with NO HEATING!

I swear by thermal mass.....  but it must be used in such a way as to be advantageous.  Certainly NEVER on the roof!

Mike

Some of you might appreciate facts and insights contained in this article entitled Air-conditioning: Our Cross to Bear.

Hd , 

    I agree with you ... it will be easier to keep warm then get cool .  Plus ,you can always put more clothes on . ... Taking more off is often frowned upon .   This should make a lot of difference in what priority we put our preps and location .

  FM

Ps . The crazy thing is they tear down shade trees to put up houses !     It is often ten degrees cooler in the country  in the summer time .