When I moved up from Florida, my neighbors asked if I was planning on having central air put in the house.
“No”.
“You’re not?”
“I just moved up from Florida. How bad could summer be?”
“You’ll see” they said.
With a 90 year old house, there were more pressing concerns than central air. I bought a window unit to cool the second floor at night. Heavy drapes over the stairwell keep the cool air from cascading down the stairs, and I can sleep in relative comfort. The living areas of the house are not cooled mechanically, save for a ceiling fan in the dining room.
Each year, I try as long as I can to postpone putting in the A/C. There are two goals here. 1 – continuing to learn to live without for the sake of continued character building (because someday, there will be too little electricity to support such a luxury) and 2 – keeping the electric bill at bay. Money spent on insulation and window replacement have gone a long way in keeping the house cool and was a better investment.
But each summer, I think about the generations that had lived in this house before anyone knew what air conditioning was. They managed just fine. When I walk through German Village, I imagine the porches filled with neighbors escaping the confines of their heat-soaked brick homes during decades past. I suspect there were unpleasant days, but I’ve not read one historical report of social unrest over summer heat. Then again, it’s hotter now that it was 90 years ago.
And on a morning when oppressive heat and humidity makes line-drying the clothes difficult, my e-subscription to Utne Web Watch came in with a link to an article about life before air conditioning. Read it and you’ll remember when things were a bit easier. Perhaps a bit warmer, but simpler and more efficient.
Good for you!
I currently live in a concrete block home. It stays really cool for most of the summer. The only time the heat is a problem is when we get a LONG period of >90 degree days and the heat will accumulate in the block and it can become hot. But that’s rare and it usually gets a break once in a while to cool back down. So, we’re lucky. When I was younger I could sleep in a sauna and not be bothered. I’m afraid now I’m a bit more fussy about my comfort at night. Bad part of growing up I guess.