If you have visited here even a few times, you know that I am a cold weather girl. I do not like hot summer weather. Last year we decided to see how it was this summer, and if there were some hot days, we would try a window air-conditioner. Pretty much all of us who live here don't much like the weather when it is over 80º F. with high humidity. That combination makes for "bad sleeping nights." Around about early July that weather came. We actually got two window units; one for the living room
and one for the bedroom.
And that's all it took to make the house comfortable. We turned the floor fan in the living room to face the kitchen and that blows enough of the cool, air-conditioned living room air into the kitchen to make being there very comfortable.
We don't use them every day, only on the hot, hot days, and as Robert Frost said about something entirely different, "that has made all the difference."
PS, we've just decided to get one for the room that will be the grandchildren's room when they sleep over. It is on the other side of the upstairs, and that area is very hot.
Good for you - the weather has been so extreme that it was probably time to re-evaluate how to make your life a bit more comfortable. Here in PA, near-ish to Phila., it's very hot with high dewpoints. So the AC has been so appreciated. Like that floor fan - they really do help.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Mary
We thought we might be able to make it with just those floor fans, but in the deep heat we felt we needed AC. I'm not sure if we are really having hotter summers or not. I was just reading an old diary of my mother's, and she was complaining about the heat! 80 at 4 pm.
DeleteI have recently discovered and love As Time Goes By, Mrs. Bale is a hoot. Glad you have found a way to cool your house down.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it just wonderful! I own the DVD set, and watch it all the way through every couple of years or so. Mrs B is a great character.
DeleteCompletely agree with your view of heat and humidity. You get it worse than we do though, I've experienced American humidty a couple of times and it's no joke. Joyfully we've had a day of rain today after a dry period. It's been lovely to look out and see rain falling and smell that lovely smell of a washed garden.
ReplyDeleteHappily, we don't often have hot and high humidity days, but we figured even if there were say, 7 a summer, it would be worth it to have the AC! We have had such wonderful rains in the spring, and even now. I've never seen such a growing year.
DeleteI have two units for the upstairs, for my bedroom and my "office". And when the heat is so brutal I mostly stay upstairs. My son has AC for his bedroom downstairs. But I will be happier next week when it is going from the mid 90s to mid 70s.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you have found a way to make summer a more pleasant season for you, Nan! I love summer, I really do, but as I am now in my 50s, I find that I can not handle the heat as easily as I could when I was a bit younger. We've had a heatwave about 4 weeks ago, with days reaching 100F (38C) and the nights not cooling down any lower than 82F. THAT made for sleepless nights and tired days! Still, nobody I know has AC in their homes, and not many offices do, either.
ReplyDeleteBut as our summers are indeed getting hotter (statistics are clear), I suppose we'll all have to rethink, even though we'd like not to add even more devices to our homes and buildings that need electricity.
I live in the South so I'm pretty much used to heat and humidity. My problem is that I have never learned to like refrigerated air, and I'm always too warm when outdoors and too cool when indoors during the summer months. People must think I'm nuts to wear long sleeve shirts in the heat of the summer, but that's the only way I can feel anywhere near comfortable indoors. I lived in London for several years without air conditioning, and that (with the exception of a few days a year when it actually got hot there) is the most comfortable I've ever felt.
ReplyDeleteGood choice and about time. As this crazy weather becomes more severe in every way one needs to make ones self comfortable. It is more healthy that way no doubt.
ReplyDeleteI certainly don't miss the hot weather in Nebraska!! We still sleep with the windows open here, but it never gets warmer than 75 or so inside (upstairs). I'm glad you have found some relief with your window A/C. Nothing worse than being too hot when trying to sleep!
ReplyDeleteHi Nan,
ReplyDeleteI try so hard to like summer, or to at least appreciate it. But the truth is, I'm a fallwinterspring girl through and through. I adore fall, love the winter and hate to see it morph to mud, and like the very short spring we have, but it's high temperatures and the loads of biting insects that make me want to give a thumbs-down to summer sometimes. I feel I shouldn't, but just as you say, high humidity and 80s temperatures are not the best.
I make do with swimming daily, reading a lot, staying up late watching movies with Ken, and walking when it's less than 80 F. Best wishes to you!
God bless the inventor of air conditioning!
ReplyDeleteMy house has a lot of old windows that I can't open which made those over 80 plus humidity days a nightmare so I splurged on central air four years ago. It was expensive but worth it. I kept all the window units waiting for the right opportunity and last summer a very sweet Polish priest mentioned how hot the building was that a group of priests were in next to my mother's church. I was so delighted to give all four units to him (and they were too heavy for me to move so it was a double win).
ReplyDelete