Kill Your Air Conditioner?

06/08/2011

Kill Your Air Conditioner?

Megan Jeyifo

It's summer in Chicago. Spring completely passed us by—I wore a North Face jacket while walking the dog a week ago—but temperatures have shot into the 80s and 90s over the last few days and my apartment already resembles a sauna. Our shoddy wooden floors are sweating from the humidity. The heat brings with it an annual debate: to purchase an air conditioner or not to purchase an air conditioner.

Last year around this time we slept in a bedroom with a window that didn't open. It wasn't pretty. Throughout the season we made do with freezing cold showers before bed, a ceiling fan, crispy white sheets, and lots of "don't touch me's." On Day 3 of a particularly horrendous heatwave that erased every memory of snow I had ever had, we finally trekked to Home Depot intent on purchasing one of the portable units. They had been sold out since Day 1 of the high temperatures earlier that week. Nothing was available online. Nothing was available in the suburbs. The Midwest was entirely devoid of portable air conditioners.

So we made do. More cold showers. Less clothes. Cool washcloths on our foreheads at night. Naps on the breezy back porch. Our friends thought we were crazy. Most live without central air but a window-unit air conditioner in the bedroom seems to be pretty standard. Since our window had been painted shut since we moved in that was not an option, but this year, we have a new window that actually opens and closes and an AC unit is finally doable. But I'm dragging my heels.

A ceiling fan uses about 80-100 watts of electricity. An air conditioner can be ten times that. This means extra dollars on my electric bill and, even more seriously, extra strain on the environment: the more we use air conditioners, the more we need air conditioners, due to the climate-changing greenhouse gases these electricity guzzling appliances emit.

They make my throat hurt when I wake up. My nose gets stuffed up.

Using air conditioners means closing the windows which means trapping myself inside. I wouldn't be able to hear the kids playing ball across the street or the paletero ringing his bell or the birds chirping in the mornings.

If I used an air conditioner I might be more likely to use my oven—a big no-no in this heat-trapping apartment—instead of getting outdoors and grilling some burgers to eat al fresco on the back porch. I may spend less time outside period, since my body will grow unaccustomed to hot weather if I'm sitting in AC both at work and at home.

I may experience less of what makes summertime summertime, and since Chicago only gets precious few months of these temperatures I think I should fully embrace everything they offer: street festivals, cookouts, boat tours, beach visits, rooftop dining, cold showers, and don't touch me's.

I'm intent on holding out on air conditioning. But, please, check back with me in August. I may melt away.

What about you? Are you an air conditioner lover or avoider?

And be sure to check out this round up of ways to stay cool without an air conditioner.

[Top Photo by Flickr user ToddMorris used under Creative Commons License]

22 Comments

TAGS: air conditioning chicago cons weather

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08/28/2011
uggsalee
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07/22/2011
zekebudd
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Move to the basement, if you have one. Ten degrees cooler, guaranteed.
07/06/2011
seamus roberts
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Ever hear of the book, "Losing Our Cool", by Stan Cox? I always thought I was the only person in America that didn't believe in air conditioning. He actually lives in India, but he's US born. Obviously, there are some people who really do need it, but I can't understand why do many people insist on keeping their homes and offices at temperatures that force me to carry a jacket with me everywhere I go in the summer.
07/06/2011
larjmarj2520545
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I was disappointed by the "hints" of how to stay cool in summer: May I add some that I feel are more practical than those listed and ask others to do the same? 1. Close off areas of house that are not used during the day- bedrooms, closets, etc.- to form an "insulation" around the other areas. 2. During the day, as heat builds up in the attic, use a whole house fan for about to evacuate the "oven effect" and lower those attic temps. If you don't have one, they are certainly worth the investment Ours is 50 years old and has NEVER required a repair beyond one broken belt. 3. Use a whole house fan in the evening to evacuate the hot air and pull in the cooler outside air. Our house is 80 y.o. brick with no insulation, but we find that using this method we can even turn off the whole house fan by 2 AM because it has cooled down. 4. Stop producing heat within the household: a. shut off those appliances that are on all the time , even if they are the DVD player, the computer, printer, back up, turn down the temp on the water heater, hang clothes outside -- or even put them on hangers on the porch as I do ;), 5. Throughout the day and especially at night, use evaporation to cool you down- put cold water/ice packs/wet towels on pulse points - back of head, wrists, back of knees, put your head under a cold water faucet. 6. Plan your day so that during the time of maximum heat, you do tasks at places that have AC-- grocery, library, movies (yes, we get to see cheap dollar movies, buy a treat, and enjoy a family outing during the middle of the day). I'm sure you have more Helpful Hints to add. We too live with steam heat BIT also have a small bedroom AC for those unbelievably horrid days we've had here in Michigan. BUT by using these tactics we keep the usage to a minimum and still live comfortably. Thanks!!!
07/06/2011
Karen
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I fortunately have forced air in the house and have the fan running during the day to draw the cooler air up from the basement. I'm also surrounded by tall evergreens which shade the house and help to keep the temperature down. I do have to make sure my windows are closed during the day so as to not draw in the warm air...(I'm in sunny, friendly Manitoba where one has to enjoy the heat for the short time we get it!)