Lets not use the air conditioner!
I rattled this idea off to the partner, last night, as we were pulling the flannel sheets off the bed and putting on a cooler set. No, it wasn’t about saving money, it was about getting acclimated. We were pretty toasty before crawling in bed thanks to the upstairs always being so warm, the before bed walk, and an hour or so of yoga. Honestly, I was feeling the urge to close all the windows and turn on the easy solution, our a/c.
Last year, I was all paranoid about the costs of running the air conditioner. As summer faded into winter, I then panicked about using the heater - always too worried about how high the bill was going to be. It turns out that full time a/c or heat use doesn’t make a big difference in our well insulated townhouse.
However, the house we’re buying has no central air. It won’t have the awesome insulation being a middle townhouse unit offers, much less the double glass storm windows and insulation in the walls. I didn’t want to skip using the a/c to make our bills cheaper right now, I wanted to force ourselves to get used to not having that option.
The partner looked like I was insane. He refused such an idea as he hates to be hot. To him, a house without central air, sounds punishment appropriate for those (like us) who haven’t been fiscally savvy enough to have no debt and a sizable financial cushion. While he may think moving into the house in the heat of summer without air conditioning is an acceptable cruelty, he will not voluntarily sign up for personal persecution just to help us get used to the idea.
Maybe it was an odd idea, but it certainly makes sense to me. I’d rather make those transitions slowly instead of jumping off the deep end of the modern amenities pool and hating the fact that we’ll be literally swimming in our sweat equity.
Lulu
April 24th, 2007 14:49
I was hot last night too. I opened the windows to let in some cooler air and I will be using the fan until it just becomes unbearable. I am trying to save money too and using the air conditioning is too much to consider right now.
jonny
April 25th, 2007 10:00
The current house I live in had no air when we bought it. My wife is always cold, so she had no issues. I am always hot, and hate being hot, and was miserable during the summers.
Last year I finally convinced her to put central a/c in the house. My mood changed drastically.
What I am trying to say is that you are nuts. You have the a/c now…let your poor hubby use it. Life will be miserable enough when you move into your new house with no air. Why punish him now? “Getting acclimated” to it is a silly idea…trust me…he won’t be “acclimated” to anything come the summer in the middle of a heat wave when the house is close to 80 degrees in the middle of the night.
P.S.: You must be a heck of a saleswoman to convince your hubby who hates being hot to move into an old house with no air. I will never make that mistake again. You may want to really make sure that your hubby is cool about this.
Donna Jean
April 25th, 2007 17:54
We’ll certainly be using the a/c as often as the partner wants. My idea clearly didn’t fly - but for me, I’d rather have less a/c than constant a/c to get used to thing — of course, his mileage will vary. As for no a/c at all, my momma will be buying us a couple window units as a late wedding gift. So we won’t be totally miserable and will be able to sleep at least, but it still isn’t the same as having central air.
cold
May 17th, 2007 15:56
April and already hot during night. I’m jealous. Where I’m at it’s still freezing. I need to move.