Originally Posted by iaink (Post 6811739)

The last couple of summers have not been too taxing, but to pretend that July and August cant he a living hell of heat and humidity here is not doing the newbies any favours you know.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 6811827)

It does get warm and damp occasionally but it's not like Louisiana or Texas, air conditioning's a luxury here. I don't think potential immigrants need fret about two or three quite hot days a year, not when there are two or three cold months and a thick blanket of smog to worry about.

Originally Posted by iaink (Post 6811910)

Sure, if you came from Louisiana or Texas that might be your outlook, but as people on this forum are far more likely to be from the Home counties it seems to me that the majority of them are going to be far more comfortable in Ontario in July and August with AC than without and will have it on more than two or three days a year.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 6811719)

I have the fire escape door open. The brand new units on the roof of the battered women's shelter next door, maybe 30' away, are loud enough that I have to close the door to make a phone call. It's nice that Canadians do something to promote global warming, Lord knows we have enough winter here, but it seems to me that there's a great deal of clattering and banging involved. The neighbours' machine in the Beach was newly installed while we were living there, prior to that we could sit on our deck and chat to them, afterwards they didn't come out and we moved to the front porch so we could speak in a normal voice. Good thing it wasn't suburban enough for people to run powered lawn mowers too, Ajax/Whitby/Pickering must be hell in summer.

Rather than installing airco, it'd be better if people just took their coats off indoors (while keeping their shoes on, of course).

Originally Posted by Souvenir (Post 6812026)

I'm rather glad where I am now has AC. Just a bit.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 6811827)

It does get warm and damp occasionally but it's not like Louisiana or Texas, air conditioning's a luxury here. I don't think potential immigrants need fret about two or three quite hot days a year, not when there are two or three cold months and a thick blanket of smog to worry about.

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 6812120)

I don't think the idea was to choose between central air and central heating. Perhaps it's different way up there on the farm, but where I live two or three quite hot days is just a teensy bit understated.

How thick is your smog blanket? (Imperial units would be fine) and a link would be welcome.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 6812157)

Smog days in Toronto, that is days on which the government cautions against breathing:

"48 smog alert days in 2005, 11 days in 2006, and 29 days in 2007"

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 6812208)

Smog alerts are hardly "thick blankets of smog" though.

http://www.etcag.org/climatechange




The Canadian government has yet to get around to a Insufferably Hot Day Alert", but if we use >30 C as a working standard, then

http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec....016&&autofwd=1

suggests a bit over 10 days a year on average. There's no data there on humidity though, which plays a major role in the Insufferability Index.

Which we have just invented.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 6812217)

There's that humidex thingy, maybe that's a stab at measuring insufferability.

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 6812231)

You realize of course that there's a very tight correlation between high temperatures and high smog levels (at least on the old definition of the Air Quality Index, which ignored winter time particle smog). Those hot days are the very last ones on which it's a good idea to open all the windows to cool off.

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 6812231)

Yes, but I couldn't quickly find the stats.

You realize of course that there's a very tight correlation between high temperatures and high smog levels (at least on the old definition of the Air Quality Index, which ignored winter time particle smog). Those hot days are the very last ones on which it's a good idea to open all the windows to cool off.

I'll keep my AC, if it's all the same to you.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 6812320)

I do realize that but, on smog days, I bicycle around revelling in the fact that I'm not frozen to the handlebars.

Originally Posted by jimf (Post 6812339)

There are humidex stats for Toronto here

http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec....5097&autofwd=1

So in July 5 days are above 30 deg on average but when adjusted for humidity discomfort there are 16 days with humidex above 30 deg