Yorkieabroad

Depends how high you go...We used to live in Singapore (50ish miles north of the equator), and in one apartment, we rarely used our aircon - we were on the 50th floor, and just opening the windows/patio doors was enough! The only time it got tested in anger was when we had our Christmas dinner, then we cranked it as low as it would go, and told the guests to bring fleeces!

Here, I couldn't really live without it in the summer. Well, I guess we could if we had to, but it wouldn't be pleasant! We keep it fairly warm during the day, and use a lot of fans. Tend to lower it a touch at night. As others have said, shade on the windows when they are in sun (open the shades and windows when they are not in sun), ceiling fans, if you have floor/table fans try putting a bowl of ice in front of them. If you are using fans, leave as many doors open inside as you can. If you don't have bug problems, take the screens off - it will reduce the heat attraction, and less restriction on air circulation.

civilservant

It's 28 here on the UK right now and I'm baking. In one month I go to GA and its 34. So yes. Ill need the Aircon

Englishmum

Ha ha, we did the same at Christmas too!

In the various apartments we lived at in Singapore we only really used the air-con in the bedrooms at night (all rooms in the apartment - sadly not the kitchens though - seemed to have the individual 'Carrier' brand aircon units located above the doors with remote control units. Electricity prices are extortionate in Singapore and I don't think it's healthy to live in air-con 24/7, 365 days of the year. We just used to fling open the patio doors of the lounge during the day and all the other windows. They don't have insect screens there - although the odd flying cockroach would make an appearance! and I was surprised when moving to NJ that there were so many bugs compared to Singapore (probably all the mosquito fogging kills many of them off....).

However although the humidity is so high with it being an equatorial climate, the daylight hours are shorter than US Summers; every day of the year it gets light at 7am and dark again - no twilight - at 7pm so it never gets into the 100sF. It definitely gets hotter in NJ/NY.

We've just had to install a new aircon unit (and furnace) in our NJ house where our son lives, at a cost of $11,000 . Meanwhile we are in Central Switzerland and just like the UK, no-one has aircon and right now it's pretty hot here. We're using a fan at night but I'd love to close the bedroom window too....the farmer on the farm behind us has moved his cows closer to the apartment and the bloody cows are wandering around at 4am in the morning - those cow bells around their necks are soooo loud lol! We also get the loud church bells on the quarter hour and then each hour too. Incidentally the Swiss authorities do not allow air-con in offices unless it's for a very special reason (eg. data-centre) where equipment needs to keep cool, so my spouse and his colleagues are having to sweat it out at work too.

The good thing is, we have a huge lake (Lake Zug) opposite our apartment which is currently at 22C and it's nice to go in for a quick dip to cool off

Nutek

"can you do without it? "

LOL

No. Unpossible.

Yorkieabroad

22cdo you get a Polar Bear patch for that

Yorkieabroad

I really need a lesson on how to handle quotes on an iPad....... sorry!

SultanOfSwing

Yeah, we need it. It gets way too humid for the heat to be bearable when it gets to the high-80s/90s/100s outside. Our AC compressor died last summer when it was over 100 outside and humid. It was 88 in the house. Fans helped if you were right next to or under one and not moving but it was brutal

We run ours at 74 throughout the summer, but our main floor is raised so it can have a fight to stay that cool sometimes. Though, even when it's on its way down from 80 on a really hot 90+ day, the dehumidifying effect alone is worth it.

WEBlue

Thanks for the input, folks! Some of your tips are really getting me thinking....

For instance, we had begun to think we didn't want too many curtains around the house, except in the bedrooms of course. Many windows open on forest and not other houses. However, lately when the boiling-hot sun pours through the windows of the main room of the house, we feel we may need to reverse that particular decision LOL!

The husband does not like awnings at all (just on aesthetic grounds--something he has against old-fashioned awnings) so he's vetoed them. But some kinds of exterior "shades" or "blinds" look good to me. Some are very unobtrusive & low-key in appearance, so I may suggest hubby look at these, because I don't think he's realised how nice & discreet some of them look.

We did this in the house we were previously renting. It was a lot of fiddly work but it did immediately produce a cooler effect. The trouble is that we DO want the sun to pour in during the winter, as this area gets very cold then, so we don't want anything very permanent on the windows themselves or at all difficult to remove....

Hmm, I've seen these and I like the look of them. Might have to consider these too. (Although they look like they'll need dusting & I'm trying to keep dust-catching items to a minimum in this new house. . . .)

BubbleChog

I just spent 2 weeks in NYC battling my in-laws reluctance to put AC on during 90F temps while my baby got grumpier and grumpier. I swear I heard her sigh with pleasure when we got home to the house cooled to 75.

For me there is no way I would consider living here without AC. Georgia may be good for peaches but it doesn;yt seem very weel designed for humans

Lx

Nutmegger

I have central air that I've never turned on. I use the ceiling fan on the main level, fans upstairs in my office and in the master bedroom, finished walk-out basement is the coolest place in the house. I always wake up with a sore throat when I sleep in a/c, so though my poor OH would probably have used the a/c at one time, he has now got used to doing without! We take lots of cool showers and I like to soak in a tub of cool water. Even a paddle in the dogs' wading pool works to cools me off. And I love sitting outside trying to catch a breath of a breeze and watching the bats on a hot summer evening!

WEBlue

You mean your in-laws actually have AC but refused to turn it on??

I am getting a bit worried because we have some guests coming, and with no AC at all, I'm afraid they'll NOT have a decent time.

Note to self: never, never allow guests to come stay when you've just moved into a new house. It may seem like a great idea before you move in, but the reality is you will not be ready for guests for months!

So true, if I were in Georgia I would insist on AC. But in New England.... well, some of our neighbours seem to manage fine with none. I just wish I knew HOW they do it!!!

Leslie

I would DIE without A/C ... and I'd take a bunch of people out with me.

SultanOfSwing

Well, out by you, 100 is considered cold, right? I think you have a need for it

WEBlue

I'm a bit like you, Nutmegger. I don't typically enjoy AC, and I can really suffer when businesses or homes have it cranked up too high. Some of my American relatives have it too cold for me in their house sometimes, and I have to escape outside to warm up. The husband is the same way, so we both thought doing without any AC would not be a big problem. But this new house is very, very hot right now....

Yes, we love the evenings too! The evenings are great when we sit outside, also the early mornings. It's just those hours in between--from 9 am to around 7 pm--that are a nightmare if we want to get anything done...and we unfortunately have some work we need to do inside and outside this house.

We're each having 3 showers a day minimum, and I'm always running the washing machine to deal with the piles of sweaty clothes.

The weather's supposed to change tomorrow. Can't come soon enough!!!

Rete

You are recommending that someone place the blinds on the exterior part of the windows? Won't they need to be bolted down to stop them from being stolen or vandalized. Or to stop them from being blown around in the breeze. I would find this solution to be tasteless. Or are you talking about the roll down metal that my aunt in Germany had on the outside of her windows that she pulled down at night for security?

You can buy the fine screen coverings for your windows that will not allow light to come through your window and also helps in giving you privacy from the outside world while you can see clearly.