Taking the bad with the good, part 2: my A/C addiction
Happy Friday, all!
Nov. 5 is my 25th birthday, so I have all sorts of fun plans for the weekend... and the Nashville weather is cooperating so well.
This is definitely my favorite time of year... the slant of the sunlight, the chilly nights that call for a jacket, the changing leaves...
But by far my favorite part lately is that I have been A/C free for three weeks now! The windows are thrown open, the door is open with a gate up to keep the dogs from wandering off, and I am looking forward to my electric bill.
It feels so good to have it turned off. The air is cold, which I love (I would be happy to have life at 40 degrees all year round), but it's fresh, too. Yes, I live in the city, but even the city-dirt has a tang to it that the A/C doesn't provide.
Colin over at No Impact Man talked about changing social norms a while back, and it got me thinking about having my front door open. I really like it - I like saying hello to the neighbors as they walk by, and the dogs love it, too, laying on the door mat and watching the squirrels and birds and people. This morning, because my door was open, my neighbor Sarah and her new roommate came by to say hi and we talked for 15 minutes or so.
I wish more people had their doors open around here - I'm not a social butterfly, but it did feel good to get to talk to Sarah for a bit. But thinking about it has got me apprehensive about summer - yes, it's far away, but I'm enjoying my open door and windows so much that I'll hate to see it end.
And at this point, I know I will see it end, because I haven't been able to live without cold air. In the summer, the A/C has to be below 73 at night or I can't sleep! I've tried (the penny-pincher in me had me turning it off to try it out), but i just ended up tossing and turning. Growing up (and now) my family keeps the house around 69 degrees, and we've never used the heat. We did have space heaters for the frigid winter months, but in general, our house was cold year round. Thinking about giving up the A/C, for me, is akin to thinking about not driving - it is so ingrained in my ritmo de vida that I am actually afraid to give it up! Changing this social norm, for me, is a scary proposition.
So I'm going to use these next cold months to think about how I can reduce my A/C consumption come spring. Maybe I'll just end up being a really sweaty person? Or maybe I'll give in and hope that by not using the heat for as long as I can this winter, when I turn down the thermostat this coming spring, I'll have been able to balance out my footprint a little.
Labels: choosing the lesser of two evils, consumption, fear of change, green alternatives
posted by D @ 2:00 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
Yeah, that AC thing is a hard one to give up in the south. I'm not so sure if it is the cold I am after or just the low humidity factor I'm lusting for. I am looking into ideas for the next/final house and how to avoid having the AC whining all the time. I'm going with high ceilings and tons of insulation - the blown in kind that is way expensive up front but pays for itself in a couple years. Also going to build on a concrete slab. The earth is so cool - in more ways than one!!
I'm exactly the opposite. I have to have it *HOT* for me to be happy. Comes from growing up in lovely Arizona, I believe. But, I have really been trying to cut back lately for eco-friendly reasons. It's been painful, but I think after awhile I'll stop being such a baby :P
My A/C runs all winter to keep my room below 75 degrees. This is what I get for living on the 7th floor of a poorly insulated dorm building! I'd love to cut back, but it just gets unbearably warm...even on the coldest of days.
Back when I was living in the dorms, I was an UNHAPPY CAMPER with the a/c and heat situation... mostly with the heat. Once the temp outside got below 75 degrees, the heat would come on, and you couldn't turn it off. You could flip the little switch on your thermostat to the off position, but that meant your vent only emitted a little bit of hot air instead of a lot.
I spent my winters with my windows open to the cold outside; I shudder to think of the wasted energy spent as that heat pump tried to warm up my room.
Lisa - I think humidity is part of it... not having my air "conditioned" has definitely resulted in the humidity of my place being variable. Also, when I come home in the afternoons, after the house has been shut up all day, it doesn't smell very fresh (sometimes it's a bad, doggy smell and other times it's a sweet, i-own-nice-smelling-things smell). I do love that I live on a slab... that has definite advantages. It's also advantageous to live tucked in among three other units (one on top, and one on the left and right), because that alone keeps things warm enough for me.
Aly - you get the opposite bad-with-the-good situation from me - if you like it hot, then you're set in the summers here!
Jo... that sucks. While I am envious of your further education, I must admit that I am NOT envious of your living in a dorm!!!
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