HotHotHot

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, we just turned ours on for the first time since 2007, too. And it SMELLS AWFUL. But it was too hot to get off the couch and I was ruining the couch with my sweat - ran out of towels to keep it from soaking through!

[tulip]

My mother lives in the mountains and rarely runs her AC. But the HVAC people who service her system said that it's important to run it every once in a while. Maybe that's why your smells bad, Oakleaf. It's been 3 years...

[OakLeaf]

Naw, I think it's just the old air in the ductwork, sitting around getting musty since the last time we had the heat on. It's not an electrical or oily smell, just a closed-up-mouse-infested-house smell.

[Cataboo]

nah. it's only 90 degrees upstairs in my house. 103 outside. Down in the basement, I think it's in the low 80s if not cooler, but don't have a thermometer down here. Putting the fan on makes it quite pleasant, and my basement's not got too many creepy crawlies to sleep in - but probably after it cools down tonight, I'll just open all the windows and run fans.

You do have to close all the windows and the drapes in the morning before the day heats up - that keeps things cooler than opening all the windows & drapes. I had my windows closed, but not the curtains.

My electric bill stays around $30 a month year round.

[divingbiker]

I'm sorry, but I don't go to work every day just to come home and suffer in a 90 degree house. I love my air conditioning and will gladly pay the electric bill.

[OakLeaf]

My electric bill stays around $30 a month year round.

You must access TE from work.

Honestly, I think the electricity to run our computers and phones costs more than that.

[ny biker]

My electric bill stays around $30 a month year round.

I hope this means your heat is not electric.

Everything in my condo is electric. My bills are always much higher in winter, although the new heat pump I had installed in December cut the kwhs used in half during the really cold months. But still it costs me much less to run the A/C. If it's below 80 with low humidity I will open the windows, but otherwise I turn the A/C on and enjoy it. Thanks to the programmable thermostat, it doesn't run much when I'm at work (most days, it probably doesn't run at all), but it's nice and comfy otherwise.

My parents' house has no A/C and it can get pretty unpleasant, even with the windows and shades closed during the day. They have big fans blowing out at night to draw in the cooler air, but during a heat wave that's not enough.

[tulip]

While taking my dog for his (abbreviated) afternoon walk just now, I re-thought the basement thing. I'm not going to work in my basement. I'll work in my house with the AC on. That's why I had the thing installed in the first place, after all.

[Cataboo]

Oh, I have an ac and I'm not afraid to use it, as I did this weekend when I had friends staying that I knew weren't going to have a pleasant time with the heat - I just have lived around this area all my life and I'm used to it. I find air conditioning in stores and offices and the rest of that unpleasant - carrying around a sweater everywhere is just annoying when it's 100 degrees out. I bike, I kayak, I hike, and I camp - all outdoors - not acclimatizing to the heat just screws me over when I'm trying to do the things I like to do. Many people at bike virginia in tents were too hot to sleep last week - I was cold on 3 of the nights and had to put a long sleeve wool shirt on.

When I lived in a condo in richmond where I couldn't get a cross breeze and couldn't very well open the windows being on the ground floor - I used my ac more.

My computer room is in the basement anyways (it's a split level) and so's my living room with the big screen tv & surround sound. So I'm by no means suffering or hiding in an area of the house that I don't use otherwise. I'm not sweating.

As for computer and the rest of that, I did build it myself and made sure to get a low voltage CPU. Phones - I don't have a landline.

Heating and water heater are on natural gas. Natural gas bill is like $20 a month most of the time, max has been about $120.

I do find it decadent to use my AC to cool an entire house for just 1 person.

[7rider]

I find air conditioning in stores and offices and the rest of that unpleasant - carrying around a sweater everywhere is just annoying when it's 100 degrees out.

I can totally see that. I feel like I need gloves to go into a grocery store in the summer. Don't like that at all.

DH and I have long-standing battles over the thermostat. He turns it down (in the summer), I turn it up. We reverse in the winter. Last night, when I finally crawled back into bed at 5 a.m. (dammed insomnia ) I was freezing and had to pull all the blankets over me. DH (blissfully unaware and dead to the world, sleeping) had tossed most of the blankets off. I like a.c., but I don't like OVER a.c.!

[Zen]

My mother lives in the mountains and rarely runs her AC.

I live in the hills and don't even have AC.
But I am on the lower floor of my house so it's sort of like being in the basement.

[sfa]

I went for a run at 3:30 today. I didn't intend to go for a run outside--I was planning to use the treadmill at the gym because of the heat, but the power in the gym went off as I was getting changed, so I switched plans and went outside. It was pretty hot (NWS reported 105 at the time I was running) so I took it easy and drank a lot of water, and ultimately it really wasn't that bad. Hot, but because it's so dry it was bearable. I just sweated a lot, which is what you're supposed to do.

I was very, very happy to get back in the A/C, though.

[ny biker]

I do find it decadent to use my AC to cool an entire house for just 1 person.

Can you close the vents in rooms you don't use and then close the doors to those rooms, so you're only cooling the ones you're in?

I only have a small 1BR condo so there's no wasted space to heat or cool.

BTW, I'm going for a bike ride tonight after work. Will probably hit the road around 6:30. I'm sure it will still be around 100 degrees, but I find that having the sun at a lower angle makes a big difference. I've got two water bottles and my cool wings, and will be skipping the steep hill that makes me wheeze on a good day.

[7rider]

Can you close the vents in rooms you don't use and then close the doors to those rooms, so you're only cooling the ones you're in?

That's what we do. We have forced air, and we close the vents - and doors - to the spare rooms (and most recently, the basement, which is generally much cooler anyway). You can't close too many of them, as I think I've read that it can cause too much pressure in the ducts and create problems for the unit, but to close off a few rooms shouldn't be a problem.
That - and a programmable thermostat - seems to keep things manageable (which I override when I don't like where DH programs it!).

[redrhodie]

I've got two water bottles and my cool wings, and will be skipping the steep hill that makes me wheeze on a good day.

Yes, this is not the time for climbing. I rode this morning, and took the same route I rode last night to 1. avoid hills, and 2. not ride into the rising sun. I made that mistake one morning last week, and felt sick because of the contrast between the bright sun and the dark shadows under trees. It's really easy to take a header in those conditions.