In the Heat Wave, The Case Against Air Conditioning

[Tallpine]

When I worked in Phoenix, I had to wear a sweatshirt in the office to keep warm.  Just sitting at a desk, my body temperature doesn't stay up.

Every couple hours I would actually step outside into the 110 degree parking lot for a few minutes to warm up.

FWIW .... 

[Waitone]

Welcome to the world of sustainable development and Maurice Strong.  Reduction in the use of A/C is only the beginning.  We use too much refrigeration and it has to be cut back or so says Maurice.

[mtnbkr]

When I worked in Phoenix, I had to wear a sweatshirt in the office to keep warm.  Just sitting at a desk, my body temperature doesn't stay up.

Every couple hours I would actually step outside into the 110 degree parking lot for a few minutes to warm up.

FWIW .... 

I've been doing that lately.  The folks in the SOC like to keep the air at 65.  I was enjoying the 100deg days lately, it meant I could step out and warm up.

Chris

[230RN]

Bears repeating from Monkeyleg:

The liberal "utopias" are found in movies such as Avatar, in the communes of the 1960's, and in the railings against Big (Oil, Pharmaceuticals, or insert industry here). The utopias seem to be comprised of small agrarian communities where individuals grow their own food, and live "simple" lives that don't rely on polluting technologies or large corporations.

The irony of this is that such societies exist all over the planet in Third World countries. The lack of Big Agriculture leaves the societies vulnerable to famine, the lack of Big Pharmaceuticals to death by what we would consider minor disease, and the lack of Big Business to brutal poverty.

If the author wants to stand in oppressive heat poking a sharp stick at what he hopes will be dinner, good for him, as long as he leaves me out of his plans.

Well said.

Terry, 230RN

[Stand_watie]

    I run a glass furnace in Texas. 50 feet away from the furnace the air temp stays between 110 - 130 degrees 24/7 from may through October. Closer varies between 130 degrees to "you fall over and die". Air conditioning in the control room is nice. Cold January nights are nicer. When your ears and fingers are frozen you'd be surprised at how nice 150 degree temperatures feel (in 90 to 120 second intervals).
     Did anyone else here know that you can dry a sopping wet leather glove in 15 seconds by putting it on the end of a shovel handle and holding it over 2000 degree glass? Don't hold it there any longer than 15 seconds or put it any closer than a foot to the glass or it will catch fire.

     P.S  Vent your beef stew cans before setting them next to the furnace to warm up. Otherwise they explode.

[BridgeRunner]

I've vaguely recall hearing of people suffering heart attacks or some sort of sudden affliction when stepping from an AC environment into serious heat. Ever heard anything like that?

A friend of mine experiences chest pain when he moves between AC/no AC on hot days, particularly if he does so repeatedly.  He has significant airway remodeling from severe asthma.

[vaskidmark]

A friend of mine experiences chest pain when he moves between AC/no AC on hot days, particularly if he does so repeatedly.  He has significant airway remodeling from severe asthma.

Another who suffers when moving from moderate temps to heat or increased humidity.  Seems the lack of a complete cardiac kit (scarring from heart attack makes 58% of the muscle non-functional) along with increased size/sponginess from CHF reduces the ability to pump extra blood on demand, which the body wants to do when suddenly exposed to higher heat/humidity levels.  Has something to do with using the blood as a cooling mechanism and the failure of evolution to give humans giant radiators like the elephants have.  Amazingly (no, not really) I do not suffer the same cardiac or breathing problems going from either hot or moderate to very cold.  I fact, things get better in both departments.

So, it's not a question of personal preference that keeps my AC running.  The power company says I qualify for listing as a "priority" for restoring power due to my condition.  Mess with my AC and you are threatening my life and the law says I can shoot you if you do that.

stay safe.

[Regolith]

The author obviously hasn't lived in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas or California.

Try keeping a computer alive for more than a month in a 90-100 degree living environment.

Yup. Grew up in Northern Nevada.  Without A/C, it's fraking unbearable during the summer, when its so hot outside it feels like you're stepping into a furnace.  Having computers going makes it worse.

I remember almost getting heat exhaustion when I was about 16 from mowing a medium sized lawn at 11:00 in the morning. I really should have gotten up earlier; it was 111 degrees by that time.

Then there was the time I DID get heat exhaustion, playing little league baseball when I was around 12.  Not fun.

[280plus]

I was out in the record heat on a flat white roof just last week. Not much longer than necessary though, I'll tell you that. Some local news van lady came by and took a vid of the bank sign across the street that said 107*. Yes, I was installing the plastic chimneys for two furnaces. I think installing furnaces on a really hot day just makes it seem that much mo' hotter. 

left my damn razor knife on the roof. I had to put two ladders back up to get it. 

Contemplated leaving it there but I'm too cheap to do that.

[MechAg94]

The liberal "utopias" are found in movies such as Avatar, in the communes of the 1960's, and in the railings against Big (Oil, Pharmaceuticals, or insert industry here). The utopias seem to be comprised of small agrarian communities where individuals grow their own food, and live "simple" lives that don't rely on polluting technologies or large corporations.

The irony of this is that such societies exist all over the planet in Third World countries. The lack of Big Agriculture leaves the societies vulnerable to famine, the lack of Big Pharmaceuticals to death by what we would consider minor disease, and the lack of Big Business to brutal poverty.

If the author wants to stand in oppressive heat poking a sharp stick at what he hopes will be dinner, good for him, as long as he leaves me out of his plans.
 

The problem is I think most of those Utopians want to stay in their wasteful, high living standard lives while telling the rest of us to go without A/C.  Do as they say, not as they do.

[slugcatcher]

The problem is I think most of those Utopians want to stay in their wasteful, high living standard lives while telling the rest of us to go without A/C.  Do as they say, not as they do.

I've noticed that about utopians. They think they deserve it since they came up with all the great ideas that will "correct" society.

[Silver Bullet]

I've noticed that about utopians. They think they deserve it since they came up with all the great ideas that will "correct" society.

Are we talking about Al Gore again ?     He can't hear us right now, he's talking to his lawyers about another matter.   

[InfidelSerf]

If we were to shut our AC off (which runs at 69deg 24/7 from about April to Sept) I would end up dead.
My menopausal wife would kill me. Keeping the house at 69 means I'm freezing and she is tolerably hot.

[Ben]

Keeping the house at 69 means I'm freezing and she is tolerably hot.

Kevin/ I like to set the thermostat to 69. Huh. Huh huh huh. /Kevin

[KD5NRH]

Heck, 'greenspacing' where you get rid of sqaure miles of concrete and put grass and other plants back can drop ambient.

Grass is a lousy choice; lots of water for zero return.  Dead grass and/or bare dirt aren't much better than concrete for heat reduction, and less useful since you can't even skateboard on them.  Community gardens, OTOH, with either a small user fee to cover watering and tilling (bulk tilling with a tractor is far more practical when you're dealing with several <500 sq ft plots) or soliciting sponsorship for that, provide a good stress reliever for a lot of folks, good food cheap, and the other greenspace benefits.

I remember almost getting heat exhaustion when I was about 16 from mowing a medium sized lawn at 11:00 in the morning. I really should have gotten up earlier; it was 111 degrees by that time.

I just finished mowing mine.  83F/70%.  Still gotta weedeat..after another bottle of water.

Did anyone else here know that you can dry a sopping wet leather glove in 15 seconds by putting it on the end of a shovel handle and holding it over 2000 degree glass?

Sissy.  When I was doing forge work in a coal forge, I'd wear a left welding gauntlet, and fill it up from the slack tub during every heat.  Most times, the palm and insides of the fingers were dry by the fourth or fifth strike on a 2 ft bar that I'd only heated 3-4 inches of.  Generally, I could go about three sessions per glove before I managed to burn through the leather.

As for hanging out laundry, when the humidity's over about 60% it can take a while to get things dry.  For a family, that means a lot of clothesline space - more than most yards allow without completely giving over the yard.  What are apartment dwellers going to do?  It also means the clothes are out there for anyone who wants to swipe them.  I wouldn't worry too much about my boxers, but my security uniforms and other stuff are potential targets for thieves.  Not really thrilled about the prospect of hanging my daughter's underthings out there for any pervert who happens by, either.

And, of course, line-drying doesn't work when it's raining, and can be a real problem for people with local pollen allergies.

Keeping the house at 69 means I'm freezing and she is tolerably hot.

Dude, if you've got to keep her chilled to make her just tolerably hot, maybe you should just put a bag over her head or something.   

[Boomhauer]

And, of course, line-drying doesn't work when it's raining, and can be a real problem for people with local pollen allergies.

Yeah. Also, you wouldn't have been able to line dry anything for about a month here earlier this spring. The pollen was especially heavy for a couple of weeks and just plain bad for a couple others. Almost looked like something out of the "dustbowl" era OK.

[Jamisjockey]

If the author wants to stand in oppressive heat poking a sharp stick at what he hopes will be dinner, good for him, as long as he leaves me out of his plans.

I had some wittty snarky reply in mind, but hell, Monkeyleg whacked the nail on the head quite effectively.

[Firethorn]

Grass is a lousy choice; lots of water for zero return.  Dead grass and/or bare dirt aren't much better than concrete for heat reduction, and less useful since you can't even skateboard on them.  Community gardens, OTOH, with either a small user fee to cover watering and tilling (bulk tilling with a tractor is far more practical when you're dealing with several <500 sq ft plots) or soliciting sponsorship for that, provide a good stress reliever for a lot of folks, good food cheap, and the other greenspace benefits.

Depends on the grass you choose, and I did mention 'other plants'.  Various varieties of grass can be pretty universal; besides dandylions, other plants are not so much.

I'd actually prefer 'other plants' as long as they're lower maintenance.  Even with grass I'd keep most of it longer and use slow-growing drought resistant varieties.

[Perd Hapley]

So does this bozo use any AC?  I don't want to read his article.  I can't risk my IQ slipping any lower.

[280plus]

I can't risk my IQ slipping any lower.

yea, you don't want to miss out on that Chinese job.

[Perd Hapley]

Word.

[Grandpa Shooter]

I have lived in Arizona for 30 years and have never had AC, either at home or at work, except for the short while I worked for the .gov of A.  Being in AC causes me real problems with my lungs and joints.  Like Tallpine, I used to go outside to warm up.

I would vote for cutting back on AC, but we would have to undo the passive heat generators called cities along with it and that would put more people out in the country.

[Tallpine]

When I was a kid in Phoenix back in the sixties, all we had on the house was a swamp cooler.  But our little JFL subdivision was basically out in the country as there were lettuce/onion fields all around back then.

My mom got one of those add-on a/c for the car (1959 Belair :) ) that took up half the front seat. 

[Firethorn]

I would vote for cutting back on AC, but we would have to undo the passive heat generators called cities along with it and that would put more people out in the country.

'passive' heat generators?  They're very much active heat generators.  Still, a lot of stuff like parking lots and blacktop also make them passive heat collectors.

Thus my suggestions earlier - arrange things so you reflect a lot of the heat back up, encourage air flow over just plain 'cold'.

Also, some of the sickness I think comes from sheer temperature difference.  I'm a northern boy, I'll fully admit it.  Florida is shorts weather year round.  I appreciate some AC.

Still, there's a lot of buildings down there that are so AC'd that they're COLDER than the AC'd buildings up here, so much so that I get goose bumps.  When the weather is over a hundred outside, you don't need to cool it down into the 50's.  The 80's is perfectly good, especially when you factor in the dehumidification effect.

Don't get rid of AC, but AC less, spend a bit for things like light colored roofs to reduce heat load.  Maybe even solar powered AC.  Payback time in Florida should be 4-9 years.  Probably even less if you set the system up so the hot water tubes can also be used for heat.  Heck, they hsould work great up here - don't need much cooling, but with minimal extra tubing, I should be able to use the solar energy for floor heating and leave my furnace off for a couple more months.