central A/C

[skyvue]

Many have said one gets used to heat and humidity. Well, I grew up in Oklahoma City (very hot, moderately humid) and have lived for 28 years in NYC (moderately hot, incredibly humid), and I have never gotten used to either.

It's funny -- in many cities, if one's heat is not working in the winter, there's a special hotline you can call. It's considered an emergency.

But in summer, we're urged by many to just tough out the heat.

Some of us can much more easily "tough out" winter than summer. My wife and I don't even turn on our radiators for more than a handful of days all winter long (talk about making one's throat feel bad, steam heat is brutal); the radiant heat is sufficient, and one can always throw on a sweater or sweatshirt.

I also find that, once I've warmed up after having gotten chilled in the winter, I feel fine. But when I get overheated in summer, my energy is sapped even after I cool down.

But somehow, AC is considered a luxury by many, while heat is a must-have.

 

[Paisley]

Hypothermia, frostbite and freezing to death are real dangers even for healthy people. But unless you're in delicate health, being very hot is mostly just uncomfortable.

 

[skyvue]

Actually, my brother, who's a doctor, told me that heat is every bit the danger that cold is. In fact, he considers it the greater danger, by a small margin.

You're very rarely going to get hypothermia or frostbite in your home, which is the environment we're talking about.

Most adults, he said, aren't at extreme risk with either cold or heat, but children and the elderly are, and heat is just as great a risk to them as cold.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You're very rarely going to get hypothermia or frostbite in your home, which is the environment we're talking about.

Unless you live in an old house in Northern New England in the winter. Incidents of such happening are the reason a law was passed here prohibiting utilities from cutting off service between November and March.

 

[Feraud]

Hypothermia, frostbite and freezing to death are real dangers even for healthy people. But unless you're in delicate health, being very hot is mostly just uncomfortable.

Extreme heat can cause more than discomfort. My wife has felt very ill in high temperature/humid weather. Her complaints were of feeling dizzy, lightheaded and sick to her stomach. These complaints if left untreated can certainly lead to serious issues.

 

[Paisley]

Actually, my brother, who's a doctor, told me that heat is every bit the danger that cold is. In fact, he considers it the greater danger, by a small margin.

You're very rarely going to get hypothermia or frostbite in your home, which is the environment we're talking about.

Most adults, he said, aren't at extreme risk with either cold or heat, but children and the elderly are, and heat is just as great a risk to them as cold.

When my parents lived in Montana, water would freeze inside the house they lived in. Around here, it's not unusual for indoor pipes to freeze. Without heat, my house would keep me out of the wind and snow, but it would still be zero degrees F in there in the dead of winter.

It's probably different from an apartment where the surrounding units are heated.

 

[Paisley]

Extreme heat can cause more than discomfort. My wife has felt very ill in high temperature/humid weather. Her complaints were of feeling dizzy, lightheaded and sick to her stomach. These complaints if left untreated can certainly lead to serious issues.

Around 1990 when Pope John Paul II came to Denver, a lot of people who went to see him passed out from the heat. My sister-in-law later told me that the pope had asked people to contribute their lunch money to charity. I don't know what your wife's condition is, but possibly, it might help to make sure she doesn't go too long without eating. It really helps me when I'm working outside in the summer. When I'm very hot, I feel cooler after I eat something.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I will comment because i was one of the folks that said

'you get used to the heat'


I stand by that and was mentioning in the context of the original poster's query which was


"How on earth did people live in warm climates without A/C? How did they sleep?"


Just like people lived in cold climes before efficient heating systems....


Humans, can and have adapted to a variety of inhospitable weather for the history of our existence on the planet. And a large portion of the world still do without these things today.

That does not mean they are not affected by it, merely that they continued to exist. The lack of these environmental comfort controls has not halted humanity nor limited most of the earth as being 'livable'.

 

[Mav]

The first place I had with A/C is the one I have now, which I got in '03. Which is mildly idiotic for two reasons:
1. I'm in the HVAC business, and
2. My town generally doesn't get above the mid- 80's.

However, the adaptability is a very real thing, in both directions. Not only can you adapt to hot weather (although I hate it, I grew up in it), but once you have A/C, it's difficult to live without it.

 

[SkullCowboy]

While humans can adapt to seriously adverse weather conditions, heat can kill just as easily as cold. Here in Houston we had record temps last summer, with multiple days through June and July well over 100deg. Combine that with 80 to 90% humidity and no breeze and something as short as a walk to your curbside mailbox requires a shower. As far as getting used to it? I moved here 15 years ago from Southern California.
You NEVER get used to it, you just learn to cope. Same thing? Not to me...

 

[skyvue]

Without heat, my house would keep me out of the wind and snow, but it would still be zero degrees F in there in the dead of winter.

And if that were the case you would bundle yourself in warm clothes and blankets. You'd still be cold, but you'd suffer neither frostbite nor hypothermia. I know, I've been in low single-digit temps with no heat. It was absolutely miserable, but not life-threatening. (I'm aware there are extremely cold places where the risk is greater, but I'm speaking in more general terms. There are also very hot places one could use for the other side of the argument)

Besides, I'm not for a moment suggesting anyone should do without heat. But people suggest folks should do without AC all the time.

And Miss Neeceerie, you're right -- people find ways to live without AC, without heat, without almost any modern-day comfort most of us take for granted.

But again, one very seldom hears anyone suggest we should do without electricity, without running water, without heat. But the suggestion that AC is a mere indulgence, a luxury, is commonly voiced by those like it hot.

 

[AmateisGal]

And if that were the case you would bundle yourself in warm clothes and blankets. You'd still be cold, but you'd suffer neither frostbite nor hypothermia. I know, I've been in low single-digit temps with no heat. It was absolutely miserable, but not life-threatening. (I'm aware there are extremely cold places where the risk is greater, but I'm speaking in more general terms. There are also very hot places one could use for the other side of the argument)

Besides, I'm not for a moment suggesting anyone should do without heat. But people suggest folks should do without AC all the time.

And Miss Neeceerie, you're right -- people find ways to live without AC, without heat, without almost any modern-day comfort most of us take for granted.

But again, one very seldom hears anyone suggest we should do without electricity, without running water, without heat. But the suggestion that AC is a mere indulgence, a luxury, is commonly voiced by those like it hot.

To me, air conditioning is not a luxury. It is a must have. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I cannot tolerate extreme temps at all - even low 90s (especially with humidity) are very difficult for me to endure. Even though I've lived in Nebraska my entire life and have dealt with our extreme temperatures, I still cannot handle the heat. If I don't have a/c, I suffer. Simple as that.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Honestly folks....I don't think anyone here was ever suggesting that someone 'do without' something they wish to and can afford to have.


This is sadly becoming the prime example of a phenomenon Lizzie has mentioned

People take the arguments as personal attacks on their worldview and respond accordingly, and all hope of a reasonable conversation goes out the window.

Everyone is taking a discussion about it as 'you have no right to have this...'


Which it never was.

People were answering the original poster's

"How did people survive before a/c'

and mentioning how various people, groups, tribes world wide have indeed survived.

 

[Paisley]

And if that were the case you would bundle yourself in warm clothes and blankets. You'd still be cold, but you'd suffer neither frostbite nor hypothermia.

You can get hypothermia when it's in the 50s. You're right that I'd be cold, though.

 

[Big Man]

My grandmother lived 99 of her 101 years in a house with no heat other than a fire place and no air conditioning other than an open window. How did she do it? Well, sometimes you are hot and sometimes you are cold. You just deal with it.

I've never lived in a house with A/C. I've raised four children who all got along just fine with out A/C. Yep, sometimes it gets hot at night and uncomfortable to sleep. So what. It's just another day ...

People in the "good old days" got along with out A/C just like they got along with out indoor plumbing, electricity, telephones, television, cars, et el. because that was just the way it was. It's hard to miss what you've never had.

 

[Tango Yankee]

Growing up in southern California the houses we lived in didn't have air conditioning. After I was out on my own I don't even recall having that on the list of requirements for a place, which is just as well as most houses or apartments didn't have A/C back then. Judging by the house I lived in when I lived in Long Beach, insulation wasn't a big player, either.

On particularly hot summer I recall my older brother going out and buying a big block of ice and setting it in front of a fan in our bedroom. In our first house (a rental) there was a portable evaporation cooler. Kind of neat, but thinking back on it now I imagine that thing was loaded with all kinds of mold! lol

Somewhere along the way, though, I came to the conclusion that I required two things to feel civilized: access to hot showers and Air Conditioning.

When I lived in Germany and England I had to do without air conditioning, but the climate was mild enough that it wasn't often an issue. Guam, on the other hand, was another story and the 41 days I went without power following Supertypoon Paka was miserable! The house was in essence a concrete box, with marble floors. Condensation was a huge problem without air conditioning.

Humidity does indeed play a huge role in how well you can handle heat. When I was deployed to Qatar I found that the humidity was extremely high there. My bunk was in a "temper tent" and the A/C was very low. After sleeping in there I found that when I stepped outside of the tent I was almost instantly wet all over, but from condensation, not sweat. Of course, you started sweating almost instantly as well. I found that one was very rarely dry over there because of those two issues.

I think others have made mention of this, but building design changed drastically in traditionally hot and humid areas once air conditioning began to be widely used. You can see it in older buildings: high ceilings to give the hot air a place to rise to, taller windows, transom windows over doors that open to allow the flow of breezes to move the hot air through and out the building, wide porches to shade the windows, etc. In the old enlisted dormitories at Anderson AFB, Guam, there would have been very little privacy as many of the walls were slatted to allow air flow between the rooms.

Besides architecture, I'm sure most of us have noticed that people from hotter climes tend to speak and act more slowly than those from colder climes--there's no sense of urgency--a trait that is often misinterpreted as being lazy or indifferent instead of a survival mechanism.

Dress is another method of adapting, and it can range from wearing very little to covering oneself from head to toe depending upon the humidity of the region. Very dry areas the natives tend to cover themselves to protect themselves from the sun and especially from dehydration.

I find that I'm grateful to have cars with air conditioning these days, and with the exception of whenever I get around to getting a vintage car I wouldn't buy a car without it. Of course, cars these days are not really designed to move with the windows down. I've found that one really doesn't get a breeze when sitting in the front seat with your window down; the air comes in behind you due to the streamlining of most cars these days. A vintage car will usually have what I recall being referred to as a wing-window.

Ah, well... I guess I've rambled on enough on the subject so I'll stop now. I hope some of it made sense!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Mav]

My grandmother lived 99 of her 101 years in a house with no heat other than a fire place and no air conditioning other than an open window. How did she do it? Well, sometimes you are hot and sometimes you are cold. You just deal with it.

That's about the best answer so far.

BTW, newer residential construction (about late 70's and on) really require central A/C for adequate indoor air quality. It's the tradeoff for having tighter, energy- efficient construction. There really isn't much luxury aspect to it anymore.

 

[Wire9Vintage]

I agree that it's the houses...the way they're designed. My grandmother's house here in central Texas never had air conditioning. But it had a deep porch, very high ceilings, a high roof, and trees planted all around it. (Of course, her only heat was a fireplace, too!). That house would get slightly warm in the hot Texas summer, but an open window and a fan would take care of that.

Now MY house, just a little ways away? Built in the 1950s with low ceilings and a shallow roof. And only one tiny porch. I also don't think it's oriented right either, something people used to take into account before they slapped a house down. And these silly aluminum windows barely keep weather out, hot or cold!

So yeah, we "need" air conditioning because someone didn't put enough thought into the way our houses are built anymore. Just my two pennies!

 

[Tomasso]

Hypothermia, frostbite and freezing to death are real dangers even for healthy people. But unless you're in delicate health, being very hot is mostly just uncomfortable.

QFT

 

[Mav]

So yeah, we "need" air conditioning because someone didn't put enough thought into the way our houses are built anymore. Just my two pennies!

To an extent. Today, our construction standards are specifically designed with energy savings in mind. To live in a modern house w/o A/C would be unbearable, not only from a temperature standpoint, but from the effects of dust, mold, misc. allergens, synthetic building materials as well as the waste products from human exhalation.

You're absolutely right on old design, though. I live in a town where most of the homes (including mine) were built anywhere from the mid- 19th century to about 1930. Builders took nature and the environment into account back then, when designing. The only reason I had to get A/C was because my wife insisted on it- she's from St. Louis, and is a prime example of once you've had A/C, you always need it.