Boston Gal's Open Wallet

Umm, no. I'm not going A/C free. I love my A/C.

I could care less about having TV, but I like my heating and cooling system.

 

We make ice in empty water jugs, set them in an old dishpan in front of a fan. Instant airconditioning, the old-fashioned way! We also make homemade granita from summer berries and fruit, and eat that to cool off.

 

We put in central air about 15 years ago. My only comparison is that it cost us $10 less per month than our one window air conditioner when I compared the first year of use (summer months only). Granted, our window air conditioner was not highly efficient.

We are both very sensitive to heat and humidity. We lived in Connecticut.

 

I dislike AC and use window fans. I have a window AC unit for my bedroom that I put in and use only when we get an unbearable stretch of hot and humid weather. Last time I used it was maybe 2 yrs ago. AC is the very last thing I'd install. Re affecting you property value - I'd think that a 20+ year old AC that needs replacement would add little value to the house but the raised ceiling with nice windows would catch my eye. I have a 50's ranch too and I wish the prior owners had done that when they added a family room off the kitchen.

 

This may be possible in Boston, but I tell you, it's a bit harder to do in say, South Carolina. I know it gets hot in Boston but not humid and REALLY hot all the time like it does in the South.

We really try and use ours sparingly, but let's just say we're glad it's there.

 

In Chicago, if you don't have A/C then it really pulls down the house price. We use ours on the humid and hot days. I would suggest having it installed, the next owner might buy it for that very reason.

If you're going to renovate with vaulted ceilings, you should get updated quotes for the A/C and the construction work. Labor is cheap right now and my company has seen many construction projects coming at or under budget. Now might be the year to do it...if you can.

 

Where would we be without AC keeps me cool in the bedroom

 

I like the bed sheets hint, that's a good one. While I don't live in Boston, I am in relatively similar Toronto and previously lived in NYC. We've had window units for emergencies on occasion, but I found that there's really only a couple of nights every year we'd use them (and I'm from Ireland and feel North American heat pretty unbearable at times). AC wasn't even a consideration for us when we were house hunting, and the same is true of my friends although none of us are looking at newer homes, but your concerns about house value are worth doing a bit of research on locally.

 

The house we just bought in May did not come with central A/C, however the sellers did leave 2 window A/Cs with the house. I try very hard not to turn them on, but as a Floridian living in Colorado, I'm used to having the luxury of A/C 24-7 all year long, so sometimes I cave. I really try hard not to use them at night. It is usually in the 60s at night here in the summer, and if I can get the window fans going then it is usually cool enough to fall asleep at bedtime.

 

Not going without AC, nope. Not here in Florida. I know others who have, but 82 inside is about my limit with the humidity and all -- and it can quickly become nauseating for me when I'm actually doing physical stuff. (Though, I've been MUCH more comfortable at higher temps elsewhere where it's dryer -- and we sometimes use a dehumidifier here.)

Even keeping it around 80-82 during the day and around 78 at night we saw our monthly electric bill go from around $40 in April to around $170 for June. Ouch! We had an AC guy look at things to make sure there was nothing wrong with our system, but he said that's just normal for the heat we've had -- and even better than what most are seeing since we're sweating it out at hotter temps than most it seems.

And yeah, we could get a more efficient AC or replace our single-pane windows, but we'd spend more doing those things than we'd see recouped in a decade at this rate -- even with government rebates. So, we'll just keep doing what we're doing, closing blinds during the day, taking off clothes, drinking cold drinks, turning on fans, and maybe we'll invest in some solar film for the windows.

I also want to figure out which breaker goes to our hot water heater so we can turn it off when we don't need it (there's no way to adjust it or turn it off directly that we've found). Eventually, we'll replace that with a gas instant tank-less water heater. But again, the "savings" don't quickly cover the cost yet. Maybe when it finally breaks. It's much easier to justify getting a more efficient system when you have to buy a whole new system anyhow.

 

I've been AC-less for 4 years, living in apartments. I have nothing against it but the expense.

I've been offered a used window unit from my neighbor when she moves at the end of August. I may take it and experiment, since my apt gets SO warm in the mornings.

 

When my husband and I were searching for a home a few years ago, we put AC high on our priority list. My husband has serious trouble in the heat and becomes physically ill, so it seemed like a smart idea to make sure we had AC, even though we live in the Boston area and it's not truly imperative as it is in the south.

This summer, as you stated, has been cool and rainy, but I honestly caved and turned the air on in May after a stretch of rainy days left me wanting to get rid of some of the humidity, and I haven't turned it off since. We have the advantage of new construction and an efficient AC system. I was still a bit surprised when I checked my electric bills, and the bill from July is the same as the ones from March and April, and those from May and June are actually about 5% less.

I'm not really sure whether it would apply or not, but is it possible that changing your AC out might fall under one of the various green improvement programs that the government has set up in recent years? Obviously you have a very old and innefficient system...

 

I couldn't live without ac. I'm in Phoenix, AZ and just can't do it. However, I never turn the heater on in the winter. I use a small space heater when it gets chilly and put on a sweater. If I lived in a more temparate climate, I might try going without ac.

 

It came with my house, and I use it if it hits about 90 or so with high humidity for a long stretch (which this year has only been about a week back in June).

However, if the nights cool down enough, say into the 60s or low 70s, I can open windows at night then close them (and the shades) when I leave for work and the house will never reach 80 degrees, which is where I keep the AC set.

Upstairs will be very hot, but I live entirely down and fans and trapped cool night air gets me through most days. Once the temp comes down, opening the windows upstairs causes the hot air to rush out, sucking the cool air in the downstairs windows almost like an attic fan.

If I had more mature trees around the house it would work even better. Cooled off overnight, Grandma's old, uninsulated farmhouse can easily maintain a ten or more degree difference from outside just by closing the windows and being in the shade of large trees that keep direct sun off.

 

I live alone in a home South Florida. I found it very wasteful to cool the entire house using central a/c to stay comfortable in one room where I spend most of my time. So I installed a window unit and keep the central unit high.

Since being laid off, I decided to see how I could manage my electric bill better. I installed a "grey box" timer for my water heater. On 2 hours in the AM and I have plenty of hot water for the day.

I also toyed with the A/C thermostat to see how high I could put it without suffering. I found I can keep comfortable with the thermostat set at 85 (really - I have several thermometers because I didn't believe it myself)during the day and 81 at night. Use ceiling fans, wear shorts and a light shirt and drink cool ice water. You can do it.

Central A/C units do not like the winter. I had the same leaking and recharging problems you have when I lived in NY (as did other neighbors).

If the market requires it, I would leave your unit in place for resale value but if it is not necessary, then go ahead and remove it. A good window unit or two is fine and cheap. They also have nice European style units that are a mix between a window unit and a central unit that are installed by cutting a smallish hole in your wall. That is something you could also consider down the road.

 

I have to have AC in the midwest. I cannot sleep unless it is less than 70 degrees in the bedroom. When I lived in Seattle, I did not have AC because all we had to do was open up the windows and got a breeze. Never had a night over 70 and with a fan and cross breeze - it was perfect. Depends on where you are at.

@Meg - forget the breaker switch. Get a $20-$30 220-volt 40-amp timer and some 8 or 10 gague wire. You can set it then when you want to have (think lamp timers) and it will turn it off when you are at work or what not. I have one in every home I own. Works awesome and never had an issue. There is always a bypass switch so if you are home, you can click it and it will turn on. It is especially great when you have tiered pricing per time of day (ie. after 6pm the electricity gets cheaper, weekends are cheap, etc.)

 

Thanks Anon 4:45! I'll look into that!

 

I live in the deep South and AC is a must-have. When the nights routinely stay in the 80s with corresponding humidity in the 80s to 90s, it's impossible to get any night-time cooling effect.

Ceiling fans and a programmable thermostat help manage my cooling costs. I've also air-dryed as much laundry as possible this summer to keep my house cooler.

 

Timely post for me, as we are without air condition because it broke. We are getting a new heating and air conditioning unit installed tomorrow morning to the tune of $8200.00. It is an investment for sure, but we think (being in Virginia) it is worth it. Air conditioners are necessary in our area because of our hot and humid weather. I'm looking forward to this more energy efficient unit and am looking forward to more savings. $8200.00 is a huge bite, for sure, but it's a necessary expense as we will be replacing a "builder grade" unit.

 

When I lived in well designed buildings in Boston I felt no need for AC. Maybe there were a very few days a year where it would be nice. But when I lived on the top floor of an apartment building in both Boston and Albany NY with a flat roof with the sun on it I needed to use AC. Here in Canberra we have a sloping roof on our apartment but it's at the end of the building with the outside concrete wall facing the sun all day. AC is useful some of the time in summer (especially this last summer when we had four 40C (104F) days in a row). It's a reverse cycle system so it's a heater in the winter too. The unit is in the living room (not central AC). Of course, it's broken at the moment and taking forever to get fixed and we are depending on electric heaters this winter here. Winter is much milder than Boston (a bit like Portland OR probably).

 

Re: the high-thread-count sheets helping keep you cool -- that's the opposite of what I've seen recommended. High-thread count sheets impede your body heat from dispersing. You need more porous sheets to be cooler in the summer. But of course I can't find the link to support this any more (but it makes sense to me in much the same way I'd rather wear linen than silk in summer.)

 

No, BG is right. High thread count sheets do feel cooler. The heat does not sink into the mattress and get trapped as easily. The sheets are smoother and cooler.

 

Like Tamsin, I'm on PHX and no a/c is not possible. But you can easily go without heat. IN a friend's neighborhood the water heaters tend to be outside, but not heated--you get pretty warm water even in the winter.

When I lived in a house in Cleveland, I didn't have a/c and most of the summer it was okay--in the 80s in the house but bearable. I had to scrimp on heat in the winter though, and that was miserable.

 

Here in the PNW, we have a heat pump which provides cool air in the summer. It was 97 degrees today and the house stayed at a nice & comfortable 78 degrees. The bonus with the heat pump is that it provides efficient heating in the winter months. I know heat pumps are only useful in mild climates like ours, so they aren't practical for everyone. I really want (not "need" but a very strong "want") my cool air in the summer months.

 

We rely on our central air when Kansas summer hits, but for the more marginal days of early and late summer when the mornings are cooler, we turn on our whole house attic fan and open all the windows early in the day and bring in cool air, then turn off the fan and close the windows and the house tends to stay very pleasant until late afternoon, when we turn the a/c back on. Our electric bills are very reasonable even during some fairly hot weather.

 

Do you go without heat in the winter? It's easy to go without AC in Boston. In Texas, not so much. I have NEVER see one of these "helpful" articles counsel people to go without heat, even though it costs more energy to heat air then it does to cool it, and on average people who use heat have to move the temperature a lot further then people who use AC. Maybe you live int he wrong place?

 

I've gotta say that lower thread count sheets that are made well, with nice cotton do a much better job of wicking and breathing than high thread count sheets. A lot of people in the SE U.S. switch to such sheets FROM high thread count sheets come summertime.

Also, Modal/Rayon wicks and breathes about 50% more effectively than cotton and is a softer fabric in general. If you can find such sheets, they're excellent for summers.

 

Actually, there is humidity in Boston. I know that Southerners think Northerners are total wimps when they complain about the heat, but it's worse than you think in much of the Northeast.

I've lived in Boston and Florida, and trust me, while the Boston humidity may not be as bad as somewhere like Louisiana, it can be pretty horrendous.

I spent summers in Florida with my grandparents and they only turned the AC on at night for half an hour to cool things down for sleeping. We stayed in the shade and drank a lot of liquids. At night you covered your body with baby powder and used a window fan to pull cool air in.

Anyone who insists they have to have AC, even in a hot climate, should try doing without, unless someone in your house has a medical condition. I have Multiple Sclerosis now and can't allow my core body temperature to rise, but we live in Northern CA and there is no AC anywhere. So when we have a heat wave I have to get creative.

 

Just as I enjoy shopping for already dead/processed food, I enjoy my A/C.

I *could* go with out those things, sure, anyone can. No way would I ever choose to, no matter how much it costs.

You also have to consider the comfort of any friends, guests or relatives. I would not enjoy hanging out in someones house on a hot summers day w/o A/C even if they offered me a high thread count sheet, ice water and a fan.

 

My neighbors in Bedford yanked out their central AC when they did an extensive remodel a couple of years ago.

They have window units in the occupied bedrooms but no AC in the main parts of the house. Last September I was invited over for dinner. When the night of the party arrived the temperature was in the high 80's and it was horribly humid.

Realizing no-one would be comfortable either outdoors or indoors no matter how many fans. The couple simply grabbed a folding table and some dining room chairs and we ate in their master bedroom. The side of the bed was used as bench seating and the chairs went around the other sides of the table.

It was unconventional, but a lovely night. Instead of the usual dinner party topics of town government gossip or children's school challenges/achievements. We talked about trade-offs we had all made to buy into an expensive Massachusetts town with good schools and how we struggle to do it all.

 

This is one of the hidden joys of moving to Colorado Springs! We have been A/C free for most of the 2 years we have been here, and honestly, most summer days having the A/C on is a complete waste (obviously, some with allergies would disagree!). Some days we spend more time outside in the shade, but usually we manage.

There were days though, even with the nice summary climate, that I was glad we had the A/C, particularly because we had a party or other social function on a day where the temperatures were in the 90s. Rather than make our guests bow to our desire to save money, we instead flipped the A/C on for a few hours. The cost to run it one day is minimal. Problem solved. That and resale value would be my apprehension to owning a house without a central A/C.

To those that compare this to not having a heater, that is silly. People who don't have a source of heat in many climates will die, painfully. If you were to go without a central heater you would have to replace that with some other method of keeping warm (fireplace, wood burning stove, living underground, etc, all of which can save you $$). People (even in the hottest parts of the world, like the Sahara) go without A/C today and have done so for thousands of years.

100 years ago, no one had A/C, let alone central A/C. It's entirely a comfort thing, and it's perfectly valid to suggest that we don't use it today. That said, the author specifically mentioned that this article wouldn't apply to someone who lived in a hot climate, so why bring that up.

All that said, living at a colder temperature during the winter is certainly something that makes sense. That is trading comfort for $$. It's just probably not as germane a subject given the time of year. :)

 

No AC so far this year, in CT. I've gotten by with 3 ceiling fans and 2 box fans, though i worry about my cats during the day, becus even with shades drawn and fans going, it gets awfully stuffy in there. My Maine Coon was panting the other day, a lot.

I have a small window unit for my bedroom but dislike using it becus it's noisy as it cycles on and off.

I love your idea about raising the ceiling and using transom windows. Sounds expensive, but attractive.

 

I have never had AC. I am still making budget payments on my winter gas and can survive the 10 days it is needed in Boston without it.

 

I second Clayton on the modal sheets!

I don't know for sure if modal is cooler than high thread count cotton, but it is tons softer. I love our modal sheets and would never dream of replacing them with cotton! However, we have thought of switching back to our bamboo sheets for a few weeks to see if those are cooler -- but those are almost as soft so it wouldn't be a huge sacrifice if that were the case.

And fyi, both kinds were much cheaper than high thread count cotton sheets we looked at. And they're far superior, imho.

 

OK, now I am curious. What the heck are modal sheets? Is that a fabric type? Brand name?

I know that when I switched from low thread count sheets to high thread count sheets I felt the difference and now would never go back to low thread count sheets again.

But I am up for trying something else if it works. Anyone else have any info on model sheets or the bamboo sheets Meg mentioned? Good or Bad opinions?

 

I live in Tucson, so of course we have cooling. A few years ago, we ripped out our central swamp cooling units (there were two) because they were leaking into the roof all the time, and instead installed an energy-efficient Trane central heating/air. It moved the heating unit to the roof, leaving us space for a closet (yay!) and also did wonders for my son's asthma.

That being said, we do actually try to limit our a/c consumption, even as residents of a hot climate. This year we did really well, and I'm proud of us. When it started getting into the upper 90s in May (yes, May!) it was still cool at night, so we opened all the windows at night, closed them in the morning and only ran the a/c if it got over 83 degrees (maybe a couple hours in the afternoon). We cut our cooling bill by about 65% doing that in May and June.

For some, 83 degrees might seem pretty high, but we worked up to 83 degrees slowly. My husband and I competed to see who could stand a higher heat. At first, we couldn't have it above 78 degrees, but slowly, degree by degree, we got used to it.

We went on vacation to a cooler climate for a week in June -- fun, but when we got home, we had to start all over again! That affected our bill some.

Other things we do: quick showers, twice a day; ceiling fans in all the rooms; light- and heat- blocking curtains ($12.99/panel @ Target); hot drinks (they make you sweat, which helps cool you off); closing some of the rooms/vents that weren't actively being used. We have two kids, 3 and 7, but they are pretty used to the heat.

In winter, we rarely need heat, so we do save a bit of money then. Re-acclimating ourselves to Tucson cost: our bill went up by $100. Nevertheless, even in a hot place (it's currently humid and 108 degrees here) there are ways to save on a/c costs. One thing I wish I had done: some homes have dual cooling, with a swamp cooler/air conditioning unit. During the dry season, you can save money by using the cooler. I wish we had done that, as the moisture is most welcome during the hot dry months of May and June! Nevertheless, during the monsoon season (July and August), I am grateful for our a/c.

 

If the majority of your neighbors have AC I would vote for keeping it in. But I agree, I'm in Somerville and today my husband and I put our AC in for the dog! It will be off tonight when it cools off.

 

Meg: Modal/Rayon/Bamboo/Beechwood fabrics are essentially the same but for their source and name. For bamboo fibers, the cellulose is derived from bamboo, etc. They all fall under the umbrella of Rayon, which is a sort of synthetic-organic fiber. So, if your bamboo sheets are cooler than your modal sheets it's simply an issue of thread count or weave or a combination. Also, Modal is cooler than cotton. That 50% number I noted wasn't an estimate. Modal/Rayon is 50% more wicking than cotton, and is a significantly poorer insulator than high thread count cotton.

Boston Gal, I suspect what you're finding with higher thread count sheets is that they're more wicking and therefore feel cooler. This probably has to do with a number of factors, but mainly the type of cotton and weave in your 600 thread count sheets. In reality, higher thread count sheets offer more insulation, trapping more body heat. If you compared say a 400 thread count and 200 thread count sheet set made with the same high end Egyptian cotton, you'd probably find that the 200 thread count set felt cooler. Maybe not, and really some of this is personal, so whatever works.

 

I forgot to mention that we use linen sheets my wife brought from China during the hottest weather here. It feels cooler than the cotton, though we only have the standard 300 or whatever count sheets. I was only turning the AC on once the temperature hit 32C last summer (90F). My wife hates the AC. We use blinds windows etc. to control the temperature as much as possible. Of coruse, right now is the middle of winter here :) 2C outside (36F).

 

Here in MO, I love the A/C, but we have only ran it for about 3 weeks total so far this summer. Our bill last month was a whopping $216, but we had run the air quite a bit and the inlaws came to visit and ran their camper air on an extension cord to my house. =) It is the price you pay to live in the midwest, but considering our 1900 s.f. house on 3 acres was only $112,000 5 years ago and our property taxes are less than $700 per year, I can absorb the air costs for three months. We are on propane for the winter and I just got it for $1.09 a gallon. Oh, we do have an attic fan in the garage and that really circulates the air, as long as the humidity is not too high.

 

To dpb at 12:15 on July 29--I think it's important to remember that when there is a heat stroke, and air conditioning isn't working, many people do actually die in some of our southern cities, especially elderly people. There is always a death count in the news when there is a serious heat stroke.

I think that as A/C has become the status quo, it has really changed how Americans make choices about where they will live and how they will work and how they build and landscape their homes. Broad and disorganizaed generalizations here: Think of the boom in the US south and southwest--think Phoenix and Atlanta, for example. Would these have happened without A/C? what about summer in the hot and humid midwest--how about the summer in the shack on the lake? I think that in the past, offices and homes were built to consider the sun--window placement and direction; ventilation; etc. Trees were used carefully to shade the house, too. Before A/C, would there have been all the office buildings that are sealed to outside air? Didn't it used to be that it was just accepted that in the peak of the summer heat, business just slowed down as people went out from the city?

I think it's like electric lights and phones and cell phones and laptops--all these technologies, as they become accepted and become the norm, change our expectations about how we live and work. We now forget (home plan designers and land developers forget) to think about natural ways to cool and heat our homes, because they can always rely on the A/C.

 

I switched from central air to no AC this year, and the two ceiling fans we installed really helped. They cost around $200, but we once spent almost that on central air during a particularly hot summer month. Of course, the fact that in Boston we haven't really had a summer until last week has helped, too...

 

We installed A/C in our 70 year old home in the hot & muggy lower Midwest a couple of years ago. It gets incredibly humid here in the summer, and we just got sick of hauling window A/C units in and out at the beginning and end of the summer. We were also concerned about the value/sellability of the house.

We have been making an effort to conserve though. I've been working with a new local company that does home energy audits and improvements to seal up and better insulate our house. They spent more than eight hours at the house a few weeks ago sealing things up (with intermittent blower door tests to check their work), and just last week they fully insulated our basement.

Also, we're not turning the thermostat below 78 this summer after having run it at 76 the prior two summers. Honestly, I'm not sure that the thermostat change makes much difference since A/C units use most of their energy when they start up, so the more they have to start and stop during the day, the more energy they use. Anyway, we've gotten comfortable at 78, and I do think it's probably saving some money.

 

I'm in Natick and I am actually looking to install central A/C. We have all the ductwork in place, and quotes for just the compressor/coil and installation have run between $6-8k for my 1600 s.f. 1950's ranch. Sounds like you could've gotten a better deal back in 2006 considering ductwork makes up half the cost of a newly installed unit. I am convinced it will help with the sale of my house in say, 10 years, and with the $1500 tax credit I will get, I think it's a no brainer. I suppose we're in different situations though. If you live alone you can just cool the room you're in. We have a family of 4 and have to keep our kids cool in different parts of the house too.