My husband installed the air conditioner, a window unit, a few weeks ago. When we were rehabbing the house we considered installing central air and heat, but decided that it would detract more than it would add. There would have been too many visible changes to the house. We would have had to have two separate systems with two separate boxes outside since we have the dog trot running through the middle of the house. We decided to give it a try without even though July and August temperatures are typically in the 90's and many times hovering around 100. We believed in our dog trot house.
Last year we made it until July without the air conditioner. This year it was installed earlier. Some days we need it, especially if I am cooking or canning for long periods of time, but mostly it gets turned on because it is there. Though I,too, am guilty of turning that switch, I like the feel of the house better without the air conditioner. When the air is on the doors and windows are closed. The hum and rattle of the unit is the only thing you can hear. I miss listening to the bird songs change with the progression of the day. I miss the temperature change in the night. I miss the night sounds. And I miss the breeze blowing through the dog trot. I feel isolated from the things that make living in this house so special. OK, I don't miss the skunk.
As the temperatures rise this July and August, the air conditioner will hum and rattle each afternoon and night giving my family a needed haven from the sweltering heat and humidity. I, too, will come in from the garden and go right to the vent and capture as much of the cold air as I can. But, I will miss my house.
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4 comments:
I'm loving the pics of your house -- I referred back to the "Dog Trot" post to see what you meant.
For years we resisted central air -- in Michigan we only really needed it maybe four nights a year, so it hardly seemed worth the expense. I gave in a couple of years ago, when four nights seemed to have turned into a sold two weeks of sleepless sweltering.
You're right -- if you have it, it gets used even when you could survive without. It's to the point now where we forget to turn it off when a cold front comes through.
A cold front has come through, so I'm going to go switch off the global warming generator now and open some windows!
I hope to see more pictures of your beautiful house.
We lived in Chicago for a while. None of the apartments to which we were drawn had air conditioning. We got a window unit one summer, during a heat wave, and that air conditioner ran until Fall. We probably needed it for a week, maybe two.
Here, we are in the minority. People think I am stark raving mad for not installing central air (and other things). I may be! But, I think it is crazy to want the temperatures in your house 68 degrees and less in summer and 72 and above in the winter.
I miss listening to the bird songs change with the progression of the day. I miss the temperature change in the night ...
Just think, some people don't know that these things exist!
I hadn't thought of that. I guess I can do without those things for two months. If I get desperate I can drag a sleeping bag into the dog trot.
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