A comment left by a reader in Scottsdale, Arizona got me thinking about air conditioning. She mentioned that she uses it 10 months of the year, which seems like a lot.
The weather here in New England has been unusually hot this summer, with multiple 90 degree days. In my region, central air conditioning is rare; we rely on window units. I prefer the type that’s attached to the wall permanently. (I had one fall out of a second-story window once—never again!) Memorial Day is the most common start date and they’re off by mid September.
In my home, we have one in each bedroom, plus another in the living room. We don’t run them all simultaneously (usually), and turn everything off when we’re away for more than 2 hours.
I’m pretty wimpy when it comes to the heat, and it just boggles my mind that folks regularly deal with temps well above 100 degrees! So, my question for today is: how often do you need air conditioning? Daily, year-round or just as needed? Personally, if it gets above 85 degrees, mine is on.
Our central air has been running about 85% of the time since about mid may…. we are in Manitoba, Canada
Ok, so you’re even further north than I am, and it’s still hot!
I live in the SF Bay area. We only NEED ac maybe 10-15 days per year, but we don’t have it. I live in a very nice building without ac. I live near a retirement home & it’s sad that the medics are always responding to emergencies there during our heat waves. It should be a law that they have it at least. I hear their rent is around 5k a month.
I couldn’t believe how expensive San Fran was when I visited last October. Everything from hotels, to food, to drugstore prices were much more than the East Coast. It is a beautiful region, with wonderful people, but the cost of living is way too high.
I live in Kansas, and we run the air usually from sometime in May until at least mid-September. It can get very hot here. It’s been a milder summer, with only a couple of days over 100.
I’ve heard that the Mid-West can be scorching-hot during summer.
I believe we use our air conditioning about 7 months out of the year. Our weather is actually pretty mild here, but I am always burning up. I like it fairly cool in the house, but I sure would like a smaller electric bill also!
Finding the balance between feeling comfortable and keeping the electric bill at a reasonable level is tough!