apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I live in Denver, and we don't have an air conditioner, just a 'swamp cooler' - which is in the process of breaking down, so it either runs on HIGH (very loud and windy) or not at all. Not really practical for constant use - so we close up the house on the south side during the day, and then open up the shaded north side and turn on all the ceiling fans.

it was 97 at our house yesterday and the house stayed closer to 80 degrees with this method. It works better out here than it would in NYC, though, since we don't have humidity. When I'm staying in New York (on the hudson) during the summer, it's air conditioning all the way.

But I *am* thinking of building an outdoor room for sleeping!

My building doesn't really have any outdoor space except for the interior courtyard, through which the super carries the garbage to the street. Sometimes on the weekends I walk to/through either Riverside Park or Central Park, since they're both so close. I really enjoy not having anything to mow.

I'm not lucky enough these days to have an outdoor space in (with? by? adjacent to?) my apartment. But I use the park across the street as my living room quite a bit. Weekend mornings, often, I'll decamp for the benches on the water there with a mug of tea and the paper. On all but the most still, hottest days, the breeze off the river is air conditioning enough.

(By the by, I carried a portable thermometer one day last summer. The temp outside my apartment building door was 91. 5 blocks east, in midtown it was 96.)

We've got a window AC unit in our bedroom, so at night we usually turn that on. On the other hand, for the rest of the apartment we open the windows and crank the fans.

Since we have a little side yard facing a pretty big street on the street level, I have a hard time imagining sleeping out there. But I also have a hard time imagining hauling my bedding out to sleep in Central Park.

Last summer, when it was REALLY hot, I was dreading another blackout so I tried to do my part by not using the AC unless absolutely necessary. I opened the balcony door and the door to the hallway and let a cross breeze thru the apt. I also turned on the fan. It was nice. Especially when I put on my surf tape. Kinda like being at the beach. Of course, the AC gets turned on at night when I go to bed.

A "sleeping porch" used to be a not uncommon feature of a house. Honestly, I think the AC thing has gone too far. I like having the option to turn it on if it's oppressively hot and humid and I can't sleep, but too many businesses and offices are way over-cooled. It's summer, it's supposed to be hot. I shouldn't need to carry around a sweater for when I go inside. When did we start to think we needed to be kept at some perfect temperature year-round?? In winter, put on a sweater and long underwear and drink hot drinks; in summer, wear less and lighter clothing and drink lots of water.

Doesn't sleeping outside = skeeter bites?

On truly unbearable nights I put a bowl of ice in front of the fan.

usually ac during the day, open at night, but it's starting to get really hot at night again. alabama will get pretty scorching and only be a bit cooler at night - usually from mid june to mid september the asphalt is still hot at night.

Very few NYC buildings appear to have windows with built-in screens, which makes doing the open window/fan thing a challenge for some of us: Because I've been opening my terrace door for heat relief, I've been stuck with a bunch of stubborn flies, and have also gotten a few mosquito bites.

Fear of crime also keeps people from opening their windows, and inevitably leads to a few deaths during heat waves. Usually, senior citizens living in bad neighborhoods who can't afford AC are the victims.

Like Elizabeth, open windows at night when it's cooler, close them first thing in the morning, and turn the AC to 80. We also use a small dehumidifer, which makes the heat much more bareable. I agree with angorian - it's crazy how much we over aircondition. My building does it terribly. I always end up over dressed when I go outside because it's freezing in the hallways...ofcourse that works out well because the moment I go into another building, it's freezing again...

Very well said, Angorian!

The good thing about flies in the apt. is that it's good exercise for the cats!

The main floor of our [small] house is comfortable enough with a ceiling fan and open windows, but due to hot air rising the upper floor gets oppressively hot and humid, quickly. We have two window AC units that have programmable timers. We set them to cool the house in the early evening for a few hours, and keep them off during the day and overnight. Once the air is cooled off a bit, a fan seems to do the trick.

We also try to avoid using our stove/oven during the hot weather, because it heats up our small kitchen really quickly. We eat a lot of salads and barbecue in the summer.

There are parts of West Virginia that barely get above 75-80 degrees. Unfortunately, I live in one of the hot parts.

We keep the central air set on about 78 and use (horrible but practical) ceiling fans to stir the air around when it needs stirred. I try to air out at least one night a week - we open all windows and sleep under the ceiling fan. With two dogs and two cats, sometimes we need airing out.

I wish I could open all my windows and turn on the fans but where I live has had very little rain this season and the pollen is sticking to the grass like snow (literally!) I have minor seasonal allergies that have become worse with all the pollen floating around. Unfortunately, it has forced me to run the central air much more than I would have liked.

I live in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was 108 the other day, with expectations of temperatures rising in July and August. And unfortunately it doesn't cool down much at night. Needless to say, I stay inside during the summer months. I consider it an exception to the "green" rule!

I live in a row house with a small yard. The fantasy I'm working on is to fence in my back yard , add some soft of overhead canapy and make it so lush with greenery and private that if I do fall asleep out there -- no one will know except me...shhhhhhhhhh!

Here on the gulf coast, the humidity doesn't drop below 85%, the temps are in the 80s at night and you feel as if you are melting outside between the hours of 9 am-5pm. AC is the only thing that keeps us all sane. But that being said, I totally agree with Angorian-offices here are frigid. We keep the ac around 80, higher in the day so there's not such a climate change when you walk outside.

Sunsets are a nice time to be outside, and eating on the deck is a must in the summer, even though it's often 8 when we can feel comfortable outside.

I am beginning to think that the major reason that Europe has lower greenhouse gas emissions than North America is that there is NO AIR CONDITIONING HERE!!!

It is quite a shock to walk into a huge mall, and be greeted by warm sticky air instead of a blast of cold... It is even worse inside malls than elsewhere I have found, as on even spring days they are uncomfortably close. Shopping can be a very unpleasant chore on warm days.

Restaurants, many offices, schools -- none of them have a/c. The schools here have exterior awnings over each window, as well as operable windows. People use roll-shutters, classic shutters, and venetian blinds -- applied to the EXTERIOR of the window -- to help keep out the heat.

Traditional apartments, with their high ceilings and thick walls, are delightful in the heat. However, cozy cottages with low ceilings, bedrooms under the eaves and carpeting (double *ugh*!!!) are awful. I am frightened at how hot our house must get just judging from the number of fans we found in each room...

my manhattan apartment is on the roof of the building so the air conditioner is always on. however during warm weather i use the best outdoor space; riverside park and central park, i take my dog to the run down by the river where there is shade under the trees and breezes off the huson river. large stone patios overlooking the river have live music in the evening and a bar with tables and chairs, a great place to hang out with people even if you don't know them.
and is there any thing better than central park? there are so many spots to escape the hot streets here i can't even list them all here.

I try to use the A/C only when it's really humid. The fan is usually sufficient. We have a patio off the bedroom, which is a good place to catch an evening breeze. But it is near a courtyard used to house the central A/C units for several apartments in our building, so if our neighbors are using A/C, it can be quite noisy.

If we're going to use our patio during the summer, I really need to get up earlier; it might be cool enough at 5 a.m. By 7-ish, it's almost 90 degrees, headed for 110 , and we don't get significant cooling right after the sun sets. The outdoors we use is the common area of the swimming pool.

Even with high ceilings, light exterior walls, two units above us, minimal southern exposure, 21st-century insulation, and all blinds closed during the day, I have to let the AC run itself 24/7 to keep the place below 85.

Our building has central a/c, and individual apartments can't control the thermostat. But we don't mind, because it's a loft and we really couldn't get a cross-breeze going in here, anyway.

I remember sleeping on the dining room floor in front of the fan with my siblings when I was a kid, and sleeping porches. Best way to sleep, if it cools down at night.

Yeah, I'd really like to be able to live without AC, but I'm a total wimp when it comes to heat and especially the humidity (I live in Ohio). And this Spring has been a HORRIBLE one for my seasonal allergies. After spending a couple hours outside yesterday morning I could barely breathe. Not to mention that it was over 90 and not a great time to decide to mulch the garden.

Yep, I often thank my lucky stars that I have central AC. I don't even want to think about life without it.

Last year during the blackout in Astoria my girlfriend and I slept on the roof. While talking with our upstairs neighbor in our backyard garden she said her roommate was also sleeping on the roof for some time. If it gets too crowded up there this summer we might have to put up some tents!

Our traditionally built stone house always stays cool except on the hottest of days - but the attic bedroom is always like an oven!! - no AC for us though - good old open windows and fans - work is a different story though - as soon as they turn on the AC at the beginning of summer (and once its on its on - no turning it off on cooler days) I know I need to take a jumper in to work!