Wednesday, the New York Times published a piece entitled, "The Unchilled Life: Breezing Through the Recession Without Air-Conditioning," touting the benefits of life without air conditioning. The majority of those interviewed found their (often recent) conversion to the AC-free life at times difficult, but ultimately rewarding. The folks featured found that they lost weight, spent more time with their families, and saved a bunch of money (one family estimates $2,100 last summer alone) by making the switch.The sidebar to the article contained some of the typical recommendations for staying cool without AC - use light-colored paint on your home's exterior, pull the shades during the day, keep windows open at night - but it also missed some biggies.
If you perchance decide to go AC-free (which, for all the reasons touched upon by NYT, we would encourage), there are a number of measures (missed by the Times) that will help ensure that you don't spend your summer in misery, but rather in cool, economical and blessed comfort. Here they are:
Air seal. Though the article suggests insulation, which is huge, it missed air sealing. Air sealing is critical for maintaining the effectiveness of insulation. Insulation will only perform at its rated R-value when it exists in a secluded, stagnant-air zone. Without air sealing, drafts can blow right through most types of insulation, and it doesn't perform as it's designed to.
Furthermore, air sealing itself is in most cases a higher priority than insulation in taking control of an indoor environment. In fact, it's probably the single most effective step most homeowners can take toward reducing drafts and increasing comfort, and it's as effective in the summer as in the winter.
Think beyond fans. Have a ventilation strategy. Air that's moving, even just a little bit, feels 4-8 degrees cooler than stagnant air. It's called the wind-chill effect, and in the hot months, it's a beautiful thing. If you're serious about staying AC-free, but equally serious about staying comfortable (or if you live in a particularly warm climate), a whole house fan is the best, most effective option. Whole house fans allow you to flush out the hot air every morning and evening and replace it with cool outdoor air. They also improve your (probably not-so-good-right-now) indoor air quality.
Quiet, energy efficient bathroom fans, believe it or not, are likewise a great option for keeping the air circulating throughout your house. And non-intrusive, powerful, energy efficient room fans are, of course, a no-brainer. Just be sure to buy fans with a high CFM/Watt rating - you don't want to end up spending all the money you saved by switching off the AC on energy-guzzling, ineffective fans.
Control your heat sources. A lot of heat building up in your house is not, in fact, coming from the hot summer sun - but from sources inside your house: Water heater, shower, dishwasher, clothes washer, stove, light bulbs, and on, and on. Become aware of those heat sources, and tackle them head on. As the Times mentioned, grilling outside is a cool alternative to running the stove. But you should also think about insulating your pipes and your water heater (and turning it down), washing clothes on the cold setting, and switching to cool burning CFL (or LED) light bulbs. Incandescent bulbs, you may have heard, use 90% of their energy producing heat. An infrared audit at the Energy Circle House revealed that while the LEDs were burning at 107 degrees Fahrenheit, and CFLs were a bit hotter at 167 degrees, the halogen lights were burning at a toasty 327 degrees...
Think outside the house: Landscaping can be an incredibly effective means of keeping cool in the summer. Trees on the south side of the house will provide shade all summer, and their bare limbs in the heating season won't block any of that precious winter sunlight. You can also strategically place shrubs and small trees to channel those cool summer breezes right toward your windows. Easy, effective, low marginal cost.
Go for it. Ditch your AC. And don't sweat it.
Comments
I appreciate your article about living without AC, and you make some excellent points, particularly about air sealing. Most people completely miss the point that air leakage is more important than insulation, particularly in more moderate climates. I have kept my AC off most of this summer in the Atlanta area due to an unseasonably cool and dry summer, as well as careful shading of windows, good tree coverage, using ceiling fans, and opening and closing windows and doors appropriately. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that the humidity in the house is critical, and it should be kept below 60%, and preferable below 50% at all times. Over these levels mold and mildew can form, and the home becomes less comfortable. Hot and dry is better than cool and damp. People may consider using dehumidifiers for parts of the day if the temperature is moderate but humidity high. Also, regarding your comment about whole house fans- they can work well, however most of them are not well air sealed and insulated, taking a huge energy penalty when not running, and most attics do not have adequate ventilation to exhaust all the hot air sucked into them by the fans, usually forcing much of that hot air back down into the house through air leaks in the ceiling of the house. Unfortunately, nothing is as simple as it seems.
Posted by Green Curmudgeon on Jul 26, 2009 6:54am