While it is only May, we have had a few hot and stuffy days here in Pennsylvania. Those sticky days when the weather seems to jump from spring right into summer without so much as a breeze. I know several people who have already turned on their air conditioning. Not us, though.
Well, for one thing, not only are we frugal, but we don’t happen to have central air conditioning. This means that having any air conditioning at all is a big project. We have to take out the heavy window air conditioners and install them strategically in some of the windows. Then we have to set them and turn them on an off as we need them. There are no programming with these air conditioners, unless you count on me being programed to shut them off when we know we won’t be using them or turning them down at night.
So, needless to say, we delay installing the air conditioners as long as possible, coping with staying cool in other ways, such as:
Living in the coolest part of the house. Our basement is nice and cool most of the time, and now that it is finished, we can enjoy spending time down there during the day when it gets really sticky and hot. We may even opt to camp out overnight in the basement on the worst days.
Limiting the hot air and heat. By limiting the number of times that the front or back doors are opened, we keep most of the humidity outside. On cool mornings, the windows can let in some fresh air, but on sticky days they stay shut. The kids know that if they want to go outside on such days, they better mean it.
To limit the heat sources, we close the curtains when the sun is shining and use a crockpot or an outdoor grill to cook.
Cooling off the old fashioned way. What did people do before air conditioning? Well, they sat in a kiddie pool, played in the sprinklers, drank cool drinks and fanned themselves. These are all ways to stay cool for free.