That's it for summer

It was 51°F when I rode to work yesterday morning. This means that it's time to dust off my winter Segway helmet and figure out where I put those gloves.

It's now late enough in the year that I think it's safe to say that I also went the whole summer without turning on the air conditioner. I did it last summer, too, but I kind a cheated by spending the hottest two months sleeping on the floor of a heavily air conditioned office. The two settings were stifling and freezing. This summer I did it for two reasons.

1) To see if I could.
2) Because my house is so leaky that all the cold air would leak out.
3) Because the AC was covered in a tarp so I wouldn't drop dirt and rocks in it as I cleaned out my spare room.

THREE! Three reasons not to turn on the AC.

It was both more and less miserable than I expected.

I had expected to buy a moisture vaporator, a device that makes drinkable water from humidity, to cut the humidity in my house. Most of the misery comes from humidity. I don't need cooling all the time. And the city water is lead filled and smells like lake.
Alas, the people who make it didn't want to sell to me for some reason. I have money, they have product, I don't see the problem here.

Opening the windows at night and closing them before going to work managed to keep the indoor temperature at around 83°. No breeze and varying humidity, but topping out at 85°.

In July I built a small fan from a solar experimentation kit that my brother got me for Christmas and a D-cell battery. I pointed it at my face at night. In August I finally bought a small fan that clipped onto the bird cage. It blew on me at night and everything was good.

Night was the worst. During the evenings it was hot, but I wasn't doing much. But the humidity made sleep difficult. Thus the fan. If there was a ceiling fan over where I was sleeping I wouldn't have bothered with the little fan.

Think about it for next summer.
A fan or two, opening and closing the windows at strategic times, shading exposed windows, and not moving much will allow you to avoid a lot of AC expense.

I will be attempting this again next summer WITH a moisture vaporator.