I'm going to have to turn on the AC :(

**freebs** · 06-01-2011, 08:53 AM

Yes we had to too! over the weekend it got to over 100 degrees in the house, dh got sick so we turned it on. We have it set at 80 and all rooms blocked off but the living room.

**annymoll** · 06-02-2011, 08:04 AM

We seldom turn on the air. I try to follow basic cooling principals and I can get by most of the summer without.It helps that we have lots of big old oaks to shade us, and we use other forms of passive cooling. Yes, sometimes it is a little uncomfortable, but I like to hear a jingle in my pocket from the money we save. I usually calculate about what we would spend in air and I reinvest it. We are shareholders , and I would encourage each and every one to use lots of electricity!

**MomToTwoBoys** · 06-02-2011, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by annymoll

We seldom turn on the air. I try to follow basic cooling principals and I can get by most of the summer without.It helps that we have lots of big old oaks to shade us, and we use other forms of passive cooling. Yes, sometimes it is a little uncomfortable, but I like to hear a jingle in my pocket from the money we save. I usually calculate about what we would spend in air and I reinvest it. We are shareholders , and I would encourage each and every one to use lots of electricity!

We also have lots of trees in our yard that provide a good amount of shading. We have one tree that's going away, but for the most part, the ones that are left are our shade havens. We never use A/C here and it does get pretty warm in the summer time. Both of the upper level bedrooms have windows near the beds, plus they have ceiling fans that we keep on the lowest setting. I have a ceiling fan in my dining room, plus the kitchen has a window that allows cooling air from the west. If we get overly warm, the basement family room is about 15 degrees cooler than the rest of the house in the summer time. (That's 15 Celsius, so more than that in simpler terms.)

I am all for passive cooling and what people don't realize is that running the A/C not only increases your bills, but it's not frugal at all.

**warramra** · 06-02-2011, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by annymoll

We seldom turn on the air. I try to follow basic cooling principals and I can get by most of the summer without.It helps that we have lots of big old oaks to shade us, and we use other forms of passive cooling. Yes, sometimes it is a little uncomfortable, but I like to hear a jingle in my pocket from the money we save. I usually calculate about what we would spend in air and I reinvest it. We are shareholders , and I would encourage each and every one to use lots of electricity!

We do have a lot of broad leaf shade trees around our home, you can't even see our house on Google Earth because of the trees. We also use heavy curtains to reduce solar heating and an whole-house fan in the evenings (when it is reasonable) to cool the home.

Unfortunately, we live in the Southeast, so not only do we have temps in the upper 90s to 100 throughout the summer, we also have high humidity levels. It hasn't been unusual for us to have heat indices in the 110+ range. The worst is when overnight lows don't go below 80, then you can't even cool off the house during the night. At those temps not only is it dangerous but it can also ruin electronics in the home.

As it is we run our AC between 80-83, and only use it on days we have to. Some years I've made it until the end of June before needing it. I'm just bummed because it seems like summer came on earlier this year.

**Debbie-cat** · 06-02-2011, 03:19 PM

We are only at 56 degrees today. Had to have the heat on a few days ago!

**AliMac** · 06-02-2011, 03:53 PM

Wow! This is crazy. We still have our heater running because the highs are around the mid-60s. Yesterday we had tons of rain and there was even a tornado that touched down somewhere around Sacramento. This is California! We're not supposed to get tornados - we already do earthquakes!!

**TigerGirl1226** · 06-02-2011, 04:52 PM

I'm South Louisiana...it's 101 degrees today!

**oheoh's momma** · 06-02-2011, 10:26 PM

Mine has been on for a few days keep mil at74 because she freezes and our at at 72. It just hot up here.

**AspiringToBeFrugal** · 06-02-2011, 10:33 PM

We broke down in mid-May and turned it on. If it gets hotter than 78 in the house, I turn it on as I get miserable. I think if I would lose some weight it might not make me so hot but for now, this is the way it is.

Additionally, we only have two fans to circulate the air which makes some rooms hotter than others.

**wjcalderon** · 06-03-2011, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by TigerGirl1226

I'm South Louisiana...it's 101 degrees today!

I'm in mid-Mississippi. We hit 101 yesterday, too.
I checked the 10 day forecast on weather.com. The lowest "high" temperature for the next 10 days is 96!
Miserable!!!

**flashyMcGee** · 06-04-2011, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by AliMac

Wow! This is crazy. We still have our heater running because the highs are around the mid-60s. Yesterday we had tons of rain and there was even a tornado that touched down somewhere around Sacramento. This is California! We're not supposed to get tornados - we already do earthquakes!!

Where is this gorgeous summer California weather at!!!!!!!!!!!!? I woke up to a cold and rainy day...yuck!

**MomToTwoBoys** · 06-04-2011, 06:25 PM

It's June 4th. We had snow last night.

I'd really love to see this hot weather everyone's complaining about. Maybe if you guys complain loud enough, it'll get sent here. I'm tired of being in the 30s when it should be in the 80s.

**Dixie** · 06-05-2011, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by MomToTwoBoys

It's June 4th. We had snow last night.

I'd really love to see this hot weather everyone's complaining about. Maybe if you guys complain loud enough, it'll get sent here. I'm tired of being in the 30s when it should be in the 80s.

I wish we could trade weather!