To Air Condition or Not To Air Condition

For some people there is no question. They must think us crazy for not having air conditioning in the summer. Generally, though, we rarely have heat waves that last longer than a few days, and usually the humidity is not too bad. We are normally able to cool our house down in the evenings by opening up all the windows. The basement stays cooler than the rest of the house as well. As a last resort, we could just lie down on the tiled floor.

This morning, however, I was wishing for AC in our home, if only to decrease the humidity. Currently, it is 32C outside and with the humidity it feels like 42C. Our house had heated up to 28C last night, and only cooled down to 26C this morning. Most of the people I met along my morning run at 7am said, "It is too hot to be running!" "Better now than in the afternoon." said I.

We are supposed to have cooler temperatures come Saturday, and if we open up the whole house, basement included, we should be able to get back to a reasonable temperature in our home. That will be up to my husband this week, as I am going away. Once we get back to having cooler evenings, we should be fine.

Our biggest problem with heating up our home is the westward facing patio doors in our bedroom. We have no trees blocking these doors, so in the summer we have light coming into the house from 3pm until 9pm. In the seven years we have lived in the house I have tried several types of black out curtains with varying success. Last year we put UV blocking film on the glass. It cut down on the heat, but we still have light getting in and that is what warms up the room, and then the house. I wanted to get an automatic blind on the outside which would prevent light from entering through the window. I suppose another option would be a gazebo on the deck.

In Europe, houses have shutters on the outside of the house which stop light, and heat from getting in. I am not sure why we have not adopted this practice in North America. Maybe it is aesthetics. Our friends had hidden shutters that would automatically roll down and block all light from entering. Seals the house up like a vault.

I often think about how my next house should be oriented with respect to home energy efficiencies. Which side of the house should have all the windows to maximize heat gain in the winter, but not in the summer? If we had a deciduous tree in front of our patio doors, it too would greatly reduce how hot our home would be. Alas, these are all things I know for my next home, whenever that happens.

For now, we are hiding in the basement, playing at the splash pad, taking advantage of friends with pools, or going to the lake. In a few days, a cold front will be coming through, and we will no longer be jonesing for air conditioning. Maybe we'll hang out at the mall tomorrow.

This is what we need. Northern Solar Screen. Now, are these available for Canadians?

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