
American Summer: Before Air-Conditioning (1998) - sizzle
http://newyorker.com/archive/1998/06/22/1998_06_22_144_TNY_LIBRY_000015831
======
prasoon2211
I see people conveying their tales of the hot weather - where the temperatures
rose to 95 to 100 degree fahrenheit - just around 35 to 40 degree celsius -
for a brief few days each summer.

The truth is, this is a little more than moderately hot for many parts of the
world. Here in India (in the parts around the capital), you're lucky if
temperature keeps on the lesser side of the 45 degree mark. And this happens
for weeks on end, not just for a few days. Just before the arrival of monsoon,
it is _both_ extremely hot and extremely humid - humid as in _drenched_ humid.

Now imagine this - you've got a 45 degree blazing heat on top of the 98%
relative humidity. The fans just don't seem to work and you're sweating
profusely from the minimal of exertions. Add to this not having an AC and you
get an idea how most of us lived for the past decade or so. It got so hot that
you felt a physical pressure pushing you down and all we could do was lie down
on the cold floor as we waited for night to bring some relief with it.

Things are changing though and most people are getting ACs now. The floor is
no longer cool.

~~~
arbuge
>> The truth is, this is a little more than moderately hot for many parts of
the world.

Or the American South for that matter. The article was written from the
perspective of New York. Here in Texas we get weeks of 100+ degree days pretty
much every summer.

~~~
oftenwrong
Texas is fairly dry, though, yes? The heat combined with humidity is the real
killer.

~~~
techsupporter
Even at 0% humidity (which is virtually never; right now in 76148, or the
suburbs north of Fort Worth, it is 95F at 16% humidity. Tomorrow has a
forecast high of 101F at 22% humidity), temps above 100F are unbearable. I say
this as someone who was born and raised in Texas. We planned our days around
A/C, our parking around the afternoon shade, and it's gotten so bad now that
high school football (a religion in Texas all its own) is restricting
practices outdoors between 2PM and 6PM (the hottest part of the day) between
mid-May and mid-September.

Yes, it's not as hot (115F on average) or as humid (80%+) as some parts of the
world, but for us, it sucks. Especially since houses built in Texas since the
mid-60s are built to have air conditioning. They don't have whole-house fans
and they don't have large windows that open. Fancy houses have bay windows
that face the southwest that don't open so the house is like a glass oven.
Radiant barriers in the attic and high-efficiency A/C provide some relief, but
most summers it's just a beating.

In 2011, the local news stopped counting the number of consecutive days above
100F and just kept count of days above 105F. Several days that summer broke
110F...

------
greenyoda
This piece was written by Arthur Miller[1], the famous playwright who wrote
"Death of a Salesman", "The Crucible", etc.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller)

~~~
slyrus
and was once married to Marilyn Monroe

~~~
mturmon
Who, in turn, starred in the movie "Some Like it Hot."

------
Udo
Here in Germany, private households generally don't have an AC either. Office
buildings do though, thankfully, as even those sturdy ancient stone monsters
do heat up quite a bit.

The thing is, while there is an intense heat wave in almost every German
summer, most of the time it's too cold rather than too hot.

When I bought my house two years ago, I decided to put an AC in. Not only
because it gets ridiculously hot sometimes, but also as a general heat pump
(the electrical heating system used in it before was _really_ inefficient and
expensive). I'm very happy with that decision, but as far as I can tell this
is the only private house with AC in that part of the town. Not even luxury
houses have them, though some probably do have ground-based heat pumps.

Instead of real split/wall-type AC Germans do buy a lot of mobile AC units
seemingly not realizing how limited they are.

On the whole, this is surprising for a country with extreme temperature
fluctuations, especially since it's common here for people to live in roof
apartments.

I think it's cultural. In the Philippines, where I spent some time, every
building (lower middle class and up) has air conditioning. The temperature
extremes aren't nearly as bad as in Germany.

~~~
Zak
I've had several Germans tell me AC makes them sick. Some complain that the
air is stale. This is a big deal to Germans; most will open windows for fresh
air every few hours even in extreme heat or cold, claiming that the air is
unbearable to breathe otherwise. Some complain that the rapid change in
temperature when transitioning from a hot outdoor environment to a cool indoor
one (which I find pleasant) is unhealthy.

~~~
Udo
There is a ubiquitous phenomenon in Germany, called "catching a draft". It's a
real thing which as far as I can tell only befalls Germans, with physical
symptoms and everything. On top of that and somewhat paradoxically they do
believe you _have to_ open the window every hour or so, even if the building
is sufficiently ventilated in theory, otherwise they get headaches, complain
of unbearable CO2 levels and/or a stinky atmosphere. For something to be
unhealthy, it is sufficient to _believe_ that it's unhealthy.

Even though I was born in Germany, I never really understood these
compulsions, but they do seem to run very deep (I'd say 50% of my German
friends exhibit them on a level that can become disruptive).

I suspect in theory the temperature variation experienced by going for a swim
in a lake during summer (which is an activity generally enjoyed by Germans)
should be larger than what you get from moving in and out of a properly air
conditioned building. It probably depends hugely on individual lifestyle, but
I think ubiquitous air conditioning would in fact reduce the temperature
variations a person experiences during the day. Even in a country like
Germany, people do tend to spend most of their time indoors or in their cars.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Sounds like Korean "fan death."

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death)

~~~
jarek
Sounds like Western "MSG allergy" :)

------
danieltillett
Reminds me of where I grew up (no air-conditiong). Sometimes it was so hot and
humid that we could not do any other than just lie on the veranda and sweat.
The amount of water you would drink a day was staggering. I can't say I miss
that sort of weather.

------
m_mueller
Back in Switzerland we still rarely have AC in homes and offices. My parents
still work in an office that can get 40C/104F for two to three weeks in
summer. Everything is built for winter.

~~~
foz
I live in CH now, and I noticed that most buildings have massively thick
exterior walls which seem to insulate against the blazing sun during the day,
so that at night things are tolerable.

In my office in Zurich, we break out the electric fans during a hot day, and
people take off their button shirts and walk around in flimsy undershirts.
Most large stores have A/C though.

I honestly don't miss A/C at all, I remember living in NYC during heat waves,
and dreading the shock transition from extreme hot to cold that happened when
you entered or exited a building.

~~~
speakeron
I live in CH too (for more than 20 years now) and although in can get hot in
the summer, the humidity is normally much lower than the US east coast and
southern states.

I used to regularly travel to North Carolina from Basel (normally warmer than
Zurich) and could really feel the difference, even though the temperatures
were similar in the summer. In NC, A/C was essential; in Basel not so much.

~~~
throwawayornot
pharma/biotech?

------
hacknat
I'm sitting on the floor by my window in my top floor apartment in Seattle,
which is not air-conditioned. I've lived in Seattle for over 5 years, and I've
noticed the summers getting hotter. Air conditioning used to be a rare thing
in this city, but more and more people I talk to are caving this July.

I've always been sensitive to the heat, sleep being hard to come by in the
"pall", as Miller calls it. It's nice to commiserate with the past, because my
wife can sleep through anything.

~~~
grogenaut
you are empirically incorrect. Pull up the values. in 2010 it got up to 98,
2011, 2012 it didn't break 90, last year it hit 92 for 2 days. This year it
still hasn't broken 90, though the insurance building in SLU said 92 at the
peak today but that sign is in direct sun by their solar panels which are also
hooked to the sign. Also that sign was reading higher solar output (5.8 vs
3.2) earlier this year when it was cooler which shows the effect of heat on
solar panels.

~~~
aaronbrethorst
We're about to have five consecutive days of >= 90º weather[1]. Also hacknat
was lucky to miss the Worst Week Ever in Summer 2009 when the temperature
peaked at 103º[2]

Meanwhile, I'm unlucky enough to be heading down to Portland for the weekend,
where temperatures are expected to peak at 95º and 98º. Yuck.

(Also, I broke down and bought an air conditioner last year, as I had a south-
facing apartment and a brachycephalic dog[3], who couldn't deal with the heat.
I have the AC running and my apartment is currently a glorious 68º :D)

[1]
[http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Seattle+WA+98122:4:US](http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Seattle+WA+98122:4:US)

[2]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Pacific_Northwest_heat_wav...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Pacific_Northwest_heat_wave)

[3] Moxie:
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8590965099/in/s...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8590965099/in/set-72157630593075360)

~~~
tzs
I didn't realize Seattle was so slow to cool at night. I believe Seattle and
Kitsap County had about the same highs today, but by midnight we were down to
around 59º here on the Kitsap side, whereas the weather sites are telling me
Seattle was still around 72º.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Seattle usually cools quickly at night. I'm a bit stumped by this also.

------
rdtsc
> A South African gentleman once told me that New York in August was hotter
> than any place he knew in Africa, yet people here dressed for a northern
> city.

Well what is often forgotten is that humidity is just as big of a culprit as
the temperature of the air. Hot but dry air can be tolerated much easier than
colder but more humid air.

US on the East Coast has humid air. I remember the first time landing in NY
flying from Europe. The air felt like a sauna, it was almost hard to breathe.

> Given the heat, people smelled, of course,

Hehe. It is really interesting how in some cultures people deal with smell of
sweat different. In some countries the "body" smell (don't want to call it
b.o. as that automatically negative in American English) mixed with some
perfume or cologne is not considered that terrible.

~~~
bluerobotcat
> Well what is often forgotten is that humidity is just as big of a culprit as
> the temperature of the air. Hot but dry air can be tolerated much easier
> than colder but more humid air.

I hear this a lot but my experience is different.

Humid weather is annoying because it makes you sweat more. However, spending a
few minutes at 35C in Beijing (where the air is extremely dry) I would like
I'm about to burst into flames and can't breathe. At over 35C in Thailand I
would only be annoyed with the weather if I had to spend significant time
outside.

------
barking
Someone I know who spent a few years in the southern US had lots of fans in
the house rather than air conditioning. His rationale was that AC made the
contrast between indoors and outdoors too great making it harder to
acclimatise.

~~~
hornetblack
I live in Australia. My dad won't get air-conditioner because he knows it cost
at least $1,200 to add another A/C to the grid.

------
danelectro
One thing's for sure, today's air-conditioning is one of the most energy-
wasteful indulgences among electrical appliances.

Growing up around Tampa, as a native in the old days not only did very few
residences have A/C, but most businesses did not either. Mainly just banks and
supermarkets.

Most people were from up north anyway, and among them there were two
interesting extremes.

"The Adaptable" good life lover. They retired or moved to Florida because they
wanted the clean air, slower pace, and natural beauty of the sub-tropical
resort environment. They let the fresh air in all the time, and only
complained slightly when there was a heat wave and they had to use window or
ceiling fans around-the-clock. They weren't about to consider air-conditioning
though since they had worked all their life for the resort atmosphere to begin
with and had strong desires to get what they were paying for.

"The Snowbird" migratory variety. Can not conceive of adapting to the sub-
tropical environment very much, so they only spend winters that far south,
generally while it is freezing up north. They didn't need A/C either since
they weren't going to be there in the summer.

Kids love A/C though. We would plan our bike routes to include stops for rest
at the buildings having A/C, where they had lobbies for us to gather with the
retired people to cool off before heading back out.

Even as kids we knew Houston was the most air-conditioned city in the world at
the time, then when the Astrodome was built it just emphasized so much the
excesses that oil money can make possible.

Anyway, after being in Houston now for over a dozen years without A/C, I can't
complain since I've adapted OK myself.

For me it's a no-brainer, I simply can't afford waste, especially wasting
overpriced energy. Even Houston natives sometimes have an incredulous reaction
and think I must be suffering, especially on 100 degreeF days like this. So
more to satisfy them than myself, I invented a solar A/C where "the hotter it
gets the cooler it gets" would be my trade or service mark. Don't expect to be
building a prototype any time soon, with other inventions more pressing, but
it's going to be a good one when the situation is right.

------
buyx
_A South African gentleman once told me that New York in August was hotter
than any place he knew in Africa_

That's surprising, since it sometimes seems that the only bearable place in
the South African summer is Johannesburg, because of its altitude. Even in
other cities, I've never heard of people sleeping on balconies or anything,
despite aircons being a bit of a luxury item still, in residences.

I wonder if the annual temperature swings in climates like New York's make the
heat seem worse than it is.

------
nospecinterests
Is it just me or is this the 2nd or 3rd time this has been posted on HN? I
read the same article (which was/is great) last year from a similar post on HN
last summer.... Maybe its just me I don't know.

~~~
kyberias
I'm pretty sure it was here before.

~~~
dalke
359 days ago.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6062738](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6062738)
.

------
rollthehard6
How much does the use of AC in the US contribute to overall energy usage I
wonder? Solar powered AC FTW I think.

