That's the kind of weather we've been having. A TV report said yesterday that sales of portable air-conditioners are booming. All this happens every time we have a hot spell in June or July. French houses aren't air-conditioned, and they don't have forced-air heating with duct work and floor or wall registers that could be adapted to work for both heat and AC.Old cast-iron radiators don't do much for you if you want AC. And French windows are not built to accommodate window-unit AC. They open into the room. They aren't "guillotine" windows like in much of the U.S.
So there we are. No AC. I bought a fan. I think it's a nice one — a column — and the price was surprisingly reasonable. It seems to work well. I could buy a portable, roll-about AC unit, but we wouldn't use it enough to justify the expense.
A picture just to give you some scale.The fan's about three feet/one meter tall.
For the 10 or 12 nights out of the year when we feel the need to run a fan in the bedroom, we'll have it. We have another one, and now we'll put it in the guest bedroom. Let's hope this summer doesn't turn into a 2003-style heat wave. Last summer was just pleasantly warm all the way through, and we didn't even use the fan much.
The fan's controls include a sleep timer and an oscillation feature.Most summers we won't use it very much. The high temperature reading on our outdoor thermometer yesterday was just over 90. That was 32.6ºC. This morning, it's 22ºC, or about 72ºF, at 8:00 a.m. That's warm. And there's not much wind at all. But we are supposed to get a break over the weekend.
72° is freezing! We keep our A/C on 78° and I am always cold.
ReplyDeleteWell, there you have in a nutshell why I would find it very difficult to live in Florida. You have to live all closed in all summer. The humidity here can be uncomfortable for a few days a year, but otherwise it's pleasant -- cool by your standards. The strategy here is to get up early, open all the doors and windows, and let that 72º or cooler air into the house. It feels very nice. What's your normal low temperature this time of year? Do you enjoy living in a swamp?
ReplyDeleteOh, Ken, you don't even want to ask about our temps right now (ok, ok I'll tell you - 45 C).....the horror...
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to go to your old neighborhood in a couple of weeks....well, north of your neighborhood.
Ken
ReplyDeleteYou are having the same weather that we are experiencing this week. However, the mercury will be above 32C next week and with the humidity we will be complaining like the Dutch ( it seems that they are experiencing a heat wave there but I guess that, with their Football team beating the Samba boys from Brazil, the cool Amstel or Heineken beer must have come in handy :-)