Everyone has a line in the sand which, once crossed, takes you into a behavior zone different than how you'd normally act. In our house, for instance, we try and conserve electricity whenever possible, as do most homesteaders. Because of that, we frequently sit in an 80 degree house in summer, waiting for the sun to go down, the winds to pick up, and the temperature to drop, at which point we open the windows and let Mother Nature provide us with some free, clean and green air conditioning.
But I have my limits. 80 degrees is my line in the sand as far as the inside temperature goes. At 81 degrees, all bets are off and I reach for the switch that will start up the air conditioning unit...the giant, electricity-sucking air conditioning unit.
As you can see, today the inside temperature hit 81 degrees, something which had not happened in 2014 until today, which is actually pretty good. I broke a sweat, and I reached for the switch. In addition to the heat, we've also had a little monsoon moisture, which has made the air especially sticky. Sticky. Yuck.
It's bad enough that I have my own internal summer most of the time. When the temperature inside the house rises too much, I do what I have to do. I suppose if I were to be in a survival situation, I'd find things to help me deal with the heat, such as losing my temper with my loved ones and sulking in a sweaty heap in a cool hallway.
But until that time, I make no apologies for using the air conditioning when necessary, which can happen when the air inside reaches 81 degrees or I have a hot flash and my internal temperature flares to roughly what the surface of the sun's is.
It's called the Hot Flash Homestead for a reason, ya know.
Oh you're a saint for letting it get above 75! That's my limit. But it seems like it cools down there dramatically as the sun goes down. With the humidity here, 75 inside with humidity is miserable. I figure I'll lighten my load on the environment in the winter and let my house be cold. But when I'm hot I turn into a child in a colossal tantrum. I would have no complaints with a 40 degree house!
ReplyDeleteI am exactly the same way, give me a cold room over a hot one ANY day! Usually we do cool down more, but with this monsoon moisture it's not going much below 65 at night, which means the house stays warm all the time, since it's still 100 during the day. Usually the temp drops into the low 50's at night so this is a huge, strange change for us.
DeleteIf we are in & out of the house, we keep it set on 80 as well. However, if I'm doing any labor inside, at all, 77 is what I need.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I determine where to set it too, and 77 is perfect for working, you're right! 80 is not bad if you are just sitting and have a fan going. The humidity also factors in too though, because the AC can de-humidify the place pretty quickly, which makes it feel cooler anyway.
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