Thursday, July 7, 2011

When you can't stand the heat, get....

the air conditioners out of the basement & attic and into the windows!!! I think that I have mentioned before that I HATE hot & humid weather. Even though I have a low tolerance to the heat, I'm not a big AC fan. Since I have always lived in old houses, there is no central AC. Truthfully, old houses seldom get hot enough that you really need it. 

But, when you can't sleep and the cats are laying in front of the fans....you know it's time! This is something that I usually end up doing myself since it is that "one thing" that can cause a little friction when "The Italian" and I do it together. Anyway, I did it by myself for the four years before we got married and he moved in.

First I put a small one in the kitchen.

Then I put another small one in the dining room. Don't you just love the towel stuffed under it??

Then I had to get "Big Bertha" up the steps

and maneuver her through this space. It took some doing....


but I finally got her into the living room. There was no way though that I could get her into the window by myself! Thankfully my new neighbor is a strong lady. She came over and we had her in the window in 2 minutes!! Now that things are cooling off in here, I can go find something less offensive to stuff under the AC units, clean up my messy house and get some veggies frozen!

So, what are you having to tackle in this oppressive heat???


26 comments:

  1. Nice work lady! I'm tackling new tile floors in the basement of our church building. Thankfully it's cool down there!

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  2. Thanks Jody, I even put one in our Bedroom so I can sleep upstairs tonight! I was actually thinking about moving into our basement this morning!!! But it's too messy and it was even muggy down there! Stay cool!

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  3. We always seem to end up installing window air conditioners on the hottest day here as well. I hate them, I hate how they block the windows and I hate the constant sound. But I hate hot muggy weather even more. So...

    I hope you stay cool and sleep well tonight.

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  4. Rachel, I'm with you on all accounts. I really hate them too. We were thinking about installing a high velocity central AC system. It has little outlets in the floor for the first floor and little outlets in the ceiling for the second floor. But, I really don't think it is worth the cost for as little as we use air conditioning. I may change my mind as I get older though!

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  5. I hate air conditioning, and seldom turn our central AC on. Even when I do, I set it to cool to 80F, as I'm comfortable at that temperature. I do keep a fan by my desk, where I can set it up and aim it toward the kitchen while I'm cooking, which is really the only time my body requires it. However....when it went from the 60s to the high 90s in one week, we not only turned on our AC, but cranked it down to 74. I get too cold at that temp, but Mr. Granny was happy so I dealt with it. Oh, I do have ceiling fans over my desk and in the bedroom, they're quiet, comfortable and don't bother me like the AC does. I need the air movement more than the cold air blasting at me.

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  6. Granny, I really don't like AC either. But when it is in the high 90's in the shade with high humidity for a few days it has to go on. We have ceiling fans in the bedrooms and office. That is all I usually need to keep me happy!

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  7. there's only one thing worse - having the well pump go out - and you know that's what I'm dealing with today! I'll be glad for this day to be over... I hope, anyways!

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  8. I love the pictures of your house! We have a heat/ac unit that is 30 years old, and hasn't worked in 10 years. We brought in floor fans, always have the ceiling fans on, and... ta da! Our life saver, we have a whole house fan we turn on when it's hotter inside than it is out.

    As for what I'm doing today, hubby isn't driving for a few weeks, so I am helping him go from meeting to meeting in Sacramento. (And playing on his computer.)
    ~~Lori

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  9. Erin, I hope that all goes well with the well :) It looks like you have too much water outside and none inside!

    Thanks Lori, If you want to see some good pics of the house go to my husband's website.

    http://www.renovationtraditions.com/RecentProj.html

    He put our house on the site. Oh the other principal is me...but, that's not my picture. He left the one that was a sample when building the site and we never changed it.

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  10. Sometimes ya just gotta! If you can't sleep, you can't work...right? You will feel much better! And soon enough all the heat in the kitchen makes you just wilt. Not being a southern girl, can I get an amen for those of us who do not 'glisten' and just sweat like a hog? Sooooooweeee! (that's how grampa called the hogs in by the way)

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  11. You did a good job installing those babies, it sucks when it's hot and humid.

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  12. It's hot as blazes here in NC and the humidity sucks the breath out of you!...We have Central Air in the house except in my Studio where I have a A/C unit that keeps 400 sq ft cool...only thing about it is the noise. I have fans that help keep the rooms cool..Wish I had the Attic Fan I had in NJ...we never had to put the A/C on...When I tried to have it done here in NC they acted like I was crazy!..

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  13. I don't like AC either...so I was crazy to move to central FL! We do at least 4 months a year of AC here, but I put off turning it on as long as possible. My poor hubby...he works outside and just wants to be cool once he's home - fair enough!

    The last chore I tackled in our heat was to clear out the garden and cover it with plastic - gotta bake out the nematodes.

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  14. APGal, You've got that right! All of that sweating is just gross!!

    Mac, I just couldn't take it any more and I have to say that "The Italian" was happy that I put them in!

    Ginny, Are you a Jersey Girl??? I am too! I lived in Warren County for 40 years of my life. I just love those whole house fans....they work great! Maybe we sould put one in here.

    Melissa, I really couldn't take living in Florida. You've gotta take care of your hubby and keep him happy!

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  15. We cleaned up the brush piles this morning. It was so hot I thought I would blow a fuse! I can't imagine not having a/c in our hot humid summers here!

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  16. I hate the heat too. When I was a kid I used to faint in the heat. I was a tomboy and so hated that. Now we have central air, but I won't put it on until I'm desperate. When it hit 87 inside I turned it on today. I'm like Granny. I keep it at 80F usually. Occasionally it goes up or down one degree depending on how I'm feeling. Tomorrow the heat will break and I'm so happy about that.

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  17. Villager, I think that this is going to be one hot & humid summer! We may be using the AC more then normal this year.

    Daphne, I sure hope that the heat breaks here tomorrow. It is supposed to be much cooler but still very humid. I just want it to rain!

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  18. LOL! We had 4 (count them ... 4!!!) days in a row over 70 degrees. Today was cloudy followed by windy. clear and cool ... I need to knit footies for my tomatoes ...

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  19. I hate the noise of the air conditioners so I don't use them--though I have to say where I'm at we don't really need it. I think we've had 5 days in the last 4 years that were "unbearable". We were miserable.....just not miserable enough to buy an air conditioner. Hope your hot weather passes soon. It's miserable on people and gardens!
    :)

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  20. Deb, we have had a very hot & humid summer so far. When the humidity stays so high for so long, I just melt. I know it's an age thing :)

    Sue, They are quite noisy. I always try to hold out and not put them in. If we had only 5 days in 4 years of unbearable heat, they would never go in. The gardens have been doing OK with the exception of some cool weather crops and some new seedlings.

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  21. oh golly. yep. you know its hot when the cats start melting. this is the first house i've ever lived in with central air. (its amazing!) we still lug around a few window air conditioners tho. great work!
    ;-)

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  22. OhioFG, the cats so love the heat...but not yesterday. Only one of them went out for a short period of time. Alvin usually spends the entire day outside digging the sun!

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  23. Considering the hot weather you are experiencing the harvests pictured below are all that much more amazing...nice salad greens and that Cherokee Purple tomato looks delicious. Stay cool.

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  24. We haven't had it too bad here - hot days have had a bit of a breeze to cool things off. Also our house is fairly cool inside.

    But we do have AC in the car!

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  25. I am in the same area as Deb Fitz - oppressive heat?! What is that?!

    We live in an area that gets around 90 degrees only a few days a year (at most) and so we don't even own an airconditioner. Just some box fans that we run during our brief summer warm up.

    You did an awesome job of installing those by yourself. Impressive!

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  26. I'm originally from coastal southern California and it hardly ever got hot enough that you might say "I think we need AC". Now that I live in the South, I don't know how it ever was settled before the invention of AC!

    Central heat and air is pretty much standard on any house built after 1960 around here...

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