I think we're ready.

[kickaha]

AC units were put in the windows Friday night before it got too hot. Yesterday in the 93deg heat, we let the house warm up to see just how bad it would be with the blinds and windows shut, and the new light-blocking drapes up. It peaked at 86deg, at the ceiling (where the indoor/outdoor weather station console is at). Not too bad, really. But then it *stayed* at 86deg until we finally relented and turned on the AC at midnight to get it down to 78. It's not too bad today, we'll see how it gets when the temp hovers near 100 in the coming week. (78 on the AC units means that the bedroom is about 78-80, and the living room is about 78, while the study and kitchen are... well... the weather center still says 85 in the kitchen. It's just enough to take the edge off. (Now if there was something we could do about the damned *NOISE*...)

On a related note - we have a funky layout - while we have the third floor apartment, our door is on the second floor, and then there's a stairwell that comes up the middle of the unit into the central landing area. This landing has a railing around the huge hole in the floor for the stairs to come up. Problem in the summer: cold air falls. Which means that we have a huge well of air that's about 70deg doing us no good, but helping our neighbors, and any cool air from the AC units flows into that hole, as its the lowest point.

So today ginkgo set up a fabric wall around the bannisters, and a fabric 'gate' at the top of the stairs, so we'll have an additional 2.5' of cold air around our feet. We'll see how it works. :)

Comments

[ginkgo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) I was happy with the return. In the beginning, I thought we were trying to reduce our guilt and feel that we had done everything we could for efficiency and decreased temperature if we were going to run window units. Having the stairwell now feel warmer than the upstairs is really rewarding.

I hear you on the kitchen. I cook very differently up here in the summer.

We looked at Stats/Reliability/Variety of Speeds/Noise/Cost when buying our units and bought the ones which blew away the others on all axes except for noise. :/ Fortunately, there's a substantial difference between the noise when the days are below 92. This spring has been wonderfully cool so far, especially compared to the last two.

I think your house would be pretty sweet in the summer. K would move into the cellar and come up to bathe and eat. :D It'd be all Risky Business for me upstairs.

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Hey waitaminnit, if you're upstairs doing the nekkid bugaloo, what makes you think I'm gonna stay in the cellar??

;)

[theevilhalf.livejournal.com]

It is sweet in the summer except in heat waves. Usually the pattern is 85 tops then 60 - 65 at night. If you want details why it sucks during heat waves read my lengthy reply to K's reply to me.

Heh! Subterranean Lair is on my to do list.