Staying cool without a/c
Posted on Sun June 13, 2010 in self
Views: 195
My hubby and I have lived in this condo for about 5 years now. For those of you
who don't know, the Bay Area is composed of a ton of microclimates... you can
drive just 10 miles, and the temperature difference is astounding. While SF
tends to be cold or nice, it rarely gets unbearably hot. We live about 30 miles
from SF, to the southeast. East Bay and South Bay are notorious for being
significantly warmer. So with that, let me also say that not every residence
comes equipped with air conditioning, my condo unit being one example. (We do,
however have central heating!?!) For the last 5 years, we've just been relying
on fans to keep us cool.
In an effort to be more proactive this
summer, we have arranged to have all our windows replaced with double-pane
windows. This is easily going to cost us around $5000. This should help keep
the heat, cold, AND noise out. But gosh, $5k?
And now yesterday
talking to another friend who owns a home with no a/c, he tells me that
installing central a/c would cost about $6k. I'm wondering if this is worth it.
Together that would be $11k!!! We definitely don't have that kind of money, and
definitely wouldn't be able to budget for both central a/c AND new windows at
the same time.
We also saw a portable a/c machine at Costco
yesterday for like $450. We were fortunate enough to get a hand-me-down
portable a/c machine that we'll be trying out in the coming weeks, but we have
no idea how that will affect our PG&E bill. So we'll see.
Are
there any other solutions we haven't entertained for keeping cool?
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Kyle says:
on June 13, 2010 at 09:34 PM
Also look into insulation of your walls. Something as easy as insulating your attic better can save you a lot of money and keep your home cool/ warm. 11k is a lot but if you think about it, that's about the same cost as blinds these days. I say if it keeps you more comfortable for years to come ( if you are planning on staying at that home long term) do it.