What Did People Do Before Air Conditioning?

[littletommy]

When I was a kid, there was nothing more relaxing than laying in bed at night, windows open due to no a/c, and hearing a train rolling down the track behind the house. Crickets, bullfrogs, a dog barking in the distance, and the coolest sound ever, an owl hooting, are all great memories of when I was a kid. Don't get me wrong, I love my central air now, but those were great times, and I don't remember ever thinking life sucked because we didn't have an air conditioner.

 

[Brad69]

View attachment 57294 View attachment 57295

Nope no trees in Indiana!

The old houses were designed for cross ventilation they also used summer kitchens so the heat of cooking would not heat the house.

 

[Leadeye]

Didn't live with AC until I moved out, had it ever since. House was like a oven upstairs, took a really cold shower then slept on a cot downstairs. During the day you just sweat.

 

[churchmouse]

Didn't live with AC until I moved out, had it ever since. House was like a oven upstairs, took a really cold shower then slept on a cot downstairs. During the day you just sweat.

I was maybe 23 when we 1st got A/C. A used window air unit. Heaven.
It took a dump about 1 month after I got it. I worked on refrigeration and a little A/C here and there but it was not as mainstream in 1973.

 

[mom45]

We have central air. In the 20 years we have lived there, we had used it an average of one week a summer. It hasn't been turned on this year, but I assume it still works. Windows are open. We spend a lot of time in the basement family room. I love hearing the tree frogs and whipporwills at night...and the owls hooting, coyotes howling, etc.

I don't use it in my vehicles either. Open windows create a nice breeze.

 

[9mmfan]

No AC when I grew up. Box fan in my open bedroom mirror. The schools I went to didn't have any; at least the windows opened.
My grandmother did have a window AC that was a beast. It could cool the entire one floor house.

Where I live now has no central air. It went out and I really couldn't afford a new one.

I did rig a portable unit to use in my bedroom though. Makes sleeping easy at least.7

 

[bwframe]

It's been a good year for my old farm house. Breeze blows through pretty well. A fan or two when it gets sticky. I put bolt like thumb locks on the screen doors on each end of the house last year. That helped a lot with the cross breeze, especially in the evenings.

I think I tried the central air once this year to make sure it works??? Maybe I better again?

 

[indyjs]

Slept on bunk beds next to the screened windows. Today, I don't trust my fellow man enough to sleep with windows open.

 

[eldirector]

For most of the year we don't bother with AC much. The downstairs stays pretty cool on its own. With windows open up and downstairs, we get a pretty good breeze going. Come this time of year, with the added humidity, we really need it upstairs. At least to knock the temp down from mid-80's to something sleep-able.

My in-laws have a 100+ year-old house, that they have completely re-insulated (or, I should say, insulated at all). That, plus a HUGE attic fan, and their AC only runs for a few weeks a year.

Read a book a while back about the design of "country" homes. Explained the purpose of wrap-around porches (many with a summer kitchen), full basements, country kitchens, central stairwells, and 3rd floor attics with large windows. All about efficiently heating and cooling (no AC and a central chimney stack for fireplaces). All things that modern home now lack, with the advent of zoned HVAC and good insulation.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

I didnt read this whole thread but interesting idea..
They screw plastic bottles to a piece of cardboard and hang it in the window. The air flows differently now.

 

[Benp]

The house I grew up in was built before the war between the states. It's been modified a great deal now, but underneath the house you can see the stumps of the trees that were cut down for the foundation. When we finally had central air installed the company had to remove a lot of dirt to be able to install everything. That was a job that I'm glad that I didn't ever have to do.
I remember walking in Sears once when a person selling replacement windows for Sears came up to me and asked me how old my house was, and I told him it was over 100 years old. His jaw dropped and he quickly lost interest.

 

[tobi]

Wonder what a post like this will say in 50 years from now. "What did people do before_ _ _ _ ? They won't believe we could have survived without it!

 

[churchmouse]

For most of the year we don't bother with AC much. The downstairs stays pretty cool on its own. With windows open up and downstairs, we get a pretty good breeze going. Come this time of year, with the added humidity, we really need it upstairs. At least to knock the temp down from mid-80's to something sleep-able.

My in-laws have a 100+ year-old house, that they have completely re-insulated (or, I should say, insulated at all). That, plus a HUGE attic fan, and their AC only runs for a few weeks a year.

Read a book a while back about the design of "country" homes. Explained the purpose of wrap-around porches (many with a summer kitchen), full basements, country kitchens, central stairwells, and 3rd floor attics with large windows. All about efficiently heating and cooling (no AC and a central chimney stack for fireplaces). All things that modern home now lack, with the advent of zoned HVAC and good insulation.

The old family farm house was built this way. I was very young but always marveled at the high ceilings and the very tall windows. It had the attic above the 2nd floor with the Dormer style windows. The porch wrapped around 2 sides of the house.

 

[Kutnupe14]

I remember that. But I never heard that was the reason.

yeah, you see that in OLD homes, but I never knew why either. Old people would grow lavender, but most had zappers and dogs, lol.

 

[rhino]

The schools in my hometown did not have A/C when I was a kid. The junior high in particular was a sweltering hotbox with a black tar roof and poor air flow. Young rhino suffered greatly in hot weather.

A/C is non-negotiable for me. If I can't have it some day, I'll be suffering.

Don't forget that refrigeration uses the same technology. If we don't have a/c, the fridge and freezer are living on borrowed time as well.

 

[LtScott14]

My folks had an Attic Fan/whole house fan. We would run it at night with windows open, actually would feel chilly. During the day, shut off and close windows/drapes and had box fans and a hassock fan.(round short model). Dad was given a condenser unit(R12 unit from a shut down Ma/Pa Grocery store) and a gutted furnace/A coil, and we had a stand in corner unit. After first year, we moved it to a closet, made a supply box to the attic, and installed flex runs with room defusers on the ceiling. Still working since 1966. I have a can of R12, since not being made anymore.(old cars used the same Freon). He would still use the House Fan in between seasons, and added ceiling fans to all the rooms. (We called it Cheap A/C). People got by. We felt only rich people could afford the luxury.

 

[indiucky]

Air Conditioning? Up here in Canada we have no need.

 

[indiucky]

yeah, you see that in OLD homes, but I never knew why either. Old people would grow lavender, but most had zappers and dogs, lol.

Yep...That's what my buddy said....He said the homes where he saw that were at least 100 years old and that the current residents just keep it going....

 

[actaeon277]

The schools in my hometown did not have A/C when I was a kid. The junior high in particular was a sweltering hotbox with a black tar roof and poor air flow. Young rhino suffered greatly in hot weather.

A/C is non-negotiable for me. If I can't have it some day, I'll be suffering.

Don't forget that refrigeration uses the same technology. If we don't have a/c, the fridge and freezer are living on borrowed time as well.

Yup, I remember school with no A/C.
In fact, I didn't have A/C till I went in the Navy.
Parents didn't get A/C till maybe a decade ago. They just ran a dozen fans in the house. So many, they probably burned up as much electricity as an A/C.
So, I used to view A/C as a "luxury".
Over my life, my view has changed. A couple things that changed my view....
In the late 80s, somewhere off the East Coast, the main A/C (lithium bromide) on the submarine died. Lithium Bromide was quieter, important on a sub. Absorption Air Conditioning. But, the design was better fitted on a building, with constant access to power, and had problems on sea borne units where casualties and drills drop power without a shutdown procedure.
And the two A/C units we used when we were shutdown (R12/R114) units not only had a smaller cool down ability, but they were operating at half load. So, even though they were both running, they were unable to cool down our shutdown heat load, and with a running engineering steam plant, they were woefully inadequate.
It was so bad, the doc had to advise the Capt. to reduce our time on watch in engineering to two hours. I think it was over 140 degrees, but I could be wrong. But I do remember, we would get off watch and run to the torpedo room, which was the coolest spot on the sub, and I remember it was 100 degrees.
Everyone else would look at us like we were crazy, because we were ecstatic with the 40 degree temperature drop.
Imagine that, FOR 3 DAYS. We actually had to change the orders of the sub, and pull into Charlestown SC it was so bad.


Now, working in a steel mill, I go to an air conditioned room as often as possible.
I can't even imagine how the old timers did it.

 

[churchmouse]

Yup, I remember school with no A/C.
In fact, I didn't have A/C till I went in the Navy.
Parents didn't get A/C till maybe a decade ago. They just ran a dozen fans in the house. So many, they probably burned up as much electricity as an A/C.
So, I used to view A/C as a "luxury".
Over my life, my view has changed. A couple things that changed my view....
In the late 80s, somewhere off the East Coast, the main A/C (lithium bromide) on the submarine died. Lithium Bromide was quieter, important on a sub. Absorption Air Conditioning. But, the design was better fitted on a building, with constant access to power, and had problems on sea borne units where casualties and drills drop power without a shutdown procedure.
And the two A/C units we used when we were shutdown (R12/R114) units not only had a smaller cool down ability, but they were operating at half load. So, even though they were both running, they were unable to cool down our shutdown heat load, and with a running engineering steam plant, they were woefully inadequate.
It was so bad, the doc had to advise the Capt. to reduce our time on watch in engineering to two hours. I think it was over 140 degrees, but I could be wrong. But I do remember, we would get off watch and run to the torpedo room, which was the coolest spot on the sub, and I remember it was 100 degrees.
Everyone else would look at us like we were crazy, because we were ecstatic with the 40 degree temperature drop.
Imagine that, FOR 3 DAYS. We actually had to change the orders of the sub, and pull into Charlestown SC it was so bad.


Now, working in a steel mill, I go to an air conditioned room as often as possible.
I can't even imagine how the old timers did it.

Absorption Air Conditioning
These systems were one of my spec operations requirements for the facility's I dealt with for many many years. Bromide is a water based coolant that is borne through the process by the salt or bromide in a seriously deep micron vacuum. Having a solid steam source like you did on the sub was a plus. Until you had a sudden shut down and no steam. The bromide will gel up and stop moving. Think the worst possible case of constipation possible. It takes a knowledgeable person to get that all moving again if it is not to badly solidified.