Comments on: This I Just Don’t Understand http://belowthebeltway.com/2006/07/20/this-i-just-dont-understand/ I believe in the free speech that liberals used to believe in, the economic freedom that conservatives used to believe in, and the personal freedom that America used to believe in. Sat, 23 Jul 2011 17:00:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Doug Mataconis http://belowthebeltway.com/2006/07/20/this-i-just-dont-understand/comment-page-1/#comment-1295 Doug Mataconis Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:43:06 +0000 http://belowthebeltway.com/2006/07/20/this-i-just-dont-understand/#comment-1295 Ray, You're in a better situation to minimize a/c use than we are, I think, because of where you live. We're in a three-story well-insulated townhouse that gets the sun practially all day. As our experience last week when the a/c failed showed, life without a/c is pretty unbearable. And even minimizing the a/c by turning up the thermostat doesn't always work because the third floor traps the heat. The problem isn't people today, its the way they build houses. Thomas Jefferson, after all, managed to build Monticello in a way that actually made summers bearable in Charlottesville. Ray,

You’re in a better situation to minimize a/c use than we are, I think, because of where you live. We’re in a three-story well-insulated townhouse that gets the sun practially all day. As our experience last week when the a/c failed showed, life without a/c is pretty unbearable. And even minimizing the a/c by turning up the thermostat doesn’t always work because the third floor traps the heat.

The problem isn’t people today, its the way they build houses. Thomas Jefferson, after all, managed to build Monticello in a way that actually made summers bearable in Charlottesville.

]]> By: Ray Hyde http://belowthebeltway.com/2006/07/20/this-i-just-dont-understand/comment-page-1/#comment-1275 Ray Hyde Fri, 21 Jul 2006 02:48:02 +0000 http://belowthebeltway.com/2006/07/20/this-i-just-dont-understand/#comment-1275 Gee, Doug, we are not the purist that Elissa is, but we at least minimize air conditioning. We live in a large old, uninsulated farmhouse. Our air conditioning is mostly high ceilings and large leafy trees. That, plus we are not located in the heat island. Since we spend the bulk of our time outside the house, there is no point to cool it. We do have a window unit for the bedroom, and one for the library, and one for the kitchen. We use these only as required. When it is ghastly out, they are enough to take the curse off. There are those that claim we should ALL live in town because it is supposedly more efficient, less distance traveled (not necessarily less time), shared walls, and all that. I'm not convinced, but then, I'm not refrigerated either. I think urban areas are enormous energy sinks, for just the reasons you mention. Why is it that in the winter we set the thermostat at 75 and in summer we set it at 68? Wouldn't the other way around make more sense? Gee, Doug, we are not the purist that Elissa is, but we at least minimize air conditioning. We live in a large old, uninsulated farmhouse. Our air conditioning is mostly high ceilings and large leafy trees. That, plus we are not located in the heat island.

Since we spend the bulk of our time outside the house, there is no point to cool it. We do have a window unit for the bedroom, and one for the library, and one for the kitchen. We use these only as required. When it is ghastly out, they are enough to take the curse off.

There are those that claim we should ALL live in town because it is supposedly more efficient, less distance traveled (not necessarily less time), shared walls, and all that.

I’m not convinced, but then, I’m not refrigerated either. I think urban areas are enormous energy sinks, for just the reasons you mention.

Why is it that in the winter we set the thermostat at 75 and in summer we set it at 68? Wouldn’t the other way around make more sense?

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