When I think of my apartment, a number of things come to mind: gulag, cinderblock castle, bat cave, and my favorite, rectangular ode to communistic utilitarianism. Yes, my home is something special. One of the perks is insulation that never seems sufficient for either hot or cold extremes. In the winter, the bare linoleum floors chill bones — forcing occupants to wear sandals or shoes indoors. The summer brings a respite from the cold, and makes my apartment heat up like a sweat lodge — only, without the nice cedar wood smell.
The summer months bring some wacky weather through the Midwest. This being my third summer in the land of flat, I know that I’m in for hot, sticky days that border on 100 degrees — even overnight. Torrential rainfalls will produce floods and muddied areas, while you get baked throughout the other days. Pretty good if you’re a 4-year-old making mud pies; beyond that, not really quite sure who enjoys it.
I’ve lived in a few areas of the country that don’t really need air conditioning. People may have them attached to the home or in a window, but for the most part, these white boxes stand as decoration to a humble abode. But here in Iowa, air conditioning is a must have.
In August, I’m moving into an apartment complex that is supposed to have built-in, central air conditioning. To prepare for this, I decided to list my air conditioner on Craigslist two days ago. I hastily placed it online — without a picture or many details. It can take a little while to sell things in my city. There aren’t many people here; especially, over the summer.
I fully expected it to take a month to actually sell the unit. I was dead wrong.
Well, Frugaling fans, I’m in for one hellish summer. I just got back from selling my window air conditioning unit in one day. The family I sold it to were incredibly appreciative and kind — even paid me to drive to their place. The man who lifted the AC out from my trunk said, “Boy are we happy to have this right now. It’s only going to get worse and worse this summer.” All I could do was politely smile and nod. Inside, my stomach churned with the anticipatory anxiety of an entire season without it.
Naively, I didn’t think I’d spend an entire summer without air conditioning, but in a way this is all accidentally frugal. Letting go of the air conditioner this early in the summer season feels like trouble, but there are some tremendous benefits.
- Reduced utility bill. The summer months can wreak havoc with my careful budget. Oftentimes, the budget is precariously balanced and if there are extended periods of heat, I can see my bill skyrocket. Most of those costs are associated with increased air conditioning use. Without this appliance, I’ll be struggling, but saving every minute that it’s not running.
- A family in need is helped. AC units can be expensive and a family (with a pregnant mother) will enjoy the benefits of a cooler house. I’m really happy they were able to use this and save a pretty penny from buying new.
- My wallet is padded. I didn’t just do it for purely altruistic reasons, though. I’ll be able to pay off another chunk of debt with this extra cash. Even more than paying off another portion of student loans is the psychological benefit of knowing I’m moving in the right direction — saving and earning. This has been my major goal since starting Frugaling.
- Saving the environment. Air conditioners are a drain on energy resources, tax aging infrastructures, and push coal-fired power plants to go into overdrive. Removing the AC will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases I contribute. One of the most frugal things I can recommend is opening windows at night, and then closing them immediately in the morning. Also, put down your blinds. This small step will effectively insulate you from changing temperatures outside. Your apartment will be a nice ice box in comparison to the outside temperature.
I have been spoiled with central air my whole life, though I tend to be cold all the time so I set mine to 76/77. Our unit hasn’t been working, though, and maintenance has been here twice already. We’ve just decided to open the windows as it’s nicer outside, and turn the ceiling fan on. We’re managing all right, but it is only 80 right now, not 100! The savings in our utility bill should be nice at least.
I was that pregnant mother once! Thank you on her behalf. Summer was the worst. It took forever to pay off that electric bill, but it was so, so worth it. Electric bill reduction aside, I hope you make it through the summer without melting!
Its a great thing to do if you can manage the heat. I recently saw this cheap alternative which might be of interest to you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3YvF4eVQO0 Its basically a cheap cooler, a small fan, a PVC pipe, and some ice. You can get some cool air to manage the heat that way.
Haha! Wallet Doctor, this is awesome! Looks they made a greener air conditioner — how cool!
I might need this over the summer. It’s going to be a scorcher. All I have is fans right now.
Thanks so much,
Sam
Oof – this is gonna be rough. But, as my high school basketball coach (as well as the Marines, I believe) used to say – pain is weakness, leaving the body. You will emerge from this Summer a stronger person!
Dave,
Thanks for the encouragement! I’m going to need it.
If not stronger, hopefully more empathetic to those without AC. 🙂
Sam
Way to find the good in a potentially unpleasant situation! My fingers are crossed for a mild summer in your area!
Coming from a tropical country where summer, year by year, gets warmer, I can totally relate to how hellish a home can get without an air conditioner. But sharing the same frugal points of view, we’d rather save than spend on electricity bills. Summer will end soon anyway and we can look forward to cooler temperatures come rainy season.
I’m confused, I thought you lived in Denver. I do without A/C as long and as much as possible- those utility bills are killer. But the heat and humidity of the concrete jungle that is NYC definitely gets to be overwhelming at times.
Well, I used to live in Denver, but I’m now in Iowa for graduate school. Iowa is far more humid and hot during the summer — can get pretty toasty.
Good on ya for avoiding all the AC use — even in NYC! It definitely can get hot there, too.
Don’t know exactly how I’ll make right now… I just trust I’ll turn on fans and be a little hotter than I’d like. Hah.
Thanks for the comment!
Sam
You’re right about the A/C being able to break the bank during scorching summer days. My wife and I live in the South so we completely understand what a hot, humid mess summer can be. We try to compensate for higher summer a/c usage (and winter heating as well, I suppose) by seeing how long we can go in the spring and fall without turning on our heat/air at all (just using windows and fans). So far this year, we’ve gone over 2 months straight so far without turning it on, even with a few 90 degree days. Necessity is the mother of invention as they say, so I’m sure you’ll invent some new ways of survival before this summer is done!
We have A/C but we didn’t use it, we only use electric fans. 🙂 We are trying to control our electricity bill and we know that using A/C would definitely one reason that would cost too much electricity bill.
I’m one of the very few who actually am fine without AC. A breeze is fine so a fan or an open window can do the trick.
You’re one of the lucky few, my friend. Or, let’s hope you live in a more temperate climate than me! 🙂