This year, my husband and I made the bold decision not to hook up the air conditioner for summer.
There were a variety of considerations, but mainly, neither of us truly LOVE the feeling of air conditioning.
And we are both committed to LOVING our life together.
Here’s how we’re coping through this past wave of over 100 degree days:
early morning walks
afternoon naps (more about that summer nap schedule in last week’s main post)
trips to the river
spraying down the yard for a swamp-cooler effect
light eating
strategic sunbathing
extra baths and showers for everyone (especially the kids… man does the dust stick to them when it gets hot out)
a different work/homeschool schedule than usual (split between early am / late pm for any kind of thinking work)
My husband and I both seem to have better summer energy since we started napping with the children in the day.
It has also create a lovely opportunity for us to connect after the rest of the house has gone to sleep.
Children need more sleep than grownups, so napping with them in the day means we can get away with sleep less at night than we could if we weren’t doing that.
From a circadian standpoint, light and heat and sleep are always correlated.
Temperature alone can entrain our circadian rhythm, just like light can (they are really just different aspects of the same vibration).
Having a static 72 degrees around the clock is something you would rarely, if never, see in nature.
I’ve seen sleep research recommending the use of air conditioning in hot weather to improve sleep, and yes, falling asleep in the evening can be a trick when the nights are really hot.
In real-life situations where bedding and clothing are used, heat exposure increases wakefulness and decreases slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep. Humid heat exposure further increases thermal load during sleep and affects sleep stages and thermoregulation.
But this year, we’re doing an experiment with not running AC at all in the house, not in the heat of the day, and not at night for sleep.
After these intense wildfire seasons out here on the West Coast, maybe you, like us, are also starting to associate the AC running with smoke season?
Part of me does wonder if part of our decision this year comes down to putting off installing the AC and air purifiers as long the clear air holds out for us 🙏
And we truly count our blessings for the clear air, and the flexibility we have been able to create in our respective schedules to allow this kind of experimentation!
Phoebe found a way to nap, sunbathe, and stay cool all at once 😂
How do you enjoy the hot weather? Have you noticed the heat affecting your sleep? Have you tried napping to beat the summer sun?
I really don't like it, but the average temp here is around 103 every day for the last two months. I used to live on the ocean, so for the last 24 years, I never needed it unless while traveling somewhere hot.
My dog has vaccine poisoning and overheats easily. The swamp cooler is fantastic, but it wasn't cutting it. So, A/C it is: 75 during the day; 70 at night. When I step outside, it's a literal furnace!
High temps are a great way to test your metabolic flexibility, and I'm def not there yet! I've sweated here more in two months than the last 24 years at the ocean with the cold, foggy summers. I'll take sweating any day than a miserable summer with the UV-B blocked. Ironically, though, I've been outdoors less here! As soon as it cools of by the end of September, I will want to LIVE outdoors--LOL!
Absolutely! It’s easy to imagine some kind of ideal, but the realities of living can be messy, difficult, and they evolve with the seasons. Part of me fantasizes of moving to the coast (I’ve never stayed there for more than a couple weeks at a time and I love it), but I think long-term I would miss the extremes of living inland with the dry heat and dry cold.
Yes, I use fans as part of my strategy, but one thing to be aware of is some can be sources of emfs. I used to have an upstairs office and there was a “hotspot” on the floor where the downstairs unit’s ceiling fan was. I use a cornet electrosmog meter to make sure no one in the family is spending a lot of time (especially in sleep) near any strong emf signals.
We spent many years (at least 7 I think) using either no or limited AC here in Phoenix. That means no AC when it is 110 during the day and hardly dips below 90 at night. It was brutal, but we were committed to it. I think we then got to a point where we set it to 95 usually and bumping it down only when we were struggling. Many cold showers, even cold baths, no clothing, fans, and eventually buying a house with a pool were how we coped. We also then ended up going down to 90 as our new thermostat doesn't go above 90! Now, for fertility's sake, we have changed our ways to set it to 85 when we are not home (because it is bad to let the house get to 110 and then run the air to lower it 30 degrees!), and then dip it to 82 when we are home and 84 at night. We have little to no humidity, so sleeping never seems to be an issue, expect sometimes I awake when the room gets hot, and then a few minutes later the air kicks on to regulate it!
Wow! That’s inspiring. I’m in Oregon so we rarely get that hot—usually just a handful of days per year. Plus, since my house is in the shade, we never get quite that hot inside. It is more humid (like today!) and that can make it feel different. When we visit my husband’s family in MT and WY I’m always surprised by how different the dry temperatures feel compared to what I’m used to.
I really don't like it, but the average temp here is around 103 every day for the last two months. I used to live on the ocean, so for the last 24 years, I never needed it unless while traveling somewhere hot.
My dog has vaccine poisoning and overheats easily. The swamp cooler is fantastic, but it wasn't cutting it. So, A/C it is: 75 during the day; 70 at night. When I step outside, it's a literal furnace!
High temps are a great way to test your metabolic flexibility, and I'm def not there yet! I've sweated here more in two months than the last 24 years at the ocean with the cold, foggy summers. I'll take sweating any day than a miserable summer with the UV-B blocked. Ironically, though, I've been outdoors less here! As soon as it cools of by the end of September, I will want to LIVE outdoors--LOL!
Absolutely! It’s easy to imagine some kind of ideal, but the realities of living can be messy, difficult, and they evolve with the seasons. Part of me fantasizes of moving to the coast (I’ve never stayed there for more than a couple weeks at a time and I love it), but I think long-term I would miss the extremes of living inland with the dry heat and dry cold.
What about ceiling fans. Would that be considered a more natural approach. I heard its not good for air to be stagnant
Yes, I use fans as part of my strategy, but one thing to be aware of is some can be sources of emfs. I used to have an upstairs office and there was a “hotspot” on the floor where the downstairs unit’s ceiling fan was. I use a cornet electrosmog meter to make sure no one in the family is spending a lot of time (especially in sleep) near any strong emf signals.
We spent many years (at least 7 I think) using either no or limited AC here in Phoenix. That means no AC when it is 110 during the day and hardly dips below 90 at night. It was brutal, but we were committed to it. I think we then got to a point where we set it to 95 usually and bumping it down only when we were struggling. Many cold showers, even cold baths, no clothing, fans, and eventually buying a house with a pool were how we coped. We also then ended up going down to 90 as our new thermostat doesn't go above 90! Now, for fertility's sake, we have changed our ways to set it to 85 when we are not home (because it is bad to let the house get to 110 and then run the air to lower it 30 degrees!), and then dip it to 82 when we are home and 84 at night. We have little to no humidity, so sleeping never seems to be an issue, expect sometimes I awake when the room gets hot, and then a few minutes later the air kicks on to regulate it!
Wow! That’s inspiring. I’m in Oregon so we rarely get that hot—usually just a handful of days per year. Plus, since my house is in the shade, we never get quite that hot inside. It is more humid (like today!) and that can make it feel different. When we visit my husband’s family in MT and WY I’m always surprised by how different the dry temperatures feel compared to what I’m used to.