Air Conditioning and Grand Hotels

In the days before air conditioning it was common practice for the well off to spend summer in the mountains. Grand hotels were built to cater to those escaping the heat of Boston and New York. New Hampshire doesn't have as many of them as in the days of old, but some still remain. Others either burned down, were left to decay, or were stripped for their materials. Part of my house is built from lumber that came from such a hotel.

When air conditioning became common those hotels had to reinvent themselves to stay in business. Just having a big shady porch exposed to mountain breezes was no longer enough.

With our rickety grid a good heat wave could fail from increased AC demand. Cooling takes an awful lot of electricity. There would be more totally off grid houses in the south if it wasn't for the demands of AC.

Houses in the south used to be built to maximize cooling, with large tall windows and good cross ventilation. The humble “shotgun shack” was built with open air flow in mind. Even with good design, there's only so much that can be with natural cooling. Nothing beats the brute force power of air conditioning.

One could argue that the modern south is built on air conditioning. Take that away and people are going to have problems. A grid failure in the south in summer is as bad as power loss in the frigid north. In some ways it's worse. Many homes up north have backup heat independent of the grid. I've yet to see a wood fired air conditioner.

If you have a medical condition or other special needs a well equipped backup generator could literately be a life saver. That's fine for a temporary situation like hurricane or tornado damage, but long term keeping a generator fueled is problematic.

There are ways to lessen the impact of AC loss. I'm surprised at the number of southern people who have no tolerance to warm weather. Their homes, work places, cars, and stores are so air conditioned you could almost use them as meat lockers. It takes about two weeks to get acclimated to heat. Raise the temperature in your house. Get outside as much as you can. Don't forget to drink plenty of water. Water, not sweet tea -limit that stuff, I don't care how traditional it is.

While it's difficult to power AC with solar panels, fans use a fraction of the power. That can make a big difference. Part of dealing with heat is learning to slow down. My house doesn't even have air conditioning. Usually there are a couple days each year that it gets uncomfortably warm. Then I grab a cold beer and wade into the lake until I'm comfortable again. It's no grand hotel, but it works for me.

-Sixbears