This is genius if you ask me. Or at the very least, ingenious. We've discovered a way to cool your house...okay, a couple of adjoining rooms...without running air conditioning.
You see. We have no central air. Because we have steam heat, we also lack ductwork so adding central air would be an expensive, difficult chore. We're always trying to figure out ways to cool our house. It's especially frustrating on cool, breezeless evenings when inside our house, the air remains warm and muggy from the warmth of the day. We've suffered many an evening sweltering in our second story bedroom. So...
My husband figured out that if you point the fan toward the window, you push air out of the house. This creates negative pressure. Which then pulls cool outside air from another open window into your house.
It's like a whole house fan on the cheap! An added benefit: it's more environmentally friendly than running air conditioning, even our window unit.
And it really works! Perfect for those chilly evenings. I'm sitting beside an open window now feeling the cool air rush into the room. Who needs central air conditioning? Well, ask me again on Saturday when the highs are predicted to reach the 90˚s.
I grew up in New England. We moved several times, with five children in tow, my mother was an expert at keeping the house cool. We never had an air conditioner. True, for us a swim in the ocean or lake near by was a temporary fix, but in general, an old home stayed cool. Now in North Carolina with a choice of air conditioning, I still use her ways.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, she had shades and curtains drawn back. There are better ones now, but the old ones worked. The winter was cracked half way, to a quarter, since the nights generally cooled down everything. Next, inside, no cooking, no huge activities (my arts and crafts had to wait), reading (we had no television). And there was a cross breeze established with windows during the day, and at night, through screen doors. When I visit New England now, I don't think it ever gets hot. Mississippi and North Carolina living has cured me of that.
I'm enjoying your blog, it takes me home.