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Old homes (pre World War II) built in the southern United States all are centered around high ceilings, cross-ventilation. The home I grew up in wasn't air con

by JPKab 13y ago

Old homes (pre World War II) built in the southern United States all are centered around high ceilings, cross-ventilation. The home I grew up in wasn't air conditioned, and the summers, while nowhere near India's level, are extremely humid (90% plus most days) and are routinely above 90 degrees F. The drawback in this is the cultural need for privacy that seems to have developed in many modern countries. People want to be able to shut their door, and this interferes with the cross ventilation. The whole "separate rooms on separate floors" also drastically hurts this concept. My house was reasonable, but my bedroom was tucked into the roofline on the top floor. It was unbearably hot, so my brother, father, and I would sleep on cots on a screened in porch.

keenerd 13y ago
> People want to be able to shut their door, and this interferes with the cross ventilation. Go back a little further (1850-1900-ish) and everyone had doors that look like http://makingitlovely.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MG_8405-Edit640.jpg http://makingitlovely.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MG_8405... These work great with assisted convection. Open an attic window. Place a box fan in the window, blowing outwards. Everyone opens their windows and the hottest air in their room (at the ceiling) is drawn out through the door vents. It'll even work in single-floor apartments. Since getting a box fan (12 years ago) I've no longer needed AC to sleep at night.
collin128 13y ago
Roofing also plays a part in cooling your home. The old cedar shakes roofing systems are naturally porous and enable ventilation. Unfortunately, most people forget about this when the re-roof with asphalt shingles and rubberized underlays. The combination of the two lock in the heat.
- wtbob 13y ago
  Of course, cedar shakes tend to catch fire very easily in dry climates…
collin128 13y ago
Roofing also plays a part in cooling your home. The old cedar shakes roofing systems are naturally porous and enable ventilation. Unfortunately, most people forget about this when the re-roof with asphalt shingles and rubberized underlays. The combination of the two lock in the heat.
bradleyland 13y ago
I grew up in a Florida home built around 1900, and we had no central air-conditioning until I was in my teens. The house was all windows, with 12 ft ceilings, and had even been fitted with an attic-fan, which is a kind of central fan circulation system that draws air in all the windows and pumps it out through a dormer window in the attic. Privacy had nothing to do with our desire for air-conditioning. In fact, most of the doors in our house were removed because the house was used as a day-care for children prior to my parents ownership, who never bothered to put the doors back on. We grew up with very little concept of privacy. We loathed the Florida summers. I can remember plenty of sleepless nights, lying awake in bed, sweating through my sheets. We wanted relief. That's all we wanted.

by JPKab 13y ago

keenerd 13y ago

> People want to be able to shut their door, and this interferes with the cross ventilation. Go back a little further (1850-1900-ish) and everyone had doors that look like http://makingitlovely.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MG_8405-Edit640.jpg http://makingitlovely.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MG_8405... These work great with assisted convection. Open an attic window. Place a box fan in the window, blowing outwards. Everyone opens their windows and the hottest air in their room (at the ceiling) is drawn out through the door vents. It'll even work in single-floor apartments. Since getting a box fan (12 years ago) I've no longer needed AC to sleep at night.

collin128 13y ago

Roofing also plays a part in cooling your home. The old cedar shakes roofing systems are naturally porous and enable ventilation. Unfortunately, most people forget about this when the re-roof with asphalt shingles and rubberized underlays. The combination of the two lock in the heat.

wtbob 13y ago
Of course, cedar shakes tend to catch fire very easily in dry climates…

collin128 13y ago

bradleyland 13y ago

I grew up in a Florida home built around 1900, and we had no central air-conditioning until I was in my teens. The house was all windows, with 12 ft ceilings, and had even been fitted with an attic-fan, which is a kind of central fan circulation system that draws air in all the windows and pumps it out through a dormer window in the attic. Privacy had nothing to do with our desire for air-conditioning. In fact, most of the doors in our house were removed because the house was used as a day-care for children prior to my parents ownership, who never bothered to put the doors back on. We grew up with very little concept of privacy. We loathed the Florida summers. I can remember plenty of sleepless nights, lying awake in bed, sweating through my sheets. We wanted relief. That's all we wanted.