Growing Up Without Air Conditioning

I cherish wonderful memories of childhood summer days. A small electric fan blowing on the floor, as well as a glass of ice water and/or cold lemonade and/or Kool-Aid®, often accompanied me as I enjoyed reading a good book in my bedroom.

That was before I had air conditioning in my bedroom.

I was born in 1958 and grew up without air conditioning in my bedroom. It was a few decades after I was born that air conditioning became common here in Kentucky and elsewhere in the United States.

I drank lots of ice water, lemonade, and Kool-Aid®. That, along with electric fans, kept me reasonably cool.

I’m grateful to God for all four seasons. But, as far back as I can remember, I’ve preferred summer over winter, even when I didn’t have air conditioning.

I could drink cold fluids, sit near a fan, and maybe enjoy a breeze under a shade tree. I do remember complaining to mom about the heat at times though--probably many times.

How We Coped

Screen doors allowed a breeze in while keeping flies out during daytime, as long as the wind was blowing.

Mom also let my friends and I use a small oscillating floor fan that we would sometimes put near us while my friends and I played Monopoly® and other games somewhere in my house on hot summer days during my elementary school years. I don't know how much it cooled us, and how much we just felt a placebo effect from its sound and thinking it was cooling us. But it helped.

My family also had a large, powerful Sears Roebuck window fan that, after the sun went down in the evenings, would draw in cool air through our open windows and fairly quickly cool the entire house.

Yes, we were blessed with fans and a refrigerator. Furthermore, in southeastern Kentucky where I grew up, after the sun went behind the top of the mountain, there were still perhaps a couple hours of daylight with cooler temperatures. It usually cooled down fairly quickly outside to a comfortable temperature in evenings as I recall.

We could play croquet and do other outdoor activities on those cool evenings between sundown and darkness. Meanwhile, mom would turn on that big Sears fan to cool the house. Our home thus became pretty comfortable by bedtime.

However, I sometimes played outside even in the heat of the day. If I remember correctly, there were even some hot summmer days that my friends and I rode bicycles and/or hiked on the nearby forested hillsides. Somehow we boys managed to play without overheating and to drink adequate fluids when we went inside to stay hydrated.

History of Air Conditioning

Air conditioning existed long before I was born, as noted by a U.S. Department of Energy webpage [1] about its history, and numerous other sources. That Department of Energy webpage states that air conditioning was used in 1904 at the Saint Louis World’s Fair “to cool the Missouri State Building. It marked the first time the American public was exposed to the concept of comfort cooling.”

Use of air conditioning expanded in the decades following until “By the late 1960s, most new homes had central air conditioning, and window air conditioners were more affordable than ever” according to that same Department of Energy webpage cited earlier.

In fact, sometime in the 1960s or early 1970s my dad bought a window air conditioning unit for his and mom’s bedroom, though they didn’t use it much. Dad wanted to save on the electric bill, and fans were cheaper he said. Furthermore, at night when the outside air was cool, our Sears window fan cooled the house well.

When I was in the seventh grade, we moved to a house that only had small windows that rolled out partially rather than raising or lowering, The small openings limited the amount of cool air coming into my bedroom in the evenings. I began sleeping with the oscillating fan blowing on me.

During the summer after my freshman year of high school, I caught pneumonia. The doctor stated that the fan blowing directly on me was a contributing factor, so I stopped having it blow directly on me.

And when I was a junior in high school we moved to another house that had a window air conditioning unit in the dining room.

But even there, my upstairs bedroom lacked air conditioning. Its window faced the southwest. The hot afternoon sun shined in brightly in the summer. I kept the curtains closed till the sun went down. But with a fan blowing, cold water and/or lemonade, and being engrossed in reading a good book, I coped effectively and didn’t mind. Indeed, when deeply interested in my reading, I can basically tune out a lot of stuff.

Now

This summer (2022) has been unusually hot here in Lexington, Kentucky where I live now. Numerous days have featured high temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit, often accompanied by high humidity that produced a heat index several degrees higher.

This helps me appreciate the air conditioning in my apartment, libraries, city buses, stores, workplace, etc., and to reflect back on childhood summers when we lacked air conditioning in my bedroom. And it helps me sympathize with those who lack air conditioning or whose air conditioning unit isn’t working or whose electricity is off due to storms, flooding, etc.

Indeed, now I’m blessed with a studio efficiency apartment with a window heating-cooling unit that keeps the apartment at a comfortable temperature year round.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration [2], as of 2020 “88% of U.S. households use air conditioning.” That's a big percentage, and excluding northern areas with milder summers it is probably significantly higher.

But I still have fans for a backup. I have (1) a tiny pocket-sized, battery-powered one, (2) a small one that runs on electricity, USB, or battery, and (3) a small electric table-sized one that is pictured below that I bought at Aldi.

Several people I know say they sleep with a fan on even in winter just for the sound. I could do that, but I don’t. Fans seem to often make a nice white noise.

Ancestors

Centuries ago, not only was there a lack of air conditioning, but things like refrigerators, electric fans, and even electricity in homes didn’t exist. How did they manage?

One thing is that years ago it seems to have been common for houses to have outdoor porches, often on multiple sides of the home. They could also get cool drinks from a well or spring in some cases.

But times had to be tougher in those days. And, so far, I don’t think global warming has made temperatures that much warmer now than then in the summers.

I guess human beings just adapted and did what they had to do.

Closing Thoughts

I still like turning off the heating-cooling unit and raising the window in my apartment on nice days that aren’t too hot or too cold. I can hear the birds singing and other background noises while reading, writing, doing household chores, etc., in addition to allowing a fresh air breeze in.

We human beings are pretty good at adapting to circumstances. Even today persons in areas without air conditioning probably cope well if they’re used to it. But extreme heat in parts of Europe this year where many homes lack air conditioning due to the rarity of very hot temperatures created lots of problems. And thouands of persons in southeastern Kentucky lost electrical power recently due to flooding.

Folks, let’s seek to appreciate our blessings and to seek to stay safe, reasonably cool, and hydrated.

ENDNOTES:

[1] “History of Air Conditioning”; U.S. Department of Energy; July 20, 2015; webpage accessed August 3, 2022; https://www.energy.gov/articles/history-air-conditioning.

[2] “Nearly 90% of U.S. households used air conditioning in 2020"; U.S. Energy Information Administration; May 31, 2022; webpage accessed August 3, 2022; https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=52558