Having been living in a home in, Florida mind you, without air conditioning humbles you to appreciate the things we normally take for granted. At the top of my list right now is air conditioning - but not just for what we normally think of "comfort". It is amazing the things that our affected because of no a/c that we don't normally think of. Food in our pantry is stale because it is not protected from the envasive humidity and 90+ temperature. Our refrigerators are working overtime because they are used to working in 76 degree weather not 96 degree weather. The building materials in our home are sucking up moisture and once the a/c is back on the moisture will be sucked out and what it will leave we are hoping is not alot of damage - nail pops pulling seams in base & casing, cabinet doors needing to be readjusted; doors not opening/closing properly.
We have 3 dogs, Scobby - a big hound dog - 90+ pounds and Bruno & Precious - 20 pound shitzu & a 5 pound shitzu! They have been tolerating the heat right along with us - deminished appetites, they can't get enough water and they are panting non-stop! My heart goes out to them for we have always given them a cool home to escape the heat from...tomorrow my pets! So today I shaved them down - hoping to releif them a bit of their insulation that seems to be working against them.
So, as you can see having a/c affects way more than just our comfort! This week I have given a lot of thought to how people live in this heat that are unable to afford this comfort - that I have come to take for granted as a necessity. We usually keep our thermostat at 76 degrees but given our new found appreciation, 78 - 80 is probably sufficient to keep the moisture out of the house and we will still feel a considerable difference when compared to the 95+ degree heat outside.
As things stand now I plan to stay inside all of Wednesday just cleaning and basking in cool air!
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