I’m melting, melting. Oh what a world, what a world!
We spent last summer renovating but actually lived in a completely brand new apartment.
Of course the apartment had air conditioning.
Sanding spackle in the bedroom left droplets of sweat in the dust. Literally sweating my ass off. Gross.
It was a hot summer but we convinced ourselves that, with the windows open and fans going, it was totally bearable.
Yesterday, my friends, it was not bearable.
I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30PM and woke up to a visible slick of moisture coating my skin. Neck sweat, back sweat, boob sweat, back of the knee sweat. You name it, it was sweating. Not ‘glowing’. Sweating.
And that was on the 1st floor with 10′ high ceilings. Try sleeping on the 3rd floor with 8′ ceilings. Sauna.
However uncomfortable, the incredibly vain part of me has long resisted getting a window rattler. They’re just so… ugly.
I can’t resist anymore. I’m actually considering sleeping in the bathtub; at least that would be cool!
So in the interest of finding something not toooo ugly but also keep me from jumping into the Passaic, I’ve found these –
This low profile one for $309. 6,000 BTUs but there’s no mention of how big of a room it cools. I like that it leaves more of the window exposed {unlike traditional window units}.
This 9,000 BTU portable one for $299 that cools 300 sqft. I think it would fit next to the tall dresser with no problem and therefore not crazy visible. It still has to be vented outside.; not sure if a vent is more or less obtrusive than a window unit.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Favorite Wizard of Oz quote?
brickcitylove.com 
An old roommate had the rolling unit. The vent took up about 6-8 inches of the window. It was a pretty large thing, but the benefit was that it could be moved from room to room. It wasn’t a quick move, but it wasn’t difficult.
Go for the window unit, but depending on the size of the room, you may need something a bit more powerful. I had one when I first moved into my house last year. The thing was incredible and cooled the room it was in, and the room across from it. Anything else was pretty miserable. I got central air and heat this year and gave away that unit. I wish I could remember the details for it. If I do, I’ll send it along.
Here’s a BTU calculator:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/air-conditioner-calculator
We made it one full year with absolutely no AC – just fans. Then my grandma put central air into her house and donated her window units to us. We went ANOTHER summer with no AC in our (2nd story) bedroom, but this year we caved and put it in. We still don’t use it much, but on those 95*, 90% humidity days we’ll turn it on for a little while before we go to bed.
I think they’re hidiously ugly, but I’ve been able to put them on the side of the house or into our screened porch, so you can’t see them from the front of the house.
Oh, these charming old houses……
Yeah – it’s hot here too! I remember Great Grandma Carrie would put a block of ice in a pan in front of the fan. Worked pretty good! Of course – that was in the day when a block of ice was delivered to your door. Try the blender ~ make some smoothies! Cool from the inside out…..
We have central air, but since our upstairs is a converted attic, there is little venting up there. Thus, we finally caved last summer and bought a window unit. I agree that they are terribly ugly, but they are a necessity when it’s 100 degrees upstairs. It helped that I could put it on the side window. You can’t see the AC from the front or back.
Good luck!
It’s freezing here right now (9C/48F) so I feel very strange to be giving AC advice. We have a unit very similar to the second one. I wouldn’t recommend it. As much as an in-window unit is a bit ugly and un-stylish, the portable unit takes up an annoying amount of floor space in Summer and cupboard space the rest of the year- it always feels like it’s in the way. Also, to vent it, you need to use a super ugly bending vent tube and wedge it in the window.
I can’t imagine living without air conditioning! I think it was 80+ this morning when I woke up… and the sun hadn’t even come up yet (TEXAS)!
If possible, don’t use the window units in the front windows. I doubt that you’ll notice them as much that way.
We have a portable stand unit and it’s great. Like Jeannine said, it takes about 6-8 inches and you can BARELY see it from the street– You don’t even have to remove the screen. Aesthetically from the outside, they’re great. We have it in a large room, so we set up a little fan in front of it to help blow the coolness over a larger area. I’m a big fan.
hee, a fan
I don’t have any specific recommendations, but I’ve seen a lot of new products here and there that aren’t terribly unattractive and a few that are actually preferable in some ways to central air. One unit in particular is slender and horizontal and is installed at the top of a wall. I’ll try to find my contact for it…
Kelly
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