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Saving With A Window A/C

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The weather stayed so cold for so long this Spring, that we wondered if it would ever warm up. But when it finally did, it warmed up with a vengeance.

By the last few days of May, I was having a hard time convincing myself not to reach out and press that button the thermostat that would solve the problem of an overly hot house.

In fact, the only reason I didn’t was the knowledge that doing so would triple our monthly electric bill. Surely we could hold out with box fans for a little while longer.

Given all that, you’d think that when Gabriel came up with the notion to install a window air conditioner in our bedroom, I would have been all for it. Well, I wasn’t. After all, it’s the kitchen where I do most of my housework, and how much could it really save anyway?

After chewing on it on it for a few hours however, I finally realized that since we already had a window a/c unit, it would be worth a try. Having that one cool room would offer us a nice reprieve from the heat if nothing else.

Now, my childhood memory of a window a/c unit involved brackets on the outside and a special electrical outlet on the inside. Had I realized how simple installing the modern version is, I probably would never have resisted the idea in the first place.
It was a simple matter of carrying it to the bedroom window, opening said window, putting it in, extending the accordion style gal-stoppers, and plugging it in to the existing electrical outlet.
Presto! Cold bedroom. Which suddenly felt like a hotel room.

Anyway, you want to know the impact on our electric bill? Ten dollars.

It has its drawbacks of course. It is hot in the kitchen – over 90° today. That’s pretty hot even with the table fan pointed right at you. On nights like this, we tend to fill our plates in the kitchen, and sit on the bed to eat. I find myself retreating to the bedroom to cool off between chores – or sometimes in the middle of one. But you know what? That little reprieve makes the heat bearable.

Another interesting thing is that we’ve adapted tremendously to the heat. When the temperature first started climbing to 80°, we thought we were going to die. Now, 80° actually feels pretty good. 90°’s still a killer though.

Yes, we plan to turn on the central air at some point- probably after baby’s born – but for now, this has been a great solution to spending a fortune on nothing more than a little cool air. And I don’t have to feel guilty about heating the house with baking.

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