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diff --git a/saved-articles/life before air conditioning.txt b/saved-articles/life before air conditioning.txt new file mode 100755 index 0000000..a365738 --- /dev/null +++ b/saved-articles/life before air conditioning.txt @@ -0,0 +1,119 @@ +--- +title: Life Before Air Conditioning +date: 2007-09-23T14:50:07Z +source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/16842/life-air-conditioning +tags: history, culture, society, sociology, psychology, community, environment + +--- + +How in the world did people deal with the summer heat without air +conditioning? Lots of ways, both time-tested and experimental. + +Cooling homes was not the intended purpose when [Willis +Carrier](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk1eVlGwAms) invented modern +[air +conditioning](http://www.corp.carrier.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4455d66bdcb08010VgnVCM100000cb890b80RCRD&cpsextcurrchannel=1) +in 1902. The earliest air conditioners were for industrial quality +control; the comfort of the workers was incidental. However, artificial +climate control made [steel and glass +skyscrapers](http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/725.shtml) +practical. Home air conditioning became widely available after World War +II and ushered in the age of [suburban tract +housing](http://www.eweek.org/site/news/Features/staycool.shtml). It +also spelled the demise of some old-fashioned architectual details and +social customs. + + + +A look at some of these architectual details, after the jump. + +The oldest method of home climate control is living underground. Our +cave-dwelling ancestors enjoyed temperatures in the 50s both summer and +winter. This dugout house found at +[Shorpy](http://www.shorpy.com/node/1536) was both inexpensive to build +(but labor-intensive) and cool in the summer. Although no one wants to +live in a pit, this method of cooling survived in the use of deep +spacious basements, split-level homes, and houses built into a hillside. +The lower levels stayed much cooler than modern homes. + + + +Underground level climate control is [still in +use](http://enterthelaughter.com/blog/2007/07/13/cave-boy-and-the-goblet-of-squid/), +as we see in the extensive underground workplace called +[Subtropolis](http://www.huntmidwest.com/subtropolis/index.html). More +new buildings are constructed underground, or [partially +buried](http://www.subsurfacebuildings.com/UnderGroundbutNotUnderground.html), +every year. + + + +The effect of cave living was somewhat duplicated by the use of thick +stone, adobe, or traditional brick outer walls. Air conditioning allows +the use of cheaper and lighter materials. Thirty years ago, it was +unheard of to cancel school due to heat. My school had [no air +conditioning](http://www.conspairacy.com/..%5CMainthemes%5CCEILINGS.HTML), +but it had thick brick walls, [high +ceilings](http://www.conspairacy.com/..%5Cmainthemes%5Cwhyhigh.html), +[transoms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window#Transom_window), ceiling +fans, and if all else failed, plenty of trees outside to hold classes +under. We also walked six miles, uphill both ways. That building is +still there, although the school has moved to a new climate-controlled +facility. The school pictured is in [Hendricks, +Minnesota](http://www.hendricksmn.com/hendricks_postcards.html), but +resembles the school I attended. + + + +Rooms with high ceilings benefit from the tendency of heat to rise. If +heat gathers in the top third of a room, then a ten-foot ceiling will +make a room relatively cooler for most people. Ceiling fans accentuate +the effect by pulling air up during the summer, and pushing warmer air +down in the winter. Older homes with more than one story took advantage +of the [stack effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_effect), as +open stairwells vented heat upstairs. That's why upper floors were [only +used at night](http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07214/806268-155.stm), +with the windows open. Some houses even had a tower or turret to act as +a [windcatcher](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher) or heat +exhaust vent. + + + +Shade trees planted on the east and west sides of a home [block the +summer sun](http://oikos.com/esb/34/shading.html) before it warms the +home exterior. They also cool down breezes slightly before they enter +[the porch +area](http://architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/people_benachihouse.html). +Awnings and window overhangs provide the same effect, and let more +sunshine in during the winter, when the sun hangs lower. + + + +The [front +porch](http://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am483_97/projects/cook/cultur.htm) +was an alternative to hot homes, and became a means of social +interaction. If you weren't sitting on your own porch in the cool of the +evening, you could stroll the neighborhood and visit other familes +sitting on *their* porch. + + + +On hot nights, the porch was a cooler place to sleep. Apartment dwellers +would sleep on the fire escape when it was unbearably hot indoors. The +widespread use of the [automobile, television, and air +conditioning](http://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am483_97/projects/cook/decline.htm) +killed the front porch as a social institution. + + + +People had other personal methods for keeping cool, such as hanging wet +laundry in doorways, sleeping in refrigerated sheets, and keeping one's +[underwear in the +freezer](http://community.livejournal.com/iceboxundies/profile). + +Years ago when air conditioning wasn't universal, we *were* sometimes +miserably hot. But "miserable"? is a relative term. We didn't know what +we were missing, and [we were used to +it](http://www.wisebread.com/living-without-air-conditioning-can-save-big-bucks-this-summer). +We were never as miserable as someone in a small modern home built for +artificial climate control when the air conditioner fails! |