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---
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!
|
