Mark's Notebook

Has the prevalence of air conditioning turned us into heat weenies?

San Jose Mercury News

By L.A. Chung, Mercury News

I know it's hot. But do we have to whine so much about it?

Over the past few days, air conditioners flew off the shelves. Hotels were mobbed by locals who couldn't sleep. Tempers were a bit short. The call of the Great Outdoors, a.k.a. our back yards, was louder than the suffocating heat of our bedrooms.

So what? Suck it up and deal.

I've snapped into coping mode, pointing the box fan out the window to blow out the hot air and suck in the cool air in the evenings, wearing loose clothing and simply acclimating myself. We survived all those family road trips when I was a kid without the luxury of air conditioning, so now I roll the car windows all the way down, let the air whip through and turn up the radio.

Still, I had to think: What did we do before air conditioning?

We used fans, got wet a lot and slept outside or on sleeping porches. Homes were designed with wide eaves and natural cooling. AC changed everything, from building design to entertainment. If you don't believe me, ask the curators at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., which once ran an exhibit on the history of air conditioning.

Any longtime valley resident can tell you how things have changed. ``We expect more now, because of air conditioning,'' said Ken Nelson, owner of Rural Supply Hardware in Los Gatos, an old-line valley store that still sells horse and goat feed. Nelson's store doesn't have air conditioning, but he does have a cooling system similar to a ``whole house'' fan that makes people think he's got AC on. Fans in front pump in cold air at night, and hot air rises out through the attic.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/la_chung/15124787.htm

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008