As the temperature pushes one ninty plus degrees in my bedroom, I’m still content with my decision not to have air conditioning. I know that these days you can buy a window air conditioner for under $200 and it’s unlikely to increase my utility bill more than $20 a month – it’s not a technology I believe in.

Sure my truck has air conditioning and that works modestly well, but I don’t think I would necessarily use it if not for the noise reduction and fuel savings it provides. I do like the nice cold of the city buses and my office but I also ride them in the day time in the city where the air is stagnant.

I live without air conditioning by avoiding being home during the daytime. That means Monday through Friday being at work, while spending the weekends in the wilderness, traveling, camping and visiting state park pools and swimming holes in the back country. I don’t get home from work until around six, when the worse of the heat usually has broken. I usually have a quick sandwich or a light fare then walk down to the park, or if it’s really hot, the air conditioned library. Then I will sit out back with a cold drink until around around eleven and usually by then most of the heat has broken.

I think it’s better to spend money on traveling to the wilderness, camping and swimming in ice cold mountain streams, having a nice evening out back and in the park fishing or reading then paying for the artificial cool! I have a fairly big box fan I use on stuffy nights like this in my bedroom and I’ll have some ice cream or juice before bed, but I figure it’s just better to get used to the heat and enjoy summer.

Eventually I’m thinking of moving to a warmer climate to avoid the snow, ice and road salt. That means even hotter summers. I need to learn to adapt to the heat as I don’t believe in air conditioning and it can be expensive and difficult to do in an office grid cabin – although with ample insulation and sufficient storage it’s definitely possible. The more practice I get in embracing the heat today, the less trouble I’ll have tomorrow.