Like much of the country, it is hot as hell in DC. With actual temperatures in the triple digits and heat indexes just plain outrageous, I've had enough of the hot.
Our poor air conditioner is running constantly. Earlier in the summer, I had someone come check out the AC unit and he added freon. But since then, the air is actually warmer than when the freon was low. He said that the too cold air would have caused the unit to freeze up eventually. Though the proper amount of freon makes the air the proper temperature, the colder air made the house colder. However, I want the unit to continue to work too.
We have a blanket duct taped over the windows of our back door to prevent the sun from making the house too hot. I'm strongly thinking about putting canvas over the skylight to also block the sun from beaming in. We have ceiling fans going in the bedrooms and a oscillating fan going downstairs. I don't know how people ever lived before electricity or AC. I remember not having AC as a kid. As I recall, I think we spent most of our time outside under a shade tree.
I've heard that more people die from extreme heat than die from tornadoes, hurricanes, the cold, and other such natural disasters combined. With climate change, it seems things are just going to get worse in the future. Lucky for us we're going to Maine next week where the average highs for the days are projected to be in the high 70s. Sounds like heaven! Except, if it does get hot up there (and it was in the 90s recently), there is no AC in the house we're renting.
