Can YOU make it in Arizona WITHOUT air conditioning from May-September? (Phoenix: buying, wages)

[Pink Jazz]

One thing that still remains a mystery to me is why Tucson was slower to make the switch from swamp coolers to air conditioning in comparison to Phoenix. There are still many homes in Tucson that have swamp coolers, with swamp coolers still being the majority well into the late 1990s. In Phoenix, on the other hand, air conditioners have been the majority since the early/mid 1980s. While Tucson isn't as hot as Phoenix, average humidity is actually higher according to NOAA despite what others seem to believe.

[teddyearp]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

<snip>In fact, the state has some of the largest concentration of Ponderosa pine forests in the U.S. at elevations exceeding 6,000 feet.

Actually, Arizona has the largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine forest in the world.

Originally Posted by Valley Native

The only thing I'll add is that even places over 7,000 feet can be in the upper 80s & low 90s during the hottest part of the summer, which would require A/C on occasion. Probably the only place in AZ that I wouldn't need A/C is Greer. It has reached the mid to upper 80s there at the most, but high temperatures are usually in the 70s during most of the summer up there. People also need to keep in mind that places in AZ that don't require A/C as much make up for it in the winter with the demand for heating.

And I'll add that we do top 100 every now and then. Had that one heat wave a few weeks ago where we were about 105 or so in Taylor. Of course Phoenix was hitting around 120+.

[chaparrito]

I live in the Verde Valley at 3600 feet. If it's 110 degrees in Phoenix, it's 105-6 here, but it cools off much better at night, we're not in an urban setting. We have seen repeated days of 114 degrees this summer.
My home is (real, not Santa Fake) adobe with 16 inch thick earthen walls. It is cooled by an outside downdraft MasterCool evaporative cooler. The cooler blows into ducts that are underneath the slab and outlet into the floors of each room. Each room also has a passive up-duct in the ceiling which opens due to the air pressure of the cooler and vents hot air out a large vent in the roof. The system works extremely well on all but the most humid days during monsoon season. The original design was thought up by adobe architect Robert Barnes of Tucson, now deceased as far as I know.

As we've gotten older and less tolerant, we've added a portable AC unit, the kind designed to vent out a window. Our windows are not sliders and don't accomodate the unit's exhaust, so I set it into our living room fireplace and run the flexible vent tube up the flue. On the most humid days we'll run it maybe 2 hours to de-humidify the air.
So the answer to the question is.... yes, sort of, depending on house construction. If I lived in a typical modern stick-built house I'd say a definite no.

[Pincho-toot]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the original Indians of southern AZ migrate to higher elevations in summer?

[AZDesertBrat]

Originally Posted by locolobo13

I grew up here. We didn't have AC. We had swamp coolers. After I left home my parents got a couple of room ACs. But they still relied on the swamp cooler for the most part.

Same here. Grew up with swamp coolers and I always thought they were just fine. I think though, as kids, the heat doesn't bother us as much as when we get older. I remember playing outside all summer long, barefoot even. lol I'm not sure my parents ever had AC in a home. Always swamp coolers. I've had both over the years and I admit, I like my AC.

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by AZDesertBrat

Same here. Grew up with swamp coolers and I always thought they were just fine. I think though, as kids, the heat doesn't bother us as much as when we get older. I remember playing outside all summer long, barefoot even. lol I'm not sure my parents ever had AC in a home. Always swamp coolers. I've had both over the years and I admit, I like my AC.

Yep.

Anybody can survive the deserts of Arizona with just evaporative (swamp) coolers. However, since AC is available, why not use it?

The only thing I can think of that would be worse than not having either swamp or AC cooling... would be walking barefoot on a hot tin roof.

[Pretzelogik]

Not me. I'd be a dead duck.

[kell490]

Friend of mine AC broke a few months ago he's trying to start up a new business all his money going into that he hasn't had AC since first week of July. I'm not sure how he is doing it says he has slept at his office a few time when it was really hot mostly just uses a fan. Co-worker of mine said he only runs his AC for no more than 10 days a year they just use fans. I run evap cooling till July 4th.

[AZDesertBrat]

Originally Posted by Colt AZ

Yep.

Anybody can survive the deserts of Arizona with just evaporative (swamp) coolers. However, since AC is available, why not use it?

The only thing I can think of that would be worse than not having either swamp or AC cooling... would be walking barefoot on a hot tin roof.

Yikes! That hurts just thinking about it! Although we did run barefoot in the dirt and it was hot, hot, hot too. I don't even go barefoot in the house anymore. I've become a 'wuss'.

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by AZDesertBrat

Yikes! That hurts just thinking about it! Although we did run barefoot in the dirt and it was hot, hot, hot too. I don't even go barefoot in the house anymore. I've become a 'wuss'.

Believe me, it wasn't intentional.

I was a dumb kid who accidently wandered onto a section of hot tin, while ignorantly walking around barefoot on another part of our shed roof. OUCH!

The good news is that I was only on that tin for about a step and a half, then jumped completely off the shed (about 6-feet up)! Ouch again!