Introduction
The humorous article from 7/25/2021 began with a sidetrack about the dog days of summer, which are from July 3rd to August 11th. The most recent article, from 8/22/2024, honored my first cousin, Lois, who had passed on recently. On Sunday, August 11, the last dog day of summer, our 21-year-old air conditioner stopped cooling. We started sweating.
Greetings, dear reader, and welcome to the 106th article in the life (such as it is) topic section! Using your imagination, join Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and me. We endured one week without air conditioning. Don't worry! Our tough sweat became cool comfort.
Tough Sweat
Research indicates that modern air conditioning was invented in 1902. By the 1960s, most newly constructed homes in the United States were equipped with central air conditioning.
Growing Up
Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, the houses, in which we lived, were air-conditioned only by cool morning and evening breezes that blew through screened-in doors and windows. The homes of a few friends had window-mounted air conditioners.
The old Livesay farmhouse, which my parents rented from Walter Livesay, certainly did not have modern air conditioning. The 8/2/2022 article, about the barn, hornets, and bull, describes the Livesay farmhouse.
My parents' design for our 1974-constructed new home did not include air conditioning. Window and floor electric fans helped. Thankfully, my parents had an attic fan installed in the hallway! It ran loudly, but it pulled into the house cooler morning and evening air through slightly opened windows and sucked hot air into the roof. After a little while, the indoor air felt so cool and comfortable that we had to turn off the attic fan. Once the outside air temperature rose into the upper 70s Fahrenheit, however, the attic fan didn't help. We couldn't use it.
Mrs. Appalachian Irishman was raised in town. Eventually, she knew the comfort of a living room window air conditioner. Some of her childhood years, however, were lived without air conditioning.
August 11-17, 2024
Let's perspire further into our tough but tolerable full week in August without air conditioning. Eleven screened-in windows stayed up all week. Five ceiling fans ran almost constantly. Window blinds blocked the morning and evening sun. The week demanded an ample use of deodorant! Cold showers each morning helped. Indoors, wearing short pants, thin T-shirts, and no shoes were required. At times, I didn't wear a shirt. We drank a lot of cool water. I wiped gallons of sweat from my forehead, beard, and the back of my neck. We endured tough sweat. We survived. I remembered growing up without air conditioning. Those were the good and not so good old days.
Day 1, Sunday 8/11: As stated previously, on the last dog day of summer, our 21-year-old air conditioner gave up the ghost. Installed in 2003, the Goodman unit had been a “good man.” It served us well for many years with minimal maintenance costs. In 2003, Jerry Roberts, owner of Roberts Heating and Air Conditioning (Facebook), installed the system. In late July last year, our Goodman unit needed minor repair. Jerry Roberts, whom I had called, suggested that I call his young associate, Travis Oglesby. Travis replaced the capacitor that day at a minimal cost.
Today, I left Travis Oglesby a voicemail, asking him to call me tomorrow. The sunny day reached a daytime high of about 85 degrees Fahrenheit with muggy humidity.
Day 2, Monday, 8/12: My maternal grandmother, Granny Wood, passed away on this day in 1991. My 6/26/2021 article is one of several that mention Granny Wood. I remembered.
Travis Oglesby returned my voicemail. Being rather busy, he arranged for his friend and associate, Wyatt Humphries, to stop by on his way home from work. Wyatt's father owns Humphries Heating and Air in Corryton. Wyatt arrived just after supper. He verified what I had assumed. We needed to replace the air conditioner. He recommended a “RunTru” model, manufactured by Trane. (“Nothing stops a Trane,” as the commercials claim.) Wyatt and Travis, both heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technicians, were busier than bees. They might be able to replace our old unit on a workday evening this week. The job may need to wait until Saturday morning. Not wanting to rush them, I assured Wyatt that we could endure a week without air conditioning. Saturday morning would be fine.
During the day, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman enjoyed the air-conditioned school building where she teaches. After work, she acclimated to the “hot house.” The weather was sunny and humid. The daytime high reached about 85 degrees. What did I do? I cleaned out and around eleven window frames, and I stuffed cotton into all the window frame drain slots. That should keep ladybugs from building nests at the base of the window frames. It was a lot of fun.
Day 3, Tuesday, 8/13: The weather was sunny, and the daytime high was about 88 degrees. I installed two “kick-down” door stops, one on the door between the kitchen and utility room and the other on the hall bathroom door. I had to lie flat on my stomach to do this. Being left-handed, I leaned into my left “bionic” shoulder. Don't shove your left elbow against the lower left side of your rib cage! That was my mistake. The result was a bone bruise on my lower left rib cage. It is healing quickly. I learned my lesson. I won't do that again! Later, to enjoy the “cooler” outdoor temperature, I cut and trimmed several low branches from the trees that are near the back fence line. Wyatt Humphries and I spoke by phone. The plan is still to replace the old unit by Saturday morning, if not sooner.
During the day, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman enjoyed the air-conditioned school building where she teaches. After work, she acclimated to the “hot house.” (Didn't I just write that?)
Day 4, Wednesday, 8/14: The weather was still sunny and humid. The daytime high climbed to about 90 degrees. Using metal files, I shaved off metal from the two strike plates for the front door locks. I was trying to expand the openings, so the locks could slide through them. The bottom lock and the top deadbolt lock have only been inserting into the wooden slots. Years ago, I had to remove the metal strike plates, since the locks would no longer slide through them into the wooden slots. The house must have settled. My work was not successful. The door does lock, and we live in a safe neighborhood.
During the day, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman enjoyed the air-conditioned school building where she teaches. After work, she acclimated to the “hot house.” (Did I just write that a third time?)
Day 5, Thursday, 8/15: Three years ago today, the American flag was lowered at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. The article from 8/16/2021 shared my thoughts. I remembered that sad day.
The weather was mostly sunny to sunny. The daytime high reached about 94 degrees. The humidity continued to draw out sweat, even when not exerting oneself. At 10:30 AM, Tony, owner of Tony's Best Clips (Facebook), gave me a much-needed haircut. His shop is air-conditioned. Back home, I tinkered more, still without success, on those front door strike plates. By late afternoon and early evening, the temperature inside the house reached a humid 87 degrees. All eleven screen windows have been up since Sunday. All four ceiling fans have been running.
We managed, especially me. During the day, my wife still enjoyed the air-conditioned school building. I was raised with no air conditioning! Living with air conditioning had softened me. I was returning to my previous and tougher, non-air-conditioned endurance.
Day 6, Friday, 8/16: The weather was mostly sunny and windy. The late afternoon high was about 95 degrees. The humid morning air smelled like rain was coming. Light rain settled in about 3:45 PM. It continued, off and on, through the evening. Thankfully, the rain fell straight down. We didn't need to close any windows.
In the morning, I secured to the exterior basement wall the covered electrical outlet that is behind the air conditioner. It had always been loose. A few squirts from a tube of concrete filler secured it. Also, I swept away grass clippings and spiderwebs around the basement exterior windows. Finally, I shop vacuumed the basement. The basement was cooler than upstairs, since hot air rises.
My “long-suffering” wife enjoyed working in an air-conditioned school building. She left early. Once home, I drove her, in my 2006 Frontier, to her nearby medical appointment at 4 PM.
Wyatt Humphries and I spoke by phone. Travis Oglesby and he planned to arrive between 8:30 and 9 AM the next morning.
Just after 8:30 PM that evening, Molly, our ol' puppy, and I went outside, for our usual “romp and stomp” in our one-acre yard. It's our evening ritual, before Molly beds down for the night.
Was that a rabbit? No! It was a skunk! Twilight was turning to darkness. It looked like a rabbit, as I stood about 20 yards away. Molly attacked the skunk! The skunk sprayed her and ran to the safety of the nearby cedar trees. I've never seen a dog “deskunkify” itself, until that evening. Molly rolled around in the grass, often diving in, nose first. She ran in circles, dove into the grass, and rolled around more. By the time that she was done, Molly only had a faint smell of skunk on her. That was an aggravatingly funny experience!
Cool Comfort
Previous phone conversations with Travis and Wyatt speculated that the complete work (old unit removed, new unit installed, and clean up) could take about four hours. If they could have started on a workday evening, they thought that the job would be done by about 10 PM. My wife and I were glad that the work was postponed until Saturday, the 17th, since it took longer than anticipated.
On Saturday, the weather was mostly sunny to sunny. The daytime high reached 92 degrees. About 8:45 AM, Wyatt Humphries arrived to start working. Travis Oglesby, who was picking up parts and supplies, arrived somewhat later. Both young men are cordial, efficient, and know what they are doing. I helped as needed, spoke with them at times, and stayed out of their way. We swapped some stories and shared a few jokes.
At 8:59 AM, I photographed, below, our 21-year-old Goodman outside unit (the condenser). The sun was behind me.
A minute later, I photographed, below, the original Goodman inside unit (the furnace).
Just over seven hours later, about 4 PM, the complete work was done. The new air conditioner started working hard to cool and dehumidify the indoor air. The humid indoor air temperature had reached about 86 degrees. It cooled quickly to a comfortable 78 degrees with lower humidity.
At 4:25 PM, I photographed, below, the new “RunTru” by Trane condenser. The fan runs much quieter than the one on the old Goodman condenser.
A minute later, I photographed, below, the new “RunTru” by Trane furnace.
Wyatt Humphries and Travis Oglesby are two outstanding young men. Their work, as HVAC technicians, was done perfectly. If you live locally and need heating and air conditioning work, this article suggests that you contact Humphries Heating and Air, in Corryton, at 865-765-4586.
Conclusion
What did Molly, our ol' puppy, think about our week without air conditioning? Aside from wondering why the house was so warm in the evenings, when she was indoors with us, Molly didn't notice anything unusual until Saturday. Molly liked Travis and Wyatt! She stayed out of their way, well, mostly.
Someone asks, “What was the total cost to replace the air conditioner?” The original Goodman unit lasted 21 years. Setting aside about $320 a year, for 21 years, would pay the total cost. Further, using the Official Data Foundation's CPI Inflation Calculator, I plugged in our cost to replace the air conditioning unit, used 2024 as the start year, and used 1974 as the end year. The result showed that, in 1974, my parents could have spent just over $1,000 to install central air conditioning. Fifty years ago, that was a lot of money that my parents didn't have. A wood or coal-burning stove in the basement and an upstairs space heater warmed the house sufficiently in winter. In this current inflationary cycle, “a dollar ain't worth much nowadays.”
Thanks, Travis Oglesby and Wyatt Humphries! Our tough sweat became cool comfort! I actually enjoyed the sweaty walk down memory lane, remembering growing up without air conditioning. I know how to toughen up. Cool air conditioning, however, is much more comfortable! Just ask my wife.
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