Wednesday, May 23, 2012

At least the financing was good

I am embarrassed to write this post. I did something very expensive for kind of silly reasons: allergies and my bad habit of reading too many police reports. I have a really hard time with allergies all year round but they get way worse in the summer, especially when we use fans to pull outside air in at night. Because I read too many police reports, I hate having windows open at night while we sleep. So I got air conditioning.

Anybody who lives in Portland is snickering right now because our summers just aren't that hot. We get temperatures over 100 degrees in the summer, but rarely for that long. It's one of those things where I could have put that money toward better insulation and energy-efficiency but I went the energy hog route.  And now I have this big-ass monster to landscape around.

At least it matches the house

I can't even claim that it will help with resale value because that doesn't happen here. But I'm excited because I hate being hot. I melt in 85 degrees (now the Texas folk are snickering) and humidity makes me evil. But, oh, the things I could have done with that money. I could have refinished the wood floors (which does help with resale value) or built a deck out back (which would have made Greg really happy).

I used Jacob's, who gave me a nice discount for being a previous customer (they put in my furnace). They are great. I can't recommend them enough if you'd like to do something equally silly in your home.

21 comments:

  1. Haha...don't feel bad at all.

    I HATE the heat (and I get bitchy any time it's over 75°). The worst is I can't sleep unless I'm fairly cool...so of course we put in A/C the second we bought the house! I could probably go almost all winter without heat...but the minute it hits 80° outside, I crank up the A/C! Besides, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be comfortable...what's the point in being miserable...especially in your own house!

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  2. Thank you--hearing that makes me feel so much better! I have never been good in the heat. I was so happy when it started raining again this week (although I'm sad for my tomatoes).

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  3. I heartily endorse this decision! Living in SE Michigan, we routinely have days when it's over 80, and plenty when it's over 90 in the summer. Anything 80 or above and I start to wilt and become a lump of unhappiness. There is no way we could be happy in our house if it didn't have central air. Money well spent in my opinion!

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  4. Thank you! I love my fellow heat wimps. :)

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  5. I was just looking into whole house ac, cuz we just built and opted against it. I loooove the heat, but my eyes are streaming. It would be interesting to see if it helps allergies. I read that it can, but it can make them worse too...

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  6. I'll let you know if it helps with allergies. I have indoor dust and mold allergies, so I'm damned either way. Last summer I used to wake up totally congested with my eyes all swollen, so I think this will be better.

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  7. I envy Heather's fiscally imprudent decision. I wish the reason I don't have an A/C was the environment, but it's really because I'm cheap.

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  8. I still say it's cheaper than getting a dog. But air conditioning isn't quite as sweet to your daughter.

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  9. I'm a summer lover (heat...BRING IT ON!) yet a few years back (summer of 2009?) when it was 100+ for like 5 days we vowed then we would never face another summer without a/c. Of course you probably realize that was the last year we had a real summer...so thanks, you just cursed us to endure another cold summer, right when our a/c hex had just worn off.... :)

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  10. Oh and btw ours is right smack dab in front of our house! Extra fun for making the garden look good!

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  11. I can't decide if the rains returned because I put in AC or because I put tomatoes in the ground. But I definitely feel like I caused this!

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  12. Really? I didn't even notice it, so you must be doing a good job at hiding it. :)

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  13. I hardly think safety and comfort are silly reasons to put in AC. I love heat, but we also have big trees that keep our house cooler in summer, so we don't have to make that pricy decision. I'm glad you mentioned landscaping around the unit: so many people just leave it sitting out in their yard bare-ass naked...

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  14. We'd already been planning to extend our fence along that side, since we also plan to install rain barrels there, so all of it will be hidden from the street. But I'll have to figure out a way to hide it from MY eyes! They've gotten smaller over the years but they are still such an eyesore.

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  15. (*Snicker*) --Audrey in Texas.

    But I completely understand the need to be a comfort slut sometime.

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  16. HammeringOurWayHomeMay 24, 2012 at 9:11 AM

    omg, what were you thinking?! SIKE. You know we went and pumped AC all up in our house and it's basically the only thing complete. So silly. But it won't be silly on those 90+ degree days and we are both cool cucumbers, or allergy-devil days when we are sneeze free, or awful humid days but our hair will still look good (that's prob a stretch for me but...) Anywho, I am a huge fan. Sometimes you got to EAT THE CAKE.

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  17. Oh my god, that's the best slogan ever! (And you live in a place where AC is necessary!)

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  18. Long live wimpdom! I retreat into my daylight basement studio which is always cool. Bonus: I get lots done. Or we head for Sauvie Island and paddle around in the water. Then there's always driving around in the car (it has AC). All cheapskate solutions (well, except for the price of gas). I salute your take-charge attitude. After all, how much would you enjoy those other alternate investments if you were miserable?

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  19. Y'all are the best enablers a girl could ask for. :)

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  20. I'm right there with you on the heat. Hate it. If I could convince the husband that central AC was a good investment for our house I'd be next in line at the HVAC store.

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  21. Greg wasn't on board either, so I just paid for it myself. I think it's going to be worth it but I'll feel conflicted until its paid off.

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