Oh say can you AC?
One heat happy New Yorker chose one of Summer 2024’s sweatiest days to fan up a heated debate over the merits and necessity of apartment air conditioning.
The fresh air freak wound up triggering a BTU brouhaha by announcing their dislike of the seasonal window-killer on Reddit’s popular Ask NYC message board.
“I’ve not yet installed my AC unit. I live on the 8th floor close enough to the water that there’s a steady cross breeze,” the sweaty Redditor sniffed. “The past two days have been fine as long as the fans are going.”
“I hate the lack of sunlight and fresh air that comes with installing AC, as I only have one window in each room. And the noise is maddening,” they explained.
Their question to the active and opinionated group on the lively subreddit: “Is this a health risk? Isn’t summer supposed to be hot?”
To the tropical temp touter, 90 degrees seemed “normal for summer.”
Cold-loving commenters fled for their fainting couches at the very notion of surviving June, July and August in the Apple without the essential appliance.
“I hug my AC every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to sleep. Sometimes I bring it flowers,” said one, echoing the sentiments of many.
“I just chill with mine,” another joke.
Others took a more serious tone in their responses.
“Be mindful that we’re in some really uncomfortable and potentially dangerous levels of heat. Heat indexes are approaching 105-110 degrees which is the measure of how warm the heat feels to our body. Pay close attention to how your body feels to monitor for any health concerns,” one concerned citizen shared.
Another responder warned about air pollution, noting that keeping the windows open all summer is “probably not a great idea if you have any pre-existing health conditions like heart issues, asthma, etc,” going on to point out that “air quality also goes down when heat rises, and it’s not necessarily the healthiest to just expose yourself to it all.”
Most air conditioners, they said, will filter out the worst of the gunk.
“As an adult with mild-moderate asthma (who also made the terrible decision to open their windows during those really smokey nights a few years ago because I rly like the smell of bonfire)… protect your lungs y’all. It’s possible to do some real damage in a pretty short amount of time under the wrong conditions,” one sage advisor shared.
For information on NYC’s cooling center program for Summer 2024, read more here.
Others called the OP “insane,” hoped that they “didn’t have any pets,” and warned them never to invite guests over without informing them that they didn’t have air conditioning.
With hot summer afternoons in abundance in New York, NYC.gov reports that 90% of households in the five boroughs have air conditioning. That number can drop significantly, depending on the neighborhood, to as low as 76% in low-income areas like the South Bronx, the city said.
An NYC.gov survey that sampled a range of New Yorkers showed that 15% of households that do have air conditioning opt not to use it at all.
