How homes kept cool before the age of AC

femme Fatale

femme Fatale

Official AD Nutcracker
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
4,535
Reaction score
404
Very Cool! No pun intended... :P

The modern air conditioner was invented only in the 1920s, and it didn’t become a common home feature until the latter half of the 20th century.
But, while some of us might wonder how our grandparents survived hot and steamy summers, the fact is those older homes had a few tricks up their sleeves. They were designed and built with features to help them stay cool without AC.
Mary Wheeler Schap is a registered architect who designs and restores historic buildings to their former glory in Cincinnati, Ohio. She offered this expert insight into the features that made older homes livable in the heat.

Airflow
In northern states, it was common to create a “stack effect” by opening windows in the basement and top floor. This generated a cool breeze through the house. Further south, before AC many homes were built on blocks, allowing breezes to flow underneath and help keep them cool all summer long.

Tall ceilings
Ceilings as high as 10, 12 and even 14 feet were common in older homes. As heat rose to the ceiling, lower areas stayed cool and comfortable. Ceiling fans—powered by electricity or elaborate rope systems—also facilitated air movement.

Transoms
A transom—a small window over a door—allowed warmer air at the ceiling to circulate up to higher floors, providing more air movement throughout the house. Transoms over exterior doors often had hinges and special hardware. This allowed easy access to open and close, helping create airflow while still providing security.

Large windows
Many older and historic homes had large, double-hung windows. Opening the top sash would allow hot air near the ceiling to escape. Opening the bottom sash, especially at night, allowed cool air to flow inside. Rooms had many windows, some as large as doors. Thick, long draperies were often used in these large windows to keep out the heat. People would “draw the drapes” to help keep a room cool without sacrificing light.

Porches
Wraparound porches offered shade from the direct sun while still allowing light to pour through windows. Screened and furnished sleeping porches were also very common. People would sleep outside to catch the cool breeze of the summer night without all the bugs. Many believed that fresh air had health benefits.

Reflective roofs
Many older homes had light-colored or silver-metal roofs made of lead, tin or copper. This was a great way to reflect heat away from the home to reduce interior temperatures. It’s quite a contrast to today’s dark asphalt shingles that can absorb a lot of the sun’s rays.

Thick walls
If you could afford them, thick brick masonry or stone walls were a great insulator and kept homes cool before AC. Walls 12 to 24 inches thick were common in the Deep South, blocking the heat from the inside as the day wore on, and providing some warmth as the evening chill set in.

Here’s an expert tip: If you own or are considering buying a house built before the age of air conditioning, Mary recommends contacting an architect or energy advisor who focuses on historic homes: “An hour or two walk-through can help you identify a home’s potential for energy savings. He or she can even help you find ways to preserve the ‘look’ of an older home using modern, energy-efficient materials.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also offers some energy tips for owners of historic homes.
And, regardless of your home’s vintage, you can save money on electricity to power a modern cooling system by going solar. Solar panels can complement any home’s architectural style. And SolarCity makes installation and ownership a snap.
Click to expand...

http://blog.solarcity.com/how-homes-kept-cool-before-the-age-of-ac
 
Very informative! :)
 
I grew up in Southern Illinois (at the latitude of St. Louis, Missouri) without air conditioning.

The house my folks rented for just over 11 of those years did not have exceptionally tall ceilings. We did have a full basement and even though it was unfinished sometimes sat down there instead of in the living room of the single story house. We did have double hung windows and kept roller shades drown on the bedroom windows which were on the west. Dad made us a fan for one window. I am not sure where he got the electric motor but the blades were from a car or truck. It was mounted on metal pipes that made it sit level with the bottom part of a window. Especially in the evening we would open a window or so at the other end of the house so the fan pulled the cooler air through the house.

The house that my grandparents from my mother's side owned did have the tall ceilings, larger double hung windows and transoms over the outside doors. They had moved the first three rooms from another location in town in 1896 and then it was added on to as they had 7 kids. It started out on piers and had a block foundation added much later. You could not see under it before the blocks were added but I don't know what enclosed it. It did not have a basement but a very small cellar that my grandfather and another relative dug themselves (they were both underground coal miners so had the skills to do it). I do not know just when they got a purchased window fan that was used in the same manner as I described above.

None of this resulted in temperatures as low as most people set their air conditioning. My aunts and uncle that continued to live in what had been my grandparents place and my immediate family did go to window air conditioners. By now I own a house that has central air conditioning.

As kind of a side comment once I was grown and working part time while also taking community college classes; my Dad and I were both working in air conditioning with me feeling terrible when home on weekends without it. He came up with the idea that we get permission from the landlord to put a big window unit in that would do our whole downstairs level that we were renting in a house that had been divided into two units. We then went together to get the A/C. Several years later, after my Dad had died, the house was being sold and Mom and I had to move. She had originally thought there were things we needed more than the air conditioning. But when it came time to look for a different place she didn't want anyplace that didn't already have it or permission to put a window unit in!
 
Very interesting facts, thanks for sharing!

A brick-walled home does sound great for so many reasons...the only downside I have considered so far is the condensation build up when moist weather occurs. And then how cold it could get without really reliable indoor heating, such as a wood stove.

I live in a really, really, rustic home at the moment, so articles like these catch my attention quickly. :D
 
ToshRunner said:
Very interesting facts, thanks for sharing!

A brick-walled home does sound great for so many reasons...the only downside I have considered so far is the condensation build up when moist weather occurs. And then how cold it could get without really reliable indoor heating, such as a wood stove.

I live in a really, really, rustic home at the moment, so articles like these catch my attention quickly. :D
Click to expand...

St. Louis TV has mentioned several times the way brick holds the heat once it heats up during a heat wave and can be a real problem in the summer. St. Louis becomes a "heat island" because of the number of brick structures.
 
Grew up in the backwoods of NC...no AC,,,Heat or indoor plumbing or electricity...:roll:...yep....The old house was built within a lot of trees (for shade) on a hill...during summer, whenever we did get a cool breeze...we gave "thanks"....and of course we had the Creek to cool off in....During the winter?...that was the worst!...Had a feather bed and 1 large fireplace....very cold....we had oil lamps for light....and an outdoor John....wood stove for cooking....

Just rembering those old days...I give thanks for what I have today....
 
rockin'robin said:
Grew up in the backwoods of NC...no AC,,,Heat or indoor plumbing or electricity...:roll:...yep....The old house was built within a lot of trees (for shade) on a hill...during summer, whenever we did get a cool breeze...we gave "thanks"....and of course we had the Creek to cool off in....During the winter?...that was the worst!...Had a feather bed and 1 large fireplace....very cold....we had oil lamps for light....and an outdoor John....wood stove for cooking....

Just rembering those old days...I give thanks for what I have today....
Click to expand...

Yep. We had plumbing, but no air, and my stepmother was too cheap to pay for a fan at all.

I love modern life!
 
That list was missing something ... screen doors ... and bug zappers outside on the porch :naughty:
 
ncff07 said:
That list was missing something ... screen doors ... and bug zappers outside on the porch :naughty:
Click to expand...

And I don't know how we missed talking about screened doors and windows other than being taken for granted because they were already around so far back and are still in use (mainly during the in between seasons of fall and spring anymore).
 
The Joker said:
how did they keep foods and drinks cool back in the old west days?
Click to expand...

With no refrigeration?...LOL...we didn't...there were times that we did take our catfish and tie them to a rope and leave them in the creek to be kept cool...(creek water was cool back in the woods)...and the water there was so good!...Very cool. Seems I was about 9 or 10 before I saw any ice trays or had a "ice box" as it was called back in the day...now called refrigerators.
 
Jane B. said:
St. Louis TV has mentioned several times the way brick holds the heat once it heats up during a heat wave and can be a real problem in the summer. St. Louis becomes a "heat island" because of the number of brick structures.
Click to expand...


Great to know that Jane B! Thanks! I haven't checked into how brick reacts down here in the South. I just know a little bit about how it was in the North. Rockin' Robin's description of how she grew up is how I have been living for the last few years (except I have electricity). The metal building I am living in takes both extremes of hot and cold--but at least it is a sturdy building that keeps me dry and out of the wind too.

Getting back to the main subject: this thread makes me think of when log cabins were more prevalent. I have seen the pine tar used and how the wood would swell and warp depending on the weather. For how humid and hot it gets over here, I can imagine just how many years it took before the walls had nice gaps between the beams.

God bless modern conveniences. :D
 
It's extremely hot here this week 111 degrees tomorrow. I am so very thankful for AC and fans.
 
In Seattle (and the rest of the Pacific North West), lots of folks don't have A/C (myself included). To keep the house cool in the summer, we open all the windows at night, then close them early morning. We're lucky to typically have nice cool nights, so having all that nice cool mass in the house from the cool night usually keeps the house cool until the next evening.

Once the house starts to heat up, we open the windows that don't have the sun blaring on them, turn on a few fans, and have a top floor exhaust fan that works to vent the hottest air in the house out.

The strategy has worked well for us except for 1 week so far this year where our nights just didn't get very cool (rather odd for us to not have <70º nights, typically it dips below 60º in the evening). That week tempted me to pick up a window or portable A/C unit, so far I haven't yet.
 
Tall ceilings
Ceilings as high as 10, 12 and even 14 feet were common in older homes. As heat rose to the ceiling, lower areas stayed cool and comfortable. Ceiling fans—powered by electricity or elaborate rope systems—also facilitated air movement.
Click to expand...

That is one of the reasons I chose to live in home (Texas) with 12 feet ceiling. I'm such a sucker for older houses. It is difficult to find a new home with thick walls anymore unless you want to hire architect to build it.

In Arizona, My wealthy uncle was making fortune off his business that design special chemical walls to keep houses cool without turning A/C on. That's the way to save A/C bills.
 
Nic said:
In Seattle (and the rest of the Pacific North West), lots of folks don't have A/C (myself included). To keep the house cool in the summer, we open all the windows at night, then close them early morning. We're lucky to typically have nice cool nights, so having all that nice cool mass in the house from the cool night usually keeps the house cool until the next evening.

Once the house starts to heat up, we open the windows that don't have the sun blaring on them, turn on a few fans, and have a top floor exhaust fan that works to vent the hottest air in the house out.

The strategy has worked well for us except for 1 week so far this year where our nights just didn't get very cool (rather odd for us to not have <70º nights, typically it dips below 60º in the evening). That week tempted me to pick up a window or portable A/C unit, so far I haven't yet.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm told many houses in WA state don't have A/C. My brother lives not far from Seattle had his new house built and installed A/C. He said he did it to keep his wife happy, not cranky. lol It is worth it.
 
Barbaro said:
Yeah, I'm told many houses in WA state don't have A/C. My brother lives not far from Seattle had his new house built and installed A/C. He said he did it to keep his wife happy, not cranky. lol It is worth it.
Click to expand...

Another reason to have A/C is not just temperature but the filtration of that helps allergies (such as when the mold count goes up). And don't forget what humidity does to the "Feels Like" temperature.
 
Back
Top