Thursday, July 13, 2006

the cost of cool

I sometimes feel conflicted about our air conditioning. It may seem silly but I think about the global impact of my personal comfort and it bothers me, for a second, here and there. Like right now, as I type this and I think about it. Even though we have an energy efficient unit and have made improvements to our home that help keep the cool inside and the heat outside (and the reverse in the winter) I still sometimes feel guilty about it. Of course, when I step outside, into oppressive heat and thick air, I quickly change my mind.

The money is another issue as well. Electricity isn't inexpensive. We sometimes fantasize about living somewhere that is "off the grid" but that isn't practical for us right now. I can not worry about the financial cost though. Can you put a price on being able to sleep comfortably? I can remember those nights, when I lived in apartments, warm places, hot actually. Nights when I would have as cold a shower as I could handle and then sleep in the path of a fan and hope that I'd fall asleep before I got warm again.

Fortunately, this summer, we haven't had to run our air conditioning as much as last summer. Also, we haven't been hearing those warnings about overloaded power grids and rolling brown-outs. I know that guilt sucks and that I should just get over myself but sometimes, yanno... I just feel bad about stuff like this.

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