A/C

We've never had air conditioning in our house. Of course many people don't here in East Hampton because the weather is generally mild and tolerable. We have a wonderful open field across the street so the ocean breeze sweeps across it and right through our front windows, cooling off the house beautifully. BUT - at least once during the summer we have a wave of heat and humidity that makes sleeping difficult and I wish we had an air conditioner in our bedroom. It seems not ever to be.

Many times when we've sweltered in the midst of one of these heat waves we've desperately looked for a solution. PC Richards was often our destination as we thought perhaps they would come up with something new that would work for us. But it just doesn't seem possible. The problem is we have crank-out windows and they don't make a/c units that fit them. We've toyed with the idea of installing one in the wall, which would involve cutting a hole through to the outside and having one there year-round. The cost always puts us off because there are always more pressing things to spend money on and for the few days we really need it every year it seems rather frivolous.

Then this year someone suggested something called a "Mr. Slim" which is made by Mitsubishi. It's a ductless system which involves a very slim unit installed high on a wall with very little disruption and small holes drilled through to the outside. Maybe this was our answer! We called the local installer as instructed on the web site and he came out to give us a price. My hopes were high! The estimated price? $3500! Let's see - if there are four nights a year that its too hot to sleep, and we spread that over, let's say a three year period, that would be a cost of over $200 a night for cooler air. I think not. Besides, if we have $3000 to spend there is the master bath that could use new tile and carpet, painting to be done in the kitchen, and floors to be refinished.....oh well! The heat wave is over for this year and we'll forget all about those sleepless nights for another year. Maybe by next summer they'll come up with something new that will work for us...darn those crank-out windows!