Image: Looking out of the screen door in the early morning.
When my wife and I bought this house in June of 2023, one of the attractions was that the house came with a “whole house fan”.
Now for those of you not familiar with the concept of the “Whole house fan” it is a large extractor fan fitted in the loft space. The idea being that the heat of the day builds in the loft under the roof and this fan may be turned on in the night for an hour or so, thus drawing out the hot air of the previous day and as it often means opening doors and windows through the house, the whole house is cooled in the morning by fresh cool night air.
Well yesterday we hit 109 degrees Fahrenheit in this part of the Central Valley of California.
The house stayed pretty warm all night.
When I woke in the early hours, I started the “Whole house fan” in minutes the air conditioning came on!
Uh Oh! You know it’s going to be a hot day when the cool air of the night is still hot enough to turn on the air conditioning.
It’s not as though we set the air conditioning low.
It is set to come on above 81 degrees Fahrenheit. For someone from England, that is hot. Above 79 degrees Fahrenheit back home I would be struggling.
Here in Central California, away from the cool coastal waters and the fog. Which makes life pleasant, the dry, air is like living under a hairdryer in Summer. It burns. The Sun itself burns, but the air also burns. Eyes, throat, lungs any moisture evaporates in a moment.
So turning on the “whole house fan” and finding the air conditioning comes on does not bode well for the day.
It tells me hunker down, plan on running from air conditioning to air conditioning. When approaching a car, wear oven gloves. Planning on going anywhere. Take the long white cane, Leif, my guide dog is grounded for the sake of burned paws.
Yes, he has doggie boots, but refuses to wear them and work. He’s no fool in this part of the world it is only the Englishman who ventures forth under the midday, well even mid morning Sun.
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