I have a big, very old house with steam heat, no air ducts. I do have some large window A/C units, but haven't used them for a few years. I do what you do, block the sun with drapes, I use fans to bring in cool air at night, I have ceiling fans in every room. If we get extreme heat, I will use my window A/C units, but I rarely need to do that.

Good lord,... remember to pull the shades and draw the curtains or the neighbors will tag you an exhibitionist.

many houses had a big "sleeping porch" on the side of an upper floor with open windows and screens. The entire family would moves beds to that area in early summer and back to the bedrooms in the fall. It was a necessity.

That was not an option for most of the population, however.

and in summer use them for ac when it's in the 90s. So occasional use here (southern Maine).

where we don’t even need AC.

We do as you are now (open windows at night, etc) and do absolutely fine. 2 or 3 times last summer i took a short drive to enjoy the automobile AC, but that was it.

Our most recent electric bill was $20. not a typo.

water, sewer, trash, electric is all on one bill and totaled less than $110.

the only other utility we have is gas (heat and stove). Really cheap also.

Spending time outdoors kind of adjusts my internal thermostat. I'm generally good in summer with a fan going.

Of course the rest of the civilized world isn't having that. At the moment I'm sitting at work taking a short break, wearing a jacket trying to keep warm indoors because the AC is cranked up.

I live in Coronado, Ca., across the bay from San Diego. Technically, we are an island so we're surrounded by water. In the summer, we get gentle breezes from the ocean which helps cools us down. It will get hot, for us, in August with temperatures reaching mid- to high 80s for about two weeks. I open windows and use fans during the day. At night, I have a small, portable fan on the dresser which keeps me cool. It also helps that my condo is well insulated keeping it cool. I have radiant electric ceiling heating and in the winter I've only turned it on about 10 times in the last 20 years.

id use it to go all over southern ca. by the time i left , dispach was calling me on how to route ppl.