The Great Debate: When Does the Hudson Valley Flip the AC Switch?
Though the past couple of days have been pretty picture-perfect when it comes to temps here in the Hudson Valley, late last week and over the weekend the heat and humidity combo was pretty killer. It seemed like almost overnight, we traded in our sweatshirts and jeans for tank tops and shorts.
With that comes the question, when does the Hudson Valley make the switch to AC?
Cooling the Hudson Valley
Though many of you who answered our informal poll on social media about when to turn on the AC were on the same page, talking with people in person about it turned out to be a bit more....heated? It ended up being somewhat of a controversial topic of conversation, as people I chatted with discussed a number of factors that go into the decision on when to officially turn the air conditioning on for the season.
- home vs. office cooling: like, the building you work in does not have its cooling system on yet but it's definitely on at home.
- window units vs. central air: some people don't have their window units installed and others don't turn on the central air until having it serviced for the season.
- all day every day vs. never use it: this one was concerning, there are actually people who don't use AC, like, ever?
I'll tell you that personally, I can't handle sweating in my house, especially not when I'm getting ready to go to bed, so you better believe that as soon as my thermostat at home tipped the 70* mark, I cranked that AC all the way up, and kept it on for like 4 days straight #noshame - I grew up in a house that felt like a walk in cooler from late spring through fall, what can I say?
So Where Does the Hudson Valley Stand When it Comes to AC?
When prompted on one of last week's hot days (Thursday 5/13) with an adorable photo of my cat trying to cool off along with a comment about turning the air on for her and the question 'do you try and hold off until a certain time before powering up the AC?' - here's what some Hudson Valley-er's had to say:
- Immediately, I like to be cold. It's on, it has been on, and it'll probably stay on until October - Emily H.
- Started ours yesterday - Malissa C.
- Just turned it on for the first time today…also for my cats - Shannon M.
- I have a husky so I turned on yesterday for first time - Donna B.
- If I’m sweating while sitting still for more than 10 minutes, ac goes on. We started our yesterday I think - Quinn J.
- Yea we cranked ours up - Kevin W.
- A/C never went off - Jeanmarie R.
- Had to do it. Turned it on 3 days ago. Try to hold off as long as I can - Vickie K.
Based on those who joined the conversation, it seems like many of us crank those units up at the first sign of a hot day. You can join the conversation on Facebook here, or chime in on Instagram below: