Have not run the air conditioner yet this year…
3 minute read
June 27, 2013, 11:58 PM
I don’t know about you, but I have not yet run the air conditioner in the house once this year. I realized this when I got a memo from the property management last week that said that they were coming through to do the quarterly filter changes on our HVAC units. I realized that they could probably save a few bucks on my apartment’s filter, because I barely used my HVAC unit at all in the last few months. The last time the filter was changed was March 27 (first time in six years that I was actually there for it), and I think I may have run the heat a couple of times, but otherwise the thing has been more or less silent all season. And I will say this: it’s nice to have a June electric bill of $50.13. That’s my lowest June bill yet, and that’s even against the very mild summer of 2009.
That brings me to the next question: has it been a really mild summer this year, or is it just me? The last three summers, I had the air conditioning on for much of the summer, and needed it. This year, nothing. I’m starting to wonder if it’s just me, though, since I’ve heard people complain about how warm it is outside and the humidity and such, but then when I’ve been outside, I’ve been fine. Can’t complain. Seriously, I even wore my hat all the way through to June 21 this year. This week is the first where I haven’t worn it to and from the office.
This whole thing about my being not hot at all while many others have complained makes me wonder if it’s not related to the massive weight loss in 2011-2012 (I’ve been more or less stable since July 2012, much to my dismay – I want to lose even more). The last time we had a mild summer, in 2009, I was quite the little porker, tipping the scales somewhere in the upper 300s range. And then for two out of the last three summers, I was still quite heavy. Therefore, I wonder if having so much extra body fat for so long has altered my perceptions of what’s hot vs. not.
Think about it for a moment. This was me from the Splash Photo for May 2009:
Then here I am in the Splash Photo for August 2012, with my sister:
Significant difference there. I lost weight just about everywhere (but my hat still fits!). A lot of insulation went missing. So I’m wondering if all of that extra insulation for so long has made my body accustomed to a certain level because it’s holding extra heat in. Now that the insulation is gone and heat can escape, I wonder if that’s why I’m perceiving this summer as being so nice – because my body doesn’t know any better and is used to the old baseline from fatter days.
But in any case, I haven’t run the air conditioner at the house at all this year. Now of course, I reserve the right to be wrong about this. The possibility exists that friends and coworkers are just less tolerant of temperatures than I am. Likewise, it could just be a really nice summer we’re having. But still, it’s worth my exploring about how weight loss affects perception of temperatures. It could be interesting.
Postscript: By the way, nothing above should be taken to mean that I haven't run the A/C in the car, either. No, the Soul's air conditioning is often on, since the car sits in the sun and is usually blazingly hot when I get in it from that. Just saying.
Categories: House, Weight loss