It's hands off here in Arbutus too but it ain't easy! We always try to make it through May if we can. Won't happen though if we have to suffer through another 3-4 day stretch in the 90s.

Frank,

I have held off because I have those window AC's and I guess I am too stubborn to pretty much block off the windows knowing that we are likely to have 5 weeks of decent enough temps to just run a fan in a window or two and cool the house that way.

Call this strategy the reverse of my no heat turn on before Thanksgiving :-)

One that I fail at 50/50. :-)

Don't be nuts and suffer just to prove something! Days like this are what the air conditioner is for. Use it.

We turned on our AC to cool off our upstairs at night - we're in the Mount Vernon neighborhood also. The dew point is low but for some reason it feels more humid than normal.

We made it through another night last night without the A/C. The ambient temp in the house is slowly rising, though, even with all the windows open overnight, and fans in the bedrooms. I don't know if I will be able to hold off today...

As much as I hated to, Woodstock was too hot without it. I turned in on late Sunday morning.

On the up side, my hummingbird feeder had its first ruby-throated visitor this morning.
K-

We haven't seen any need to turn the A/C on yet. The ceiling fans work fine. I'm not suffering and definitely not trying to prove anything, just hate being closed up in a climate controlled house. I would take hot days and cool nights all year long!! Besides, if I turned the A/C on I would miss falling asleep to the tree frogs. :)

FR: We kept ours off, too. It was 82 indoors when I opened the windows, and 83 outside, but dry. By morning we were down to 58 outdoors and pretty chilly inside (I forgot to look). But you're right. We have an American toad somewhere in the neighborhood, and that, too, is a fine lullaby.

I caved and turned on the AC. But that was as much for keeping out pollen as it was to keep cool. I set the thermostat to 75, so it's not like I made the place a refrigerator.

FR: Seventy-five is cooler than we set the AC in summer. We try to keep it aorund 78, and 82 or so when we're away. Readers?

I too have window AC units and refuse to put them in this early, but in my rowhouse in Ednor Gardens (north Baltimore) it was TOO HOT to sleep last night in the upstairs bedrooms, even with the windows wide open and the ceiling fans running. It may cool off at night but it's like that cool air never makes it into the stuffy second floor. I tossed and turned and then finally took a sheet and some pillows and moved to the futon in the basement to get some relief. If I had central air, I'd have probably turned it on, but it's just too early to block the windows with those AC units.

This is great. We love hearing from WeatherBlog readers. One tip: Be patient with this creaky system. There's no need to hit the POST button more than once. I know it's slow, but it works fine, and we do get your post on the first try.

I useed the a/c on Sunday night. I'd spent a long day out in the sun and couldn't get unsweaty! Besides, I had a rough day ahead on Monday and simply couldn't spend the night tossing & turning.

I turned it off and opened up again Monday morning and managed not to turn it back on last night. Really, a/c in April just goes against my grain.

Re: temps for A/C

We have our AC set at 78 during the day, and 74 at night. I just don't sleep well if it is warmer than that.

We keep our AC at 83 when we are not home, 78 when we get home and it drops to 73 at night because I like it cold when I sleep. During the winter I kept the house at 62 when I slept.

I had to turn on the AC this past weekend because my bedroom temp was pushing 92 degrees. It was still 90 degrees in there after the sun went down. That is when I thought the AC had to go on. It went off this morning.