New Englander here, too. Came to Baltimore in mid-50's. Hated the summers, but we just took the heat as a fact of life. I do recall my first summer -- had a job in the basement of Latrobe Hall, a massive old building, and it stayed relatively cool in the heat. I recall that there were some "real" power outages and there would be repeated abortive efforts to get the power up: the system would almost seem to groan (!) and go down again. We opined that it was because everyone's motors were pulling their starting currents all at once. A classmate who had a downtown summer job with AC was envied, but I don't recall any real whining -- it was how it was.

I lived on Calvert St that year, and people would turn the TV to face the window & sit on the porch to watch it. Nobody had "air conditioning" -- it was an unthinkable luxury to have more than a small window unit in the bedroom. Bought our first house in 1958 & never even considered the optional AC, it was seen as an unaffordable luxury. We got along with just the bedroom unit until we moved in 1969. Still hate the summer weather & miss the natural lakes & ponds, but I have to say I think there is just too much whining.

I didn't have AC throughout my house until 1991 when I was a freshman in High School. Prior to '91 we had AC on first floor (where my parents master bedroom resided) living space but not upstairs where my bedroom was. We had an exhaust fan as you describe that sucked in the cooler outside air and pumped out the hot air through the roof. It did a pretty nice job. I was young at the time but I don't remember being too hot during the summer months.

-Dave

I grew up in central Florida and my grandmother on my mothers side home never had AC. She never lived in a home with AC ever! Granted she was born in 1880! But her home and those around her all had wide porches, and roof lines that extended about 10' past the foundation line, that produced shade on the windows. Every side of the home had windows, and she had box fans in one window on every side of the house that she would set to draw air in and push air out depending on which side of the house the sun was hitting. She was always very aware of what time of day the sun hit which wall. She wouldn't cook during the day either, preparing things after dark for the next day. To people of her generation that's just what you did, cranking the AC down a few degrees simply wasn't an option!

Well, "back in the day" 900 people didn't "cope" very well at all.

The heat waves of 1972 in New York and Northeastern United States were significant. Almost 900 people perished; the heat conditions lasted almost 16 days.

Those are just the people who died. One has to wonder how many ended up in the hospital.

You report about record breaking heat in one column, yet in the next, you diminish the health concerns and actual impacts of those living through that heat + the heat index, and CODE RED air quality by asking if those upset at BGE are "wimps" for not being able to handle the heat.

It's attitudes such as yours, which result in people disregarding the dangers of hyperthermia and trying to "man up" to avoid being called a wimp.

I've always enjoyed your columns Frank, but to be candid, implying that maybe people in the "old days" were tougher than they are today, does not educate people. It does nothing more than dissuade them from acknowledging they may be heading towards heat stroke.

I guess only wimps "turn around and not drown" huh?

FR REPLIES: Not at all. The comment was in the form of a question. "What do you think?" ... followed by two options: Either BGE screwed up and made people unnecessarily miserable, or some of us are wimps for not being able to cope with the loss of air conditioning (after being paid by the utility to do just that). It was an invitation for readers to express their opinions, which they did, on both sides. Regular readers of the Weather Blog know that I have repeatedly passed along Code Red and other hot-weather warnings from the weather service and health authorities, and reminded drivers not to drive through floodwaters. And I have been accused more than once of "scaring" people unnecessarily when I pass along warnings from forecasters that potentially dangerous heavy rains or heavy snows are on the way. I do believe people, out of necessity, were better at coping with extreme summer weather in the absence of AC than many of us are today. Just the same, I'm grateful that many more of us have it today, and I worry that my son, by choice, does not.

I think there's also a tolerance factor here.

When I lived with no A/C, I think I tolerated heat better. The body adapts to its climate. That's why 60 feels hot in the winter, and cold in the summer.

Now, most of us are used to sitting in very chilled offices (I suspect that studies show that keeping it cold makes us more productive), driving home in our chilled cars, arriving at our chilled homes. We don't adapt to the heat, and we suffer more when we don't have our precious A/C.

I actually did my usually 1.5 mile walks at lunch last week ... yes in the shade, but with temps still in the mid to upper 90s. I hardly broke a sweat. Much of this whole issue can be attributed to adaptation (or lack thereof).

I do think there is a tolerance factor - I don't deal with heat as well now that AC is everywhere as I used to, however:

I grew up in the Cleveland area, and as a kid had no AC. Even in Northeast Ohio's summers, that average some 5 to 7 degrees cooler than here, I remember many sleepless muggy nights, sprawled out in little clothing next to a fan trying to sleep. That said I also had no problem playing out in the heat all day as a kid.

Not sure how I'd ever do it now.

I also have to say that I'd rather work in a slightly cold office than a hot one. If I'm cold, I tap my legs a lot but I get work done.

If I'm hot, I slow down to about 50% normal speed and don't get much done, so LJ Kirk, I think you're right about what you said.

Ultimately, if you have little control over your surroundings, it's easier to warm up when cold than cool down if hot, since you can't remove clothing in an office, and most office buildings don't have openable windows or a supply of fans.

Dad used to talk about the days he grew up in Bolton Hill during the 20's. Many of his neighbors would walk up to Druid Hill Park on Hot evenings and camp out overnight in the relative cool there.

Growing up, I experienced no AC until I had my own apartment after university. Saturday and Sunday felt nearly comfortable compared to Friday, I thought.

I agree with you Frank; regarding that out of necessity, people were better able to cope with the heat. And LJ Kirk pinpointed the reason; physiological acclimation. Unless one works outside or in a steel mill, those who are acclimated to office temps, are not prepared for a heat index of 115. Just as people accustomed to living at ocean level end up with high altitude sickness within 48 hours of arriving in Colorado.

In regards to those 900 people who died in 1972, they were most likely elderly, those with CHF, emphysema/asthma or infants.

Fast forward to 2009. The same type of individuals receive phone calls from BGE representatives who have the job of "selling" a customer on a product.

Those representatives courted and wooed the potential consumer into Peak Rewards by offering to cut their bills in exchange for allowing BGE to cycle their A/C a "few times a summer" and that the customer would likely see "only a 2 degree increase in temperature," or that the 100% cycling "wouldn't last more than 4 hours." And lastly, that if the customer became uncomfortable, "they would be able to opt-out two times during the summer."

The elderly, those on limited incomes, parents of asthmatic children, and anyone interested in cutting their summer bills to offset the sky rocketing winter bills BELIEVED what the BGE representative told them about the cycling. And believed they had two opportunities to say "enough is enough turn my A/C back on." So of course they signed up.

What should be apparent by now, is that BGE sugar coated the worse case scenario, by not addressing it at all. Was that done deliberately as to not scare off potential Peak Reward customer enrollments? Probably. Scratch that. HIGHLY LIKELY...

For if a BGE Rep had stated something akin to "there may be times when we will shut off your A/C for up to 10 hours during the hottest days of the summer. You might want to consider the health of others living in the home. Your home could reach over 90 degrees for quite some time. And there will be no chance to opt-out or have your A/C turned back on, until BGE decides the event is over." I'm betting a moderate percentage of potential customers would have said "not have any control, whatsoever? No thank you."

It's called full disclosure. But BGE Reps verbally sugar coated their sales calls, and used obfuscating language in their documentation, to obtain as many enrollments as possible. Including those who would have been better off maintaining full control over their environment for health reasons.

The question to ask is how much money do people end up saving, when they rush a family member to a hospital for heat related illness. And by doing so, pay a large deductible because they were unable to avert the health crisis by making use of one of their 2 opt-out chances?

The bottom line is, BGE had something to sell, and they put that consumer good in an attractive package, which is the essence of "selling" anything. But, in their pursuit of high enrollment numbers, they CHOSE to withhold/blur or play down what the buyer might have to deal with in a worse case scenario.

For those with health issues, that choice on the part of BGE, was a foolish one. Negative perceptions travel much faster than positive. And BGE now has a Public Relations issue to deal with, in repairing the trust given, and the integrity expected by many of its customers.

Lastly, anyone who contemplates labeling an elderly, retired/fixed income, CHF/emphysema/asthmatic patient (or their caretaker) as being a "wimp" should thank their lucky stars they are not part of that group; and pray they never find themselves in similar shoes.

FDR REPLIES: If senior discounts are the test, I already belong. Thanks for your commentary.

Our family of nine lived in a house in the Ashburton neighborhood of NW Baltimore with a huge fan that filled the large center dining room window. No switch on this fan. It had to be plugged in every time to run the motor. It had a washing machine motor that spun the fan by means of a (fan)belt.

After my father had a heart attack in the late 60s there was our first ac window unit in my parents bedroom. It was a Sears Coldspot with one switch knob to choose 'fan' 'cool' and 'off'. It is probably still working somewhere.

@icyone who wrote: "...miss the natural lakes & ponds..."
I've read from multiple sources over the years that there are NO natural lakes in Maryland, all landlocked bodies of water here are man-made.

Frank, do you have any definitive source about this?

FR REPLIES: I believe you are correct. But I think icyone was referring to his native New England, where there are lots of natural lakes and ponds.

In the old days we didn't have air quality warnings telling you not to go outside and breath too much.