AvodasChesedOutofTwn

In case some one is about to buy one:

1) get help to buy one the right size. Too big will cool the airand stop cooling before it dries it- leaving you cold & clammy.

2)Read Consummer Reports or similar – for example, the amount of noise they make varies widely.

3) Also be aware that SOME AC’s can run on a “Shabbos clock”, but others will NOT come back on when the electricity is reconnected. This is not only good for Shabbos; for instance you can set it to come 1/2 an hour before you come home from a sweaty commute from work on a particularly hot day.

4) Installed it should tilt out SLIGHTLY. You don’t want water to run IN to your wall or home, but you don’t want all the water spill out the back either. Water in the case of the AC is GOOD- to be available so the unit can splash it up on the Hot coils outside. That water provides about 75% of the cooling efficiency.

Assuming this is a sincere question,my answer- different humans have different needs, and there are guests & family members to consider. Of course there are questions. The more we spend “on ourselves” the less we have available to give to tzedakah, but it is not exactly an either or equation. With AC I personally can function (without it I am like a beached whale!) and functioning also means I can earn more dollars, or raise funds for a cause, thereby having AC AND even more dollars for tzedakah. Each day I try to think twice, briefly, before switching it on, about the extra hours we will work to pay the electric bill, and the planetary resources we use. But I am NOT entirely a fan of “back to the simpler times”. When I grew up FEW households in my low income neighborhood had AC. We got ONE after two members of our family became violently ill from the heat one night. People slept on roofs at night. Argued about who got to sit in the bathtub full of cold water. Fled to the streets and got in irritable-mood fights. Insects got in open windows and spread illness. During heat spells shelters had to be opened and people died from the heat regularly. I am happy we have other choices.