COLD AND HOT

We had an ice storm in February.  As the temperature dropped outside, we appreciated the warmth inside.  We reminisced about our comfort and how it had changed during our lifetimes.

One of the early houses Ken remembered had two fireplaces.  One fireplace was in the living room.  On the other side, it opened into a bedroom.  This was the only heat in the house except for the butane cook stove in the kitchen.  Ken’s job every morning was to start the fire in the fireplaces.  He brought the wood and kindling inside the night before so it was ready for the morning.  These two rooms and the kitchen were the only warm rooms in the house.

The house in Breckenridge where I grew up had a natural gas space heater in the living room.  The bedroom doors were closed to keep the cold air out of the living room.  Upon arising, I would dash into the living room and stand with my back toward the heater.  Then I would turn and warm the front of my body.  The kitchen was also warmed by the gas cooking stove.  In 1941, the house was remodeled and enlarged.  Space heaters were added to the bedrooms.

The only cooling during the summer was open windows and oscillating fans.

We built a house in Abilene (Texas) in 1960.  It had a gas furnace for heat.  An evaporative cooler was mounted on the roof for cooling.  The ductwork had vents in every room.  This greatly improved our comfort.

Our houses in Arizona in the mid-sixties also had furnaces and evaporative coolers.  We thought we had air conditioning.  The evaporative coolers worked well in the desert.  We realized the natives called them swamp coolers.  Air conditioning was what we called “refrigerated air.”  Evaporative coolers were not considered air conditioning.

Our next move was to the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas.  The climate was too humid for the evaporative coolers to be effective.  Fans and window air conditioning units helped.  One of our nephews said, “This is the only place I’ve ever been where I step out of the shower and start sweating.”  Winters were mild and space heaters kept us comfortable.

We moved to Georgetown, Texas, in 1972.  Our house was our first to have controlled heating and cooling.  We are now accustomed to the warm and cool thermostat controlled temperature.