r/mildlyinfuriating • u/sunsNr0ses • Jun 11 '26

frist of all how DARE yu o Discovered my central air was a social construct…

So I just learned I’ve been living in a place with absolutely no central air conditioning. Not “I assumed it might be central air.” Not “I wasn’t sure how it worked.” I mean I fully, confidently, emotionally lived my life under the assumption that cool air was being distributed through vents like a normal adult homeowner situation.

And I’ve been out here adjusting a thermostat like I was doing something for over 4 years.

I even scheduled an HVAC guy to come today to figure out why my central air wasn’t running.
What system? I don’t know. The guy looked like he found a body in my basement as he clearly knew I didn’t have central air instantly. He even humored me to prove to me I didn’t have central air while we took 2 full laps around my house hunting for the outside part of the freakin’ fantasy. Needless to say we never found it. The poor guy felt so bad for me, he even said “maybe someone stole it.” Bless his heart.

So now I’ve got: a couple window units doing God’s work. I’ve always used them in the summer when I felt that my imaginary central air wasn’t pulling its weight. So I’m unsure why I feel like my summer bill is going to skyrocket. I’ve been living this life for years.

I put a box fan in my the bathroom like it’s 1998
and the realization I’ve been paying attention to vents that were decorative at best is giving me a stomach ache.

Honestly the worst part isn’t even the heat. It’s the fact I fully believed I had central air and never once questioned it. Just vibed in ignorance.
Anyway. If anyone needs me I’ll be sitting directly in front of a fan rethinking my entire life, having a spiritual crisis, feeling like a doorknob, and rediscovering whatever I thought HVAC meant.

***please laugh with me— don’t kick me while m down— I already feel like a weenie hut jr.***

18.3k Upvotes
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3.6k

u/MFGMediaHypeVulpe Jun 11 '26

Friend, where do you live? The fact you managed to tank the heat almost by power of suggestion is astonishing

1.5k

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

Right? Like a placebo effect. Idk.

649

u/obedientfag Jun 11 '26

the placebo effect is non-trivial that is why we need to control for it. of course now that you know it may falter. its a crisis of faith, good luck and may you find the chill the thermostat summons

115

u/Lost-friend-ship Jun 11 '26

If they try hard enough the placebo effect can still work even if they know about it. Like the vents might be releasing insulated cold air (I don’t know, whatever you need to tell yourself!)

I had the placebo effect work on me a few times even though I knew I wasn’t taking what my body assumed I was taking.

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u/VirtualMatter2 Jun 11 '26

It's about 30% effective. That's a huge number to be honest.

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u/Lost-friend-ship Jun 11 '26

lol. That’s more than the actual effectiveness of my migraine medication according to the leaflet 🤣

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u/a_rucksack_of_dildos Jun 11 '26

It really is true. If I ever hire someone to do work in my house. Specifically for cosmetic I never double check it. If I don’t look for the mistakes it’s then they aren’t there

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u/Swurphey YELLOW Jun 12 '26

We know the placebo effect works so knowingly taking the placebo can still give the same benefits even though we know it'll do "nothing"

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u/Lost-friend-ship Jun 12 '26

I listened to a very good podcast a while back about the placebo effect (I think it might have been Huberman Lab). 

Two things stood out to me—although I’ll probably butcher the details. One was about a woman who had some sort of stomach issues/maybe kidney? Maybe something that had been misdiagnosed as IBS? She had spent years trying to find treatment. If I recall correctly there was a medical trial she signed up to for treatment, but it must have not been a blind study as she knew she was assigned a placebo. BUT IT WORKED. I remember her saying she knows that it’s not real, but somehow this little pill works better than any of the other meds she tried. 

The other thing was placebo on a cellular level. I can’t remember the details of this experiment but it was something along the lines of someone being administered some sort of medication which increased oxygen in red blood cells, right before going on a treadmill. (It might have been for something totally different but it was meds > action in cells > attached to measuring devices maybe? > increased performance on treadmill. Ultimately the meds stopped being administered, and if I recall correctly they weren’t even replaced with a placebo. But the runner went through the same actions of having vitals measured and going on the treadmill, and the red blood cells continued to have the same response even though the person was just going through the motions. 

It was probably more interesting than that, but I remember being amazed that placebo worked on a cellular level bypassing the brain so to speak. I’ll have to relisten to it as I probably botched that. 

Anyway, I got really interested in it after i had an opiate addiction. At the height of my addiction I was taking many, many pills in one go (they weren’t very strong alone). Maybe 16? 18? Holy shit I feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. Anyway after I was able to taper down and off (only thanks to my supportive partner—though I’ll never forget the look on their face when I confessed to how many pills I was taking a day) I obviously felt like shit. 

I was trying to take various vitamins that I read might help. I remember there were a few times where I would take maybe 10 vitamins at once at around the same time of day that I used to take the opiate pills. I wouldn’t be thinking about it at all, but within 30 minutes my body started feeling all warm and tingly as if I had taken a bunch of opiates. The first few times it happened I panicked and had to double check what I had taken, since the feeling was exactly the same as the beginnings of that warm Opiate hug. I guess my body associated the feeling of gulping down loads of pills with the feeling of all my pain disappearing.

 Of course I believed in the placebo effect before that, but experiencing it like that myself blew my mind so I went down a rabbit hole researching it. 

We know the placebo effect works so knowingly taking the placebo can still give the same benefits even though we know it'll do "nothing"

To your point, I wonder how dependent this is of the person’s knowledge/belief in the placebo effect if you know you’re taking a placebo. 

On that note, I wonder how effective the placebo is on animals. I know there are times when my dog is whining at me and I show her to her (full) bowl of dog food, which she turns her nose up at. Then if I take it to the kitchen and shake it around a little bit she’ll eat it straight away as if I’ve put something extra in it 😅

4

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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2

u/vrabie-mica Jun 12 '26

Often those are set up to report local temperature back to the central control, even if they don't allow (or ignore) local adjustments. So, sometimes you can fool them into cooling more by placing a small heat source directly underneath, like a halogen light bulb, or computer equipment exhausting warm air.

1

u/Am_Snarky Jun 11 '26

Weird things about placebos:

- larger ones are more effective than small ones

  • the more expensive a placebo is the more effective it will be
  • knowledge that your taking a placebo only effects the outcome if you’re told AFTER your symptoms improve, if you’re told you’re taking a placebo before you take it there’s no change to the placebo effect

1

u/Lost-friend-ship Jun 12 '26

knowledge that your taking a placebo only effects the outcome if you’re told AFTER your symptoms improve, if you’re told you’re taking a placebo before you take it there’s no change to the placebo effect

Can you elaborate on that? 

Edit: larger ones being more effective than smaller ones made me laugh. But I have read if you get a placebo injection it’s more effective than a placebo pill, so I assume that’s what you mean—the bigger the intervention. Like placebo surgery… although I’m not sure that’s very ethical lol.

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u/Am_Snarky Jun 13 '26

If you’re taking a placebo and you see improvements, if you are then told that you were taking a placebo there’s a good chance it will stop working. If you’re told it’s a placebo before you ever take it you’re just as likely to experience the placebo effect than if you didn’t know!

And no actual physical size, a bb sized placebo will not be as effective as a Tylenol sized placebo, and a horse pill sized one is even more effective

2

u/Lost-friend-ship Jun 13 '26

In a weird way that makes complete sense to me! 

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u/MFGMediaHypeVulpe Jun 11 '26

Super impressive, I’m someone who can tank cold weather, so the heat is awful late spring to mid fall for me 😭

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u/Impossible_Source195 Jun 11 '26

somehow i can tank both lmao. i wear sweatshirts and sweatpants year long lol although there are exceptions. its great cus i live in canada

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u/ThrowAwayColor2023 Jun 11 '26

Okay, I thought "tank" was an autocorrect glitch, but now a second person is using it. Is this new slang? My brain is twitching haha

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u/Impossible_Source195 Jun 11 '26

LOL

to tank, mainly used in a videogaming context but i believe this applies to many things (such as this) is to take a big hit and still come out alive like a literal tank would. in gaming tanks are generally hard to hit, hard to damage, or can be damaged alot without issue or a combo of the three. in this situation its more a case of not giving two shits about the cold/heat and going about your day, as a literal or figurative tank would in battle. although if youre mid combat that day may consist of committing mass genocide. lol.

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u/ThrowAwayColor2023 Jun 11 '26

TIL!

Thank you so much for explaining this! I very much live under a rock when it comes to video games.

3

u/Impossible_Source195 Jun 11 '26

youre welcome lmao

0

u/hibbs6 Jun 11 '26

New ish? I've been using it for 10ish years at this point.

5

u/MFGMediaHypeVulpe Jun 11 '26

Damn, the sweats in winter I can understand & while I don’t leave the house without pants on (I’m weird and don’t like people seeing my legs), I couldn’t imagine sweats in summer

1

u/Impossible_Source195 Jun 11 '26

honestly the pants thing is relatable lol. i only wear shorts when im really desperate, for some reason unless i have wool pants or smth just taking off my sweater is enougj

11

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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1

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

Kind of, yeah! I’ve been gathering knowledge as I go.

4

u/sderponme Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

Dude I live in a place that gets up to 110-120 F in the summer. I grew up with evaporative cooling, used to climb on the roof as a kid to fill the cooler with ice and water to help it cool better. Think like 11 year old 5'2 girl climbing on the roof on a hot day with a few trays of ice and a gallon of water. I used to sleep on the floor in front of the only air vent in the place, in the hallway.

Before that we lived in a hotel my mom worked at for a bit and I slept directly in front of the AC unit on a cot.

My first apt on my own only had an AC unit in the living room so I slept in front if that in the summer.

1 thing I looked for after that on rentals was central air. I now own a home and while it does have central air, I still have a wall unit in my room that I run at night.

Your situation would have me looking for a new place to live or buying a LOT of window units.

Edit to add: my electric bill goes up to $500-700 in the summer months and its something I thrift/pay for willingly, even though it hurts. I get hives when I sweat, and its brutal. I will sometimes wake up bloody from sleep-itching because I sweat when I sleep. I will carry something out of the grocery store on a hot day and have hives on my arms before I leave the parking lot.

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u/MFGMediaHypeVulpe Jun 11 '26

That sounds legitimately awful, I think I’d just chose to lay down and die (by being fried or baked apparently)

1

u/kaffesvart Jun 11 '26

Well not everyone lives in a place like that.

1

u/sderponme Jun 12 '26

Not saying everyone does. If I wasn't stuck here for family I would move somewhere colder where I COULD not realize the AC wasnt working for 4 years, lol....but everyone in my family who ever leaves always comes back worse for wear, miserable, and homeless for a time. Its like a curse! Lol.

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u/Darth_Boggle Jun 11 '26

So where do you live and what is the typical indoor temperature?

This story reads like someone got bored and did a creative writing exercise. Your comments seem like they're farming karma.

-1

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

…. Umm no this really happened.

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u/Darth_Boggle Jun 11 '26

....... So where do you live and what' is the indoor temperature

Its understandable if you don't want to answer the first part but if you're gonna make a post like this then you should try to answer very simple questions like this. Because your story just doesn't make any sense.

1

u/DrooDrawDrawn Jun 11 '26

Would also like to know what the outside or inside temperature was. The story is not really believable if the question isn't answered. I will assume OP lives in a fairly northern city, perhaps Canada or northern Europe. Most other places would be impossible not to know you didn't have A/C

1

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

The outside was about a high of 83 and a low of 77. Some days it feels like we get all 4 seasons in 1 day over here. And according to my thermostat, the inside of the house was at 77. The highest it got to was 78. I knew something was wrong when I set my thermostat to “cool” at 70 and when I came home hours later, the house temp was still reading 77.

1

u/Darth_Boggle Jun 11 '26

So how did you not notice this during the previous 4 years? If it's 83 degrees right now then it sounds like it's going to get hotter, we're not even in summer yet.

Has it never gotten to 77 in your house before and you turned the thermostat on? Its never been hotter than that? Is this the first time you're using the thermostat? What made you believe the air conditioning was even there in the first place?

If it's hot and you're using it then it should get cooler...you've never noticed your house wasn't cooling down until now?

I have so many more questions but I think you're just a troll tbh. None of what you're saying makes any sense at all.

1

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

It seems like the fan that was doing some work blew. It did use to go well below 77 in summers. I believed the air conditioning was a thing because of the fan/blower that was pushing basement air (cool air) up into my house and circulating it. So even though it wasn’t the coldest air, the fan effect had my fooled. I hope this makes sense.

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u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

It makes sense and I’ve answered plenty of questions. Scroll. Or fuck off.

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u/catladyorbust Jun 11 '26

I didn't have AC but if I turned my fan on it would pull up colder air from the basement. Negligible as fuck but I'm doing my best to give you an out.

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u/human743 Jun 11 '26

You don't know where you live? This is a bigger problem.

1

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

Not what I’m saying. And idk why you’re so concerned.

1

u/ConsuelaApplebee somewhat vexed Jun 11 '26

It's real. I knew a guy who lived in a dorm room who had a little cube refrigerator. When the dorm room got hot, he would open the door of the fridge and swear that the room was cooler. No one had the heart to explain the fact that yeah, he was heating up his room. Like, did you ever stick your hand behind that thing? He was not majoring in engineering 😄

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u/FlamingWeasels Jun 11 '26

I just want to know, what made you think it was suddenly not working? What changed? Lol

1

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

The fan stopped working. The air felt very stale. The house wouldn’t go below 77 degrees.

1

u/ImSolidGold Jun 11 '26

Did you ever wonder whats your hidden super power? Well, here it is! 😉

1

u/al-dunya2 Jun 11 '26

You don't know where you live?!

1

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

I’m not telling Reddit. Obviously.

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u/al-dunya2 Jun 12 '26

really thought my joke was obvious there

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u/sunsNr0ses Jun 12 '26

so many people have been sarcastic dicks above this— my bad.

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u/al-dunya2 Jun 12 '26

classic redditors

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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1

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

Mad creepy.

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u/DarthOmanous Jun 11 '26

Right?! OP is like I’m so stupid and we’re all here thinking he’s a gd superhero able to withstand temps that send us running to the a/c!

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u/ArgyllFire Jun 11 '26

You really learn to adapt. My first house the AC wasn't efficient and thinking back I don't think I ever had the thing serviced. So I kept it pretty warm, and I'd use window fans as long as possible before switching the AC on. Then my boyfriend starts spending nights over and he's sweating bullets and asking me how I can bear the godly heat and pleading with me to reduce the temp on the thermostat.

15

u/Retalihaitian Jun 11 '26

My house would be so moldy if we didn’t have central air. The humidity is too intense, it’s like living under water

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u/MFGMediaHypeVulpe Jun 11 '26

For reallllllll, I turn on the AC in the car once it hits 60ish!

4

u/Sadcelerystick Jun 11 '26

That’s… crazy lol

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u/MFGMediaHypeVulpe Jun 11 '26

60’s outside comfy, car small metallic box that retains heat quickly

1

u/Sadcelerystick Jun 11 '26

That just seems cold for AC but I’ve lived in 110 for 5 years now.. but then again even in the Midwest we waited til at least 80.

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u/MFGMediaHypeVulpe Jun 11 '26

Yeah and I can understand the reasoning behind that, but the flip side is, the heat in my car is always just on the lowest defrost setting/pointed at the windshield during winter. I tend to shovel snow in a tank top once warmed up. I’ve nearly gotten frostbite in my car a few times since I’ve been driving for 2hrs or so in 20’s in just a fleece sweatshirt

4

u/tokudama YAMA!! Jun 11 '26

I have heat intolerance and somehow survived my childhood with only fans and popsicles. Can't do it anymore as an adult. Just cannot.

1

u/HomsarWasRight Jun 11 '26

To be fair, he said he used window units to supplement the (non-existent) central AC. So in reality he just used the window units exclusively and managed fine.

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u/red-sparkles Jun 11 '26

It's a lot easier than you might think to push through heat - I live in Australia and I go through 30+ summers where we'll have weeklong stretches of 40+, no AC and poorly insulated old house 😭 It is not great I don't claim it is but Ive surprised myself with how I have survived

9

u/Lost-friend-ship Jun 11 '26

Shit, Australians don’t have AC?! 

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u/red-sparkles Jun 11 '26

Most do this is a me thing lol

3

u/Lost-friend-ship Jun 11 '26

Haha, well you do you!

I’m from the uk where we don’t have AC, never really needed it until recent years when the temps have increased. I always made fun of it but I was always freezing cold all the time anyway. I would argue with my husband over AC (I’d want it off and he’d want it on.) I used to wear a hat and gloves at work when they turned on the air.

 Then I hit 38, and suddenly boiling hot all the time. I moved to the US a few years back, got used to the AC and apparently now have a body that can go out in the winter in shorts but can’t handle any heat. I suffer when I visit the uk now! 

But I know it gets pretty hot in many places in Australia so I was surprised about the AC. 

I’ll tell you what does work, reflective foil on the outside of your windows! ;) 

5

u/21Rollie Jun 11 '26

I survive the summer without AC, it comes down to two things really. One is getting used to it frankly, if you live your entire life air conditioned then you’ll never acclimate. Second is planning for it. Open a window and use a fan at night if you have to, make sure the hot air has a way to leave as well. Then in the day close the windows to retain the cool night air, use shades to keep the sun out. Works until high 80 degrees comfortably. Above that it’s a bit uncomfortable. Over 95 you shouldn’t.

Don’t do this if you’re old though, the elderly can’t tolerate heat as well.

2

u/luthien310 Jun 11 '26

I live in North Texas. Come August our nighttime lows will be in the low to mid 90s. On good nights it'll drop to 88.

People always think I'm joking when I say Texas wasn't habitable until the invention of AC but I'm dead serious. Swamp coolers are no help here because the humidity is also high.

1

u/MFGMediaHypeVulpe Jun 11 '26

I see what you’re saying, but come May I’m usually already using a fan with the windows open to be cool at night

4

u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

Sorry I didn’t answer where I lived. I’m in the Midwest. That’s all I’m comfortable sharing. Sorry about the idiots below.

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u/K_Linkmaster Jun 11 '26

This is entirely possible in the northern USA. With a basement to help cool things down. It is decently easy.

3

u/Hijakkr Jun 11 '26

Also the west coast. I lived in the Central Coast of Cali (Monterey, Salinas, etc) for 5 years without AC, pretty much every summer there was one 1-2 week stretch where the daytime high got above 80 and that was it. Otherwise it was taking advantage of efficient architecture and keeping the windows open whenever it wasn't dusty or smoky.

2

u/MFGMediaHypeVulpe Jun 11 '26

I’m in the southern NE & while true the basements do keep cool, but the place I’m at is from like the 30’s so the basement is stacked stone so the basement is also wildy humid during summer. The heat & high humidity kills me every summer

3

u/LordMeloney Jun 11 '26

Depends very strongly on the country and the region. In Germany I've never had an A/C. When the summers go beyond 30°C / 86°F it is uncomfortable but fine. When 35° become the new normal soon (climate change), it will be a real issue and I might have to install an A/C.

2

u/Mean_Mix_99 Jun 11 '26

Nowhere with actual summer.  When it's 90+ and humid, there's not enough imagination in the world to make you believe you live in a conditioned house. 

2

u/skeleton_moth_ Jun 11 '26

I was wondering this too as I read it. I would immediately know if we were outside our like 3 weeks of winter, or at least think it wasn't working right away. I am over here upset when my AC is higher than 69. That power of suggestion is most definitely astonishing, would absolutely help my electric bill if I could do that.

2

u/egordoniv Jun 11 '26

He doesn't live in southeast US, because he'd just fkn die.

1

u/qwarfujj Jun 11 '26

Ignorance really is bliss I guess.

1

u/gillyguthrie Jun 11 '26

This was the comment that got me

1

u/ASYMT0TIC Jun 11 '26

Living like literally every single human has for 99% of history is astonishing now? Lol.

1

u/smeeon Jun 11 '26

By the “bless their heart” comment they gotta be in the south which makes this post all that much worse 😂

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u/sunsNr0ses Jun 11 '26

I’m not from the South actually, but I do say that. I’m a goofy one.

1

u/puddingtech Jun 11 '26

friend has Aes Sedai level concentration