>We didn't have central air in Wisconsin when I was growing up but I remember some days it was so hot and miserable that we couldn't get comfortable no matter what. We would put up fans in every room in the house and still be miserable. It was too hot to sleep even. There were usually no more than a few days like that every summer though.
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I was astonished to find that most houses here (northern Marin county) did not have AC, especially since I knew that temps can (and frequently do) climb into to upper 90's and that triple digits is not that rare an occurance.

Unlike the rest of the country, the heat goes away at night. Simply open the windows and by 8PM the house has cooled plenty. We usually sleep under blankets regardless of how hot the day has been.