Heat Wave: A powerful ally
Once a luxury, air-conditioners now are ubiquitous -- almost.
Growing up in the great City of Chester, I recall that only two people in our dense neighborhood had air-conditioning. Sadly, one was an invalid; the other truly believed that he was.
Today, air-conditioning is almost as common as indoor plumbing, and no doubt it has been a source of comfort, if not a life-saver during heat such as this.
According to the Census Bureau figures, in 2003 over 90 percent of the two-million-plus households in the Philadelphia region, including apartments, had some form of air-conditioning. About 50 percent of them had central air.
No doubt all that juice to power central and window units has been a boon for utilities and stockholders.
On the down side, we can infer from the Census numbers that about 100,000 households lacked air-conditioning.
Just looking at the tragic pattern of heat-wave deaths over the years, it is safe to assume that a preponderance of those were clustered in the urban row-house neighborhoods that the heat-vulnerable tend to inhabit.
During heat emergencies, Philadelphia urges block captains to go out and scout out those people and urge them to get to an air-conditioned environment, even if only for a short period.
It is known that just taking a break in an air-conditioned room can keep someone alive.