Post #1320859

2026-03-29 20:18 UTC

An intetesting peculiarity of living in #SocialHousing is that we are explicitly banned from having window-based #AC in our units. While I live in #Alberta, my understanding is that this ban is found throughout social housing #leases in #Canada. Granted, the writing style and language choices strongly suggest such leases were drafted in the early 1970s at the latest, and back then I would have easily agreed that #AirConditioning would not be necessary. However, 50-some years on, the heat is routinely a bajillion (estimated 😛) degrees higher and #disabled folks and others in social housing are BANNED* from installing what is literally life-saving equipment under the 'new normal' of our #FireSeason summers. *TBC: portable AC units are not explicitly banned (not commercially-available yet when the leases were written??? 🤔) but these have limited range and are usually energy-inefficient compared to modern AC window units 6/x #health #safety #medical #medications #disability #poverty

Replies (2)

@likelyjanlukas@mstdn.ca 2026-03-29 20:26

In light of the above--a combination of increasing environmental stressors that negatively affect my #disability management and day-to-day functionality against a background of ongoing pandemic--it should come as no surprise that my #SocialHousing unit is presently the very opposite of tidy. Annual stretches of multi-month #physical non-functionality from #ExtremeHeat (and also often terrible #AirQuality) make it tough to keep up with all but the most basic tasks. And for many #disabled folks, our disablities, chronic #MedicalConditions, necessary #medications, and so forth may already have made "keeping up with the basics" pretty challenging in the best of times. And these are NOT the best of times. Not by a long shot. 7/x #housekeeping #chores #DailyCare #DailyRoutines #RoutineTasks

Open ##1320858
@Amgine@mamot.fr 2026-03-29 20:31

@likelyjanlukas If by 'portable' you mean the kind of heat pump device with one or two air hoses connecting to the outside (usually via a window,) I think you will find they are considerably more energy-efficient than the the traditional 'window A/C' (which is an earlier heat pump technology.) We recently donated ours after moving to a place with heat pump heating/cooling. Our first one was such a life-improving change, we had to make sure our current unit would help someone.

Open ##1715813