My family shares a huge hunting lake house in the northern United States nestled along a creek in a giant pine forest. My Grandfather and 1 of her close friends built the lake house way back in the 1950s, and it has been shared among descendants of both patriarchs in the decades since. Because it was always intended as a hunting lake house foremost, and, since hunting season in that region lasts through the coldest time of the year, heating was the only Heating & Air Conditioning consideration when it was built. First there was a classic fireplace and chimney, however soon that was replaced by an even more efficient wood stove that also doubled as a hot surface for cooking food. The two of us have the same wood stove in that lake house that our Grandfather also installed over 40 years ago. I swear it must work as well as it did when it was brand new. It’s incredibly efficient, and it has little trouble warming up the lake house with minimal wood. This last year though, I instead decided to plan a fishing trip. This time I would be in the lake house in late July, particularly the hottest time of the year for that region. This would be our first true test in an environment like this without air conditioning, and I was completely not prepared. The first night was easily annoying – I had more than 2 separate fans running with every single window in the lake house open. This persisted for all 5 evenings I spent there, and I easily only got relief when I was swimming in the creek. I’m going to look into installing a new ductless mini split a/c just to use for cooling purposes in the summer. It would make an immense difference in everyone’s comfort.