Click Here

Family Forgoes Air-Conditioning for Summer

Family Forgoes Air-Conditioning for Summer

Tracey Olilveto and Jerry Stifelman moved to Carrboro for a simpler life.

Both work at home. They’re writers and environmentalists. But the couple has been getting a lot of attention lately, and it all started with a wedding gift.

Their friend Sami was getting married and said he felt guilty about the pollution caused by his plans to fly away on his honeymoon.

“That's when we decided, for the month of June, the month he was getting married and going on his honeymoon, we would not use the air conditioning to further off-set what was happening with his airplane flight,” Olilveto said.

With no air-conditioning, the family relied on a ceiling fan, shade trees and a new awning to help block the sunlight and keep the house cool.

“June was beautiful,” Olilveto said. “June was easy.”

Their son, Shay, caught up on summer reading under the ceiling fan. They decided to stretch the gift through the summer. Then came July.

“It felt a little harder,” Olilveto said. “And that was the first time I started shedding as much as I could with clothing and keeping the shades drawn."

Now it’s August and 100 degrees.

“We definitely had to make some concessions, in part just to get some sleep,” Olilveto said.

But during the day, they still shut down the A/C.

“It's funny to do something that makes sense and get attention," Stifelman said.

It’s not so funny when you realize they cut their electricity bill in half.

The couple is receiving national attention as well. They will be featured on the syndicated public radio program "The Story" on Friday. The show is produced at WUNC-FM.



420 Comments


Golo

Welcome to GOLO, where WRAL.com visitors can comment on stories and create profile pages, blogs and photo galleries.

You must be a registered WRAL.com user to use these tools. Click here to register or log in.

View Comments View Comments

Photo Spotlight
0
1
2
3
4
5
[+] more photos | submit your photos
Report It
Send us your news photos, videos, tips and story ideas.
Submit Videos Submit Photos Submit Reports
  1. 2009christmasparade
    Bands, marchers in holiday parade

    Choose your group to watch their performance in the 2009 WRAL-TV Raleigh Christmas Parade.

  2. 2009christmasparade26
    Web only: Complete 2009 WRAL-TV Raleigh Christmas Parade

    Watch the parade in its entirety from the comfort of your computer any time.

  3. taxes
    Search for missing IRS refunds

    The Internal Revenue Service released the names this week of more than 100,000 taxpayers who have not received their 2009 income tax refund.

  4. County Unemployment Rates
    North Carolina unemployment rates

    View an interactive map with county unemployment numbers.

  5. Drought Map
    A year of N.C. Drought Maps

    View a time lapse animation of drought conditions during the last year.

Click Here