Growing up, we almost always had the air conditioning in the house running for most of the year.
But I grew up and moved to a new place where I only needed to run my HVAC installation seasonally.
The rental apartment I got had an old quality HVAC that ran out of its life shortly after I moved in. The a/c worker who came around to check on it mentioned that we could replace it with an electric heat pump, but the owner was not keen on spending that much money to help with indoor comfort. I did stay without an AC but soon needed one. I called the a/c professional who’d handled the air conditioner tune-up on the old unit before it gave up to come to assess the house for a solution that would not need extensive work. Luckily, the space was small enough and could survive with a simple ductless mini-split system, which I bought at the indoor comfort business without thinking twice. The cooling specialist assured me that it would be enough for my space, and a little research led me to purchase a digital thermostat to help with efficiency. There were more options at the cooling corporation, but they all meant spending more money which would have been needed to be more sustainable for a rental apartment. I also discovered that the air conditioner service and maintenance for my new unit would be easier and cheaper than it was with the house’s central HVAC. I kept the unit going for the two years I rented the house without encountering any problems. The owner did refund the unit’s worth when I moved and even went ahead to equip the other homes with similar systems.