wrote:

Weather station instruments are commonly placed at airports or other
open areas. That may not be representative for an area that otherwise
has dense vegetation and/or standing water. Airports have to be level
and dry enough to land planes, and they also usually have a lot of
paved or concrete areas and low cut grass. That means more wind can
sweep the ground, less groundwater can be transferred by vegetation
into the immediate air, and temperatures and humidity can differ from
areas nearby.

Houston has two measuring stations, the airport, with a 96' elevation
and a 96 F 1% summer design temp, and "Houston County," with a 108'
elevation and a 97 F 1% summer design temp. Not vastly different :-)

Whole house fans were common in the south before AC, and venting is
just a variation on this. The success of those whole house fans often
depended on measures such as opening certain windows after 10 PM and
closing the house up tight before 8 AM, drawing all the curtains, and
sweating out the early evening on a porch. Once AC became affordable,
life changed for the better. Getting people to go back is nearly
impossible, and Nick should know this, but his stubbornness lack of
experiential knowledge prevents it.

Automatic controls can turn on a fan when outdoor air is cooler and drier
than indoor air, in the absolute sense. This is quite recent, with existing
unexpired patents for drying out houses after floods and so on. See
http://smartvent.net.

Nick