Having grown up largely before home and auto are conditioners were common, I resisted the notion of buying a home air conditioner until 1988 as an extravagance. However, coming home from work dusty, hot, and tired day after day to a cranky wife and children helped me make the jump and buy an 8,000 btu window air conditioner that cooled the dining room and a couple of adjacent rooms. I should have done that years before.