On a humid summer morning, the temperature inside John Klingman’s 19th-century home hovers around 80 degrees. There’s no air conditioning running, but it doesn’t feel stifling. Fans circulate air across shaded floorboards. Louvered shutters manage the sun like clockwork. Birds chirp in the garden.

“So you see, we’re in pretty good shape,” Klingman said, pausing by a thermostat. “We’re not even close to the limit of comfort.”

Over a decade ago, Klingman was featured in The Times-Picayune for doing something most New Orleanians would never attempt: living without air conditioning by choice. Readers had a lot of thoughts about it.

“Most of the comments were negative: ‘He’s crazy, why would anybody do that?'” Klingman said.

But 13 years later, the 78-year-old is still at it — mostly. Abo

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