What an exciting Labor Day weekend, huh? Summer may not officially end for a few more weeks, but my neighborhood loves to treat this holiday as an excuse to get the grills burning and have one last summer party. Usually the weather has cooled down enough by September for us to enjoy the weather, but this year has been one for the record books as far as heat goes. The weekend before Labor Day, we saw a high of ninety degrees. Labor Day weekend? One-hundred and five degrees, with no breeze! My husband was outside getting the grill up and running, but he came back inside after ten minutes to get a glass of water and a cold damp towel. He was drenched in sweat, and then he stood right under the supply vent for our ductwork. The air conditioning system we’ve relied on is a large evaporative cooling system, which works incredibly well as a cooling unit when you live in a hot dry place. It’s incredibly energy-efficient since only one small pump is needed for the system to run, and it works better than a conventional compressor/condenser system that relies on Freon to cool the air. Still, the system did have one drawback – the air circulation by the system was less than perfect for our home, and we’d only feel cool if we stood right under the ventilation registers for the ducts. After consulting with an HVAC specialist, we installed several duct booster fans around the ductwork of the house to more effectively circulate air. We’re still only using a fraction of the energy needed to run a forced-air system, and maintaining our system is as easy as a biannual visit from our heating and air conditioning service company. Now my husband just stands under the vent out of habit!