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The first two weeks of August are the hottest days of the year in South Florida. And while the temps will likely stick to the 90s, they’ll “feel like” the hundreds. So if you plan on making the most of the season before the weather turns too cool for a night swim, you’re going to need the inside scoop on all the hottest events, coolest excursions, and spontaneous adventures that South Florida and the general road-trip area has to offer. To infinity and beyond! Here are the top 50 fun activities you should do before the summer ends in South Florida.

50. Go water skiing on a zipline at the brand new watersports complex at Amelia Earhart Park in Hialeah. 49. Take a hike through the grand oaks and hammocks on a nature trail at Greynolds Park in North Miami Beach. 48. Visit Robert Is Here fruit stand in Homestead, FL and have a tropical fruit shake. 47. Go fishing off a bridge in Key Largo

46. Go parasailing on South Beach or skydiving in Homestead! 45. Have a beer at Mac’s Club Deuce 44. Go to Shorty’s and have them make you a BBQ picnic basket then take it to your favorite park and enjoy delicious southern BBQ as good as it was in 1959 43. Go on a date night at Bird Bowl 42. Take a road trip to Marco Island, Sanibel Island, or Captiva Island off the southwest coast of Florida. 41. Visit Coral Castle and learn about how a five foot tall Lithuanian immigrant built a castle for the girl that broke his heart. 40. Swim in the world famous Coral Gables coral rock quarry freshwaters of Venetian Pool 39. Climb the lighthouse at Alligator Reef near Upper Matecumbe Key and Key Largo. 38. Take your dog to one of only three official dog beaches in Miami at Haulover Beach, Hobie Beach, or North Shore Open Space Park 37. Go spearfishing off of Dania Beach, one of the quietest and most picturesque stretches of shore in the tri-county area 36. Paddle or motor your way out to a boat party on Nixon Sandbar 35. Go fly a kite or let a kite fly you when you go kiteboarding at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne 34. Visit the Salvador Dalí Museum in St Petersburg 33. Go tubing on the Ichetucknee River at Ichetucknee Springs

32. Disney World! 31. Have a world famous Le Tub burger in one of South Florida’s most iconic outdoor eateries.

30. Hang 10 on your surf or body board at Cocoa Beach, home of Kelly Slater, one of the most famous surfers of all time. 29. Fire a fully automatic machine gun at a paper target at Lock and Load Miami 28. Go to a rock concert at the historic Respectable Street Cafe in West Palm Beach 27. Stroll with your sweetie along the great Hollywood Broadwalk or just chill on the beach and watch the sun set. 26. Take a date on a romantic excursion to Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach. 25. Go canoeing in the Peace River in Arcadia, Florida. 24. Fly through the air at Flying Trapeze School in Miami’s Bayfront Park. 23. Check out the Miami Marlins for rock bottom prices on tickets for a home game. 22. Go snorkeling at John Pennekamp State Park, the first underwater national park in the United States 21. Walk around all day in the beautiful air conditioned expanses of the 3rd largest mall in America, the Aventura Mall.

20. Take a sea turtle hatchling tour along Broward or Palm Beach County shoreline. 19. Visit the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center, a one of a kind zoo experience. 18. Take a River Walk bike tour through downtown Las Olas and enjoy all that Ft Lauderdale nightlife has to offer as you cruise the streets safely. 17. Take a tour of the amazing Dezer Collection at the Miami Auto Museum featuring all the cars you’ve ever dreamed of and more! 16. Go out for dinner, drinks, and dancing at YOLO, one of the hottest destinations in Ft Lauderdale 15. Go out for dinner, drinks, and salsa, merengue, and flamenco dancing in Little Havana for Viernes Culturales, one of the hottest monthly cultural events in all of Miami 14. Check out the FAT Village Art Walk in Ft Lauderdale and The Wynwood Art Walk in Miami for a night full of visual enjoyment. 13. Go to the Craft Beer Bash in West Palm Beach and enjoy over 120 craft brews on tap along with great food and music. 12. Pretend you’re driving through the African wilderness at Lion Country Safari in Palm Beach County for big cats and big fun. 11. Visit Rapids Water Park in Palm Beach County or Wet N Wild in Orlando (before it closes its doors for good in 2016). 10. Play 18 holes of Adventure Mini Golf in Lake Worth and see if you can get a hole-in-one! 9. Visit the world’s largest collection of art by Latin American masters, from Botero, to Lam, Bermudez, and Atchugarry, at the Gary Nader Art Centre in Wynwood. 8. Spend a day playing croquet at the largest croquet complex in the world at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach. 7. Rent a jet ski or waverunner on South Beach and enjoy the cool blue waters of paradise at 50 miles an hour. 6. Take an Alligator Tour with the Gator Boys at the world famous Everglades Holiday Park in Broward County. 5. Go to a drive-in movie on a Friday night at The Swap Shop, one of the top 3 tourist attractions in the state of Florida. 4. Check out a nationally touring band from any genre at Revolution Live in downtown Ft Lauderdale. 3. Take a Superfast Ferry to the Bahamas, and drink and gamble the whole way there! 2. Go swimming and wildlife watching at the underwater macro photographer’s paradise of Blue Heron Beach in Palm Beach County. 1. Call Direct AC immediately for our Air Conditioning Blowout Sale and learn about our ecological, money saving, healthful, and award winning sales, service, and installation for all of your home or office cooling needs.

Counting Down the Seven Best Air Conditioner Brands:

Most experts will agree that the performance of a central AC system depends on two things: how well it is installed, and the components that make it up. This means that choosing the right air conditioner goes a long way in determining how efficiently even the most expert HVAC installations perform. In an effort to make it easier for you to understand what brand of air conditioner is best, a list of the best brands has been compiled for you below, complete with rankings and a comprehensive list of reasons for its place on the list. With everything from SEER rating to customer service taken into consideration, we’ve taken the doubt out of the decision process, helping you to make the best choice of AC to install in your home or business.
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7.Rheem
Rheem doesn’t boast the highest efficiency (partly why they’re at the bottom of our list), but they do have some of the most cost-efficient units to install. They’re reliable for their price class, and customer support for Rheem air conditioning units is solid. Also, considering the company offers a 10-year parts warranty with a 10-year conditional replacement warranty, Rheem offers one of the better solutions for those shopping AC units on a tight budget.

6.Goodman
Goodman units aim to fill the gap between high- and low-priced air conditioning AC’s. While they don’t have as many features as Trane, Bryant, or Daikin, they still offer an effective solution for homeowners trying to find an efficient AC unit that will fit their budget. The one thing to keep in mind with Goodman though is that their efficiency relies heavily on the skill of the professional installing the unit.

5.Lennox
Lennox is known for creating high-efficiency AC units. Their XC21 model has a SEER of up to 21.2, and their more affordable XC17 unit can achieve a SEER of up to 18 when installed by a reliable technician. Their warranty covers all parts for up to 10 years when the unit itself is registered within 90 days of purchase. Check out our Lennox AC units.

4.Carrier
Carrier excels at two things in particular: unit sturdiness and its ability to remove excess humidity from your home. When used in tandem with the high-efficiency units that Carrier tends to provide, these features can result in a very comfortable and cooled environment that’s easy to breathe in.

3.Daikin
Daikin is a multinational company that boasts a higher efficiency rating using less power than other AC units. The only complaints Daikin customers seem to have had with the company’s units concern their international customer support. Daikin units also sport HVAC systems that may not always be as efficient as the top two brands on this list.

2.Bryant
Bryant as a manufacturer competes with other companies due to their strict guidelines regarding how their units are constructed. As a result, Bryant units tend to be more durable in terms of wear and tear than other units, though they don’t perform as efficiently as Trane units. Regardless, Bryant AC’s will operate efficiently, while also requiring less maintenance.

1.Trane
Number one on our list, Trane marks highest not just because their models boast an efficient average rating of 23 SEER, but because—like Bryant—they have a remarkably stringent set of established guidelines for how their units should be installed. In the world of HVAC, more stringent guidelines work to ensure that the unit’s central heating and cooling capabilities run at the manufacturer’s published efficiency ratings because fewer shortcuts have been taken. Check our available Trane AC Units.     So if you’re in the market for a new AC unit, keep these ratings in mind. Once you’ve made your decision, give Direct AC a call and we’ll get you started on the path to a new AC.
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We hear much about tropical cyclones, but just what are they? Recognized as a storm system with a center of a low pressure, tropical cyclones rapidly rotate. They are characterized by strong winds and thunderstorms which may contain heavy rain. They begin over bodies of water with warm temperatures and are energized as the water evaporates over the surface, forming clouds that produce rain after it has condensed. Within the northern hemisphere, cyclones rotate counterclockwise. Categorized by various terms, these cyclones have different names, given according to their strength.

Tropical Depressions
Maximum sustained winds of 38 mph (33 knots) or less mark this category of tropical cyclone.
Tropical Storms Maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph (34 to 63 knots) is considered the tropical storm form of a cyclone.

Hurricanes
Called typhoons in the western Northern Pacific and cyclones in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, hurricanes are tropical cyclones with maximum sustained winds of 74 mph (64 knots) or higher.

Major Hurricanes
Maximum sustained winds of 111 mph (96 knots) or higher are the mark of these tropical cyclones. They are measured by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale to determine if they are Category 3, 4 or 5. Cyclone names have been determined several years in advance and make use of a diverse range of male and female names. Having originated with the National Hurricane Center in 1953, Atlantic names are now maintained and updated through a strict procedure by the international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. One can find lists of names through the year 2019 for the Atlantic region; these names will be recycled every 6 years. Only in the event of a deadly storm will a name be retired, as many will be sensitive to that name for quite a while. Offending names are taken off the list and replaced with another starting with the same initial. The official season of the Atlantic Basin, which consists of Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico is from June 1st to November 30th. Peak season is from mid-August through late October, as shown by hundred-year cycles.
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Before today’s modern mechanized age, such ordinary concepts as food refrigeration were out of reach to many. The only way to refrigerate food was to transport ice from a cold climate down to the city where it can be consumed. This was exceptionally expensive and was something that almost nobody could afford. As time went on, refrigeration techniques continue to advance to the point where today there widely used throughout the world. Even those in poor, third world countries are able to use mechanical refrigeration is a cost-effective way of saving money on food. This article will explain how the world got to its current point by refining primitive mechanical refrigeration techniques.

The first artificial refrigerator was created by Scottish scientist named William Cullen, who created the first refrigerator in 1755. This machine was highly experimental, and was not intended for consumer applications. This refrigerator simply functioned within a lab and created a vacuum that created cold air. Another primitive refrigerator was created in 1758 by Benjamin Franklin, who found that rapid evaporation could be utilized in a way that could cool an environment. He began experimenting with alcohol and other rapidly-evaporating substances in a successful attempt to cool water below the freezing point. In his experiments, he was able to get the temperature of his thermometer as low as 7°F, which is far colder than most of today’s consumer freezers. While these early attempts were certainly exciting, it would take further advancement before they would ever be considered as a way to preserve food.

In 1842 a man by the name of John Gorrie built a working refrigerator that was able to cool food even in a tropical climate. Unfortunately for him, the device was a complete failure because customers simply couldn’t understand the reasons why they would need the device to cool their food. At this point in time, most individuals preserved their food with primitive methods that used salt or smoke. Building on Gorrie’s advancement, a man by the name of James Harrison utilized refrigeration technology to build the first refrigerated ship in 1873. This ship, called the Norfolk, was used to ship beef from the United Kingdom to the United States. However, this too was a failure, and it wasn’t until 1881 when William Soltau Davidson built the Dunedin that commercial refrigerated shipping became viable.

In the early 1910’s, General Electic pioneered commercial household refrigeration. As electricity access became more widespread, by 1930 the average price of a refrigerator was cut by nearly half and refrigerator ownership was obtained by more than 30% of households. These refrigerators, under the brand Frigidaire, were a huge commercial success and are one of the main reasons why a electrical refrigerators are still used to this day.

South Florida summers can feel unbearable, with average temperatures hovering around 89°F. This may not sound bad until you factor in the humidity index. Mornings have average humidity levels of 90, dropping to 55 in the afternoon due to frequent showers. In fact, South Florida receives 45 inches of rain each year with as much as seven inches in the month of July alone. All of these factors mean that it is crucial to have an efficient cooling plan in place in order to stay comfortable during the summer months.

The Hottest Month in Florida
Although temperatures in South Florida are pretty consistent, August is the hottest. Highs reach an average of 90°F. This intense heat is due to South Florida’s location. It is closer to the equator than any other contiguous U.S. state, except for Texas, which beats Florida by 2 miles, and its latitude positions it close to the sun, even when the Earth is tilted on its axis. This means that South Florida gets direct rays from the sun all year long.

The Highest Humidity Months in Florida
From June through September one can expect high humidity that adds to the hot and sticky feeling in this region. Because Florida is a peninsula, it is surrounded by water on three sides. The seawater is an important source of moisture for the atmosphere. The warm waters around South Florida have a higher evaporation rate, and the warm air retains more moisture than in colder climates. Breezes off the water carry this moisture over land.

The Rainiest Months in Florida
June through September is also South Florida’s rainy season. That moisture brought over the land with the sea breeze rises and forms clouds. These clouds provide rain. The frequent afternoon showers and thunderstorms are simply distilled ocean water. They do provide residents of South Florida with a bit of comfort, but the results are short lived. By morning the humidity index will climb again.

This combination of heat, humidity, and moisture creates conditions that are ideal for natural disasters such as hurricanes and tropical cyclones. These storms tend to increase during the rainy season each summer. Having an efficient home cooling system will make these conditions more bearable to residents of South Florida.

Florida is home to five major aquifer systems, without which the Sunshine State, as we know it, could not exist. Virtually all municipal water comes from these systems. The Floridan Aquifer is one of the most productive artesian systems in the world, and lies beneath the entire state of Florida. The water in the porous carbonate rock is pressurized by the weight of the overlying bed of less-permeable sediments. Brackish in the deeper southern regions, it has been used there as a liquid ‘garbage dump’ via the disposal by deep injection of municipal sewage and industrial waste. While the Floridan aquifer is the primary water supply for North Florida, parts of the state rely other, shallower aquifers. The Sand and Gravel Aquifer provides water for Santa Rosa and Escambia counties. It consists of two zones of highly permeable sand and gravel confined by silt and clay, with the lower zone being the main producer.       The Biscayne Aquifer relies on permeable limestone surrounded by less-permeable sand and sandstone. Like all Florida’s aquifers, it’s fed by precipitation, and, due to the more porous nature of its overlying material, the Biscayne can quickly replenish its levels, which is good since it supplies the population centers of Dade, Broward, and part of Palm Beach Counties. The Surfical Aquifer is basically the water table near the surface. Unconfined and usually not very thick, it generally provides water for domestic and small town use. The Intermediate Aquifer system is a permeable layer of sand, shell, and limestone lying between the Surfical and Floridan aquifers and confined by clay. Servicing parts of southwestern Florida, it’s used for both municipal and agricultural purposes. Florida’s aquifers are under stress, because there is far more demand for water than there is water itself. The growing population means municipalities, agriculture, and industry are competing for a limited resource, resulting in over-pumping. Depletion of the aquifer frequently results in saltwater intrusion, and, the deeper aquifers, the water may not be replaced at all. The effects often appear on the surface, in the form of sinkholes; lower underground water pressures sometimes result in subsurface collapses that can be catastrophic. The Florida aquifer system is seldom thought of, because it lies out of sight, but it’s one of Earth’s great natural wonders and the Sunshine State’s most useful servant. What it will be in the future, however, is up to us.