I lived up north my entire life.
I only relied on oil furnaces, there was no need for AC.
The summer time season is short and not recognizably hot. There would be one or multiple days of heat that would follow with frosty mornings. There was no reason to have AC, a pool or any other summer time related things. My family had several gas furnaces in the house. The two of us had a kitchen heater, gas fireplace in the kitchen and an aged Moore heating system upstairs, however even with all several gas furnaces running, the home wasn’t ever toasty. The hot and cold temperatures would get to -20 degrees. It was strenuous to heat a immense home that was so cold. Adding insulation, caulk and putting towels around the doors only helped so much. When I moved down south I was happy to no longer experience snow and severe cold. I still wanted a heating plan in my house. I talked to my Heating plus Air Conditioning business and he was adamant that I needed a/c. I felt crazy buying a cooling plan when I have never needed one before. The guy sold myself and others on a ductless heat pump and I am so thankful. Thank goodness I didn’t go without AC for even a month. The south is the reverse of where I used to live. I now use AC all the time! Very rarely do I need to turn on my oil furnace. It is a nice change up. I now get to be too hot for once and easily get a tan. My spouse and I are looking into buying a pool.