Texas Summers (Austin, Columbus: how much, house, schools)

[carshell]

Ok, Austin is a potential city for my family to move to from So. Cal. I'm debating between Madison, WI and Austin, TX and possibly a few other cities. What concerns me is the heat I've heard that is common in Texas in the summer. Can you tell me how hot it gets and humidity levels and what do people do to cope besides be inside air conditioning all day? LOL. It's either hot summers or cold winters....

But we have 3 young kids, want a family friendly city with great schools, low cost of living and and

Thanks for any and all replies!

p.s.do you need to run your AC all year long in Austin or just 3 or so months out of the year and during the summer how much is your electricity bill?

[Gemini1963]

You're right that it's either hot summers or cold winters. I grew up in Chicago then spent 6 years in Vermont, then 13 years in Austin, and finally I had to toss in the towel and move back north. I now know that for my "hard" season, I MUCH prefer cold and snowy to the Texas summer. Summer of 2011 was brutal, with 90 days over 100 degrees. To me, it's like being on a moon colony, there really is no escape. (It does NOT cool off at night -- coming from the north, that is the one of the very weirdest things to have to get used to, climate-wise.) And the drought and wildfires made it so much worse.

We kept our well-insulated 1500 sf house at 80 degrees and our August and September electric bills were $200 and $217, respectively.

I think we turned the a/c on in May and had it on -- except for the hellish 10 days when we were awaiting a new compressor under our home warranty and had no a/c at all... -- continuously through September, for sure. Probably into October for a bit, but I am not sure.

[bld44]

p.s.do you need to run your AC all year long in Austin

Pretty much, yep.

and during the summer how much is your electricity bill?

At least a few hundred per month.

[carshell]

Ew, that sounds pretty bad! Well I've grown up in probably one of the best climate areas in the us. I definitely count myself lucky on tge few days that we hit 90( no ac in our house) but at least the pacific ocean breeze usually cools us back down to the 60s at night.

I think I've pretty much made up my mind! Lol cold does sound better!!

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by carshell

p.s.do you need to run your AC all year long in Austin or just 3 or so months out of the year and during the summer how much is your electricity bill?

I disagree that we have to have our AC on practically all year. We haven't had ours on since maybe October (not sure exactly.) When it gets to about 80 degrees, it is still fine without, as the house doesn't warm up that fast. We love the time of year when we can have the windows open - like now, if it isn't raining. But no argument about the worst of the summer heat. And last summer was really awful, especially with the fires, fear of losing trees to drought, etc. We are hoping that this summer will be less dry, as we have had a MUCH wetter winter this year than last. If you can't stand heat, however, I would try for someplace else. It can get claustrophobic during those summer months if you have to stay inside.

[texastrigirl]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

I disagree that we have to have our AC on practically all year. We haven't had ours on since maybe October (not sure exactly.) When it gets to about 80 degrees, it is still fine without, as the house doesn't warm up that fast. We love the time of year when we can have the windows open - like now, if it isn't raining. But no argument about the worst of the summer heat. And last summer was really awful, especially with the fires, fear of losing trees to drought, etc. We are hoping that this summer will be less dry, as we have had a MUCH wetter winter this year than last. If you can't stand heat, however, I would try for someplace else. It can get claustrophobic during those summer months if you have to stay inside.

Except if you have allergies, it's hard to have the windows open at all which was the case in our family. I found we used AC consistently from about April to October and then heat in Jan/Feb. Nov and March are the best weather months in TX IMO.

[EzPeterson]

It really all depends on how you're "wired". This year has been fantastic since October - we've barely used our heater or AC. In fact, I had to turn it on for the first time a couple weeks ago to get it serviced before selling the house. I personally love it when it's hot, I mean 100+ hot, I can go walk a round of golf in 2.5-3 hours, head up to the lake, hit the pool, etc. I can be outside in 105 weather and be fine... the minute the thermostat hits 80 indoors? I lose it. We keep the house around 75-78 through the summers. Just checked the electric bill from last August, and it was $95 for a 1600sf house.

If you're not an outdoors type when it's cooking, you'll likely find yourself complaining about the heat.

Although, Madison, WI is a total beast. My job had me in Columbus, OH (way mild compared to Madison) for a year and that was the most miserable I have ever been in my life.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Gemini1963

You're right that it's either hot summers or cold winters. I grew up in Chicago then spent 6 years in Vermont, then 13 years in Austin, and finally I had to toss in the towel and move back north. I now know that for my "hard" season, I MUCH prefer cold and snowy to the Texas summer. Summer of 2011 was brutal, with 90 days over 100 degrees. To me, it's like being on a moon colony, there really is no escape. (It does NOT cool off at night -- coming from the north, that is the one of the very weirdest things to have to get used to, climate-wise.) And the drought and wildfires made it so much worse.

We kept our well-insulated 1500 sf house at 80 degrees and our August and September electric bills were $200 and $217, respectively.

I think we turned the a/c on in May and had it on -- except for the hellish 10 days when we were awaiting a new compressor under our home warranty and had no a/c at all... -- continuously through September, for sure. Probably into October for a bit, but I am not sure.

Im originally from illinois and there is no way I would move back It is easy to escape the heat, but impossible to escape the cold. You can be outside in the pool in 110 degree heat, but when it is 30, you cant really do anything outside.

I would say your house was probably not well insulated or your AC was incredibly inefficient. Our house is 2800 sq ft and except for maybe one month, our electricity bill was around 150, dropping down to maybe 50 in the winter. We also keep the house at 76 degrees all day because my wife is a stay at home mom.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by EzPeterson

It really all depends on how you're "wired". This year has been fantastic since October - we've barely used our heater or AC. In fact, I had to turn it on for the first time a couple weeks ago to get it serviced before selling the house. I personally love it when it's hot, I mean 100+ hot, I can go walk a round of golf in 2.5-3 hours, head up to the lake, hit the pool, etc. I can be outside in 105 weather and be fine... the minute the thermostat hits 80 indoors? I lose it. We keep the house around 75-78 through the summers. Just checked the electric bill from last August, and it was $95 for a 1600sf house.

If you're not an outdoors type when it's cooking, you'll likely find yourself complaining about the heat.

Although, Madison, WI is a total beast. My job had me in Columbus, OH (way mild compared to Madison) for a year and that was the most miserable I have ever been in my life.

get used to mosquitos and humidity in wisconsin. Literally mosquitos everywhere. I visited a client and they had mosquitos in the lobby so the receptionist had to blow a fan on herself all day. She still pretty much was getting eaten alive.

I love the heat as I can pretty much do all my sports - just drink a lot of water. When it is cold you literally cant go outside, but when it is hot you definitely can.

[EzPeterson]

I shudder still when thinking about those mosquitoes up north. Austin's bats have nothing on those vampires.