[jean_ji]

Originally Posted by kombuchaluchador

It isn't enough though. The humidity in Florida is pretty intense and I haven't seen anyone in Florida yet who just decides not to run their A\C. Most people I know keep their houses at ice box temperatures. It's weird that people move to "paradise" and don't actually make any attempt to acclimate to it. Must not be that much better than anywhere else I guess.

I keep my house at 77 and sometimes that feels quite warm. It sometimes is even a bit difficult to sleep. A dew point of 75 would be more or less unbearable to most people. I have to say I'm a bit skeptical of your claim.

Real feel temperatures in the summer I have seen anything from 105 to 115. There's never a break from it like other areas in the South when you get a 78 degree day on August sometimes. It's remarkably consistently oppressively hot.

People want San Diego weather at FL prices. It’s trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and people just really want it to work. It’s hot, it’s humid, and AC is needed in FL. All the things the OP listed will help the electric bill, but it doesn’t lessen the need for AC.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

Re-plant live oak trees. They are basically indestructible.

I've seen plenty fall over rover. Total rotten trunk inside clyde.

[MrJester]

Originally Posted by jean_ji

People want San Diego weather at FL prices.

That actually describes people who move to San Diego more than it does people who move to Florida. At least people know very well that Florida is as hot and humid as a jungle, even if they've never been to Florida!

California on the other hand...everyone thinks that even places like Bakersfield, San Bernardino, and Fresno are nice, cool, and seldom get above 80 degrees during the summer!

[craigiri]

Originally Posted by MrJester

Does anyone in Florida have a home like this?

1. Very good insulation
2. Many trees in the backyard shading the house
3. Little to no carpet. It's almost all either tile or hardwood.
4. Interior and exterior walls are painted in a light color
5. The house is NOT westward facing
6. Ceiling fan in most rooms
7. All windows have shades/blinds

If so, how much does this help during the summer to reduce air conditioning use?

As an aside, does anyone do this while they sleep at night:

1. Wears gym clothes (you know, sweat-wicking, short-sleeved shirts and shorts) as pajamas
2. No socks
3. No blanket

How much does sleeping like this reduce your air conditioning use?

Well, we don't have all of those, but most!

Shaded with trees and large overhangs. No carpet (that's the right idea for ANY florida house). Ceiling fan.

Not well insulated and older A/C

Total electric bill (2 people in 1200 sf house, all electric) has been $70 to $100 a month for the 4 months (Dec - April) here on the Gulf Coast. If I insulated even just the roof (flat) and put a higher efficiency A/C in I think we'd be at $50-65.

Hot Water, Laundry drying, Dishwasher, How Water, etc...

[sinatras]

I have a 1960s concrete block ranch 3/2 home that is totally shaded 100% by 60+ year old grandfather live oaks that have been through many storms and are just fine. I literally have giant oak limbs hanging over me (over my roof) at this very moment. I have been told by many arborists that the limbs will PROTECT my home in a storm, not destroy my home. In terms of the home, insulation was added. The house faces north. No carpet; we have terrazzo and wood. 2000 square feet. All electric appliances. Fans going 24/7. I keep my thermostat at 73 year-round. Even keeping the AC at 73, I get hot at night. I sleep in the nude unless it's cold. Sometimes I kick the temp back to 70 b/c I'm still hot. Electric bill is never higher than $150. Thank God for Trane heat pumps! During winter my bill is around $70 something. Even in winter I have to run the AC in order to de-humidify. If you don't run the AC, you will get invaded by mold and mildew inside the home.

There are major drawbacks to shade, however. The primary drawback is mosquitoes love shade. The other major drawback is that during pollen season and other times everything outside becomes covered, and I mean COVERED, with leaves, yellow pollen, and other crap that has to be raked or cleaned up. The other drawback is lack of sun = lack of vegetable garden.

When I go to my brother's house, or somebody else's house in Florida, and the AC is set at 77, 78, 79, I want to leave, immediately. And usually I do. I don't have to endure being hot b/c someone else is too cheap to run the damn AC. If the AC is inadequate in a restaurant, store or other place, I leave immediately as well. If you Google "what is the ideal temperature for the human body?" the answer to that question is 70 degrees F, and I agree wholeheartedly. Our body processes actually function at peak level when it's 70 degrees. Luckily that is a quite common temp in Florida, DURING WINTER.

Needless to say, during the months of May to September, the only outdoor activities I do in Florida are:

Exiting my cold house to my car
Exiting my cold car to my cold house
Swimming in cold water

That's IT.

I am a native Floridian and for me, it feels hotter every year.

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by jean_ji

People want San Diego weather at FL prices. It’s trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and people just really want it to work. It’s hot, it’s humid, and AC is needed in FL. All the things the OP listed will help the electric bill, but it doesn’t lessen the need for AC.

This is exactly right. San Diego weather is perfection, the prices are not.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by sinatras

I have a 1960s concrete block ranch 3/2 home that is totally shaded 100% by 60+ year old grandfather live oaks that have been through many storms and are just fine. I literally have giant oak limbs hanging over me (over my roof) at this very moment. I have been told by many arborists that the limbs will PROTECT my home in a storm, not destroy my home. In terms of the home, insulation was added. The house faces north. No carpet; we have terrazzo and wood. 2000 square feet. All electric appliances. Fans going 24/7. I keep my thermostat at 73 year-round. Even keeping the AC at 73, I get hot at night. I sleep in the nude unless it's cold. Sometimes I kick the temp back to 70 b/c I'm still hot. Electric bill is never higher than $150. Thank God for Trane heat pumps! During winter my bill is around $70 something. Even in winter I have to run the AC in order to de-humidify. If you don't run the AC, you will get invaded by mold and mildew inside the home.

There are major drawbacks to shade, however. The primary drawback is mosquitoes love shade. The other major drawback is that during pollen season and other times everything outside becomes covered, and I mean COVERED, with leaves, yellow pollen, and other crap that has to be raked or cleaned up. The other drawback is lack of sun = lack of vegetable garden.

When I go to my brother's house, or somebody else's house in Florida, and the AC is set at 77, 78, 79, I want to leave, immediately. And usually I do. I don't have to endure being hot b/c someone else is too cheap to run the damn AC. If the AC is inadequate in a restaurant, store or other place, I leave immediately as well. If you Google "what is the ideal temperature for the human body?" the answer to that question is 70 degrees F, and I agree wholeheartedly. Our body processes actually function at peak level when it's 70 degrees. Luckily that is a quite common temp in Florida, DURING WINTER.

Needless to say, during the months of May to September, the only outdoor activities I do in Florida are:

Exiting my cold house to my car
Exiting my cold car to my cold house
Swimming in cold water

That's IT.

I am a native Floridian and for me, it feels hotter every year.

Cuz it is getting hotter.

Look at the temps over the last 8 years and see how many more days have been above normal. It's been on a ramp up since 1990 and the ramp up is getting faster and faster. This is my snow ball effect i have talked about before.

[johns55]

Originally Posted by MrJester

I must just have an even higher tolerance for humidity than any of you. Nothing below a dew point of 75 even registers as humid to me. 80 degree dew points are still quite nice to me.

You are definitely in the special category. My father is the same way. Loves hot weather, BUT, let it get a little cool and he does nothing but complain. Me on the other hand, loves the cool weather and will sleep with the windows open when it's in the 50's.

[MrJester]

Originally Posted by johns55

You are definitely in the special category. My father is the same way. Loves hot weather, BUT, let it get a little cool and he does nothing but complain. Me on the other hand, loves the cool weather and will sleep with the windows open when it's in the 50's.

I can't take hot and dry weather, though. It has to be hot and humid.

[craigiri]

Originally Posted by jean_ji

People want San Diego weather at FL prices. It’s trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and people just really want it to work. It’s hot, it’s humid, and AC is needed in FL. All the things the OP listed will help the electric bill, but it doesn’t lessen the need for AC.

You can easily buy two houses (obviously for work-at-home types or earlier retirees) - one in the Mid-Atlantic or New England in relatively proximity to the Bay or Ocean and one in Florida...and still be well below SD prices.

For many of us this is/was the solution since we tend to have family and/or roots connections to the east and ohio, etc.

Many lament the prices in the Bay Area but it's largely the same deal. There is only a very limited about of real estate that has the true Med. Climate and it's surely not enough of it to satisfy the demand.

That said, if one has the freedom and a few bucks the area 1 Hr. North of SF is amazing nice (Point Reyes and even inland Petaluma, etc.) and you can get something decent for "only" 400-500K and be near some of the most beautiful sights on planet earth.