[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by PinkString

Secondary and third bedroom face the road. Master faces the backyards. Anything that would be visible from the yards or the road's is not allowed here. And it all has to be approved by the HOA. They will say no, like always.

There's something called a "ductless split system" that would likely work for your MBR.



This one actually is for two rooms, but they also make units for single rooms (just one of the upper pieces). The upper pieces go inside the rooms you want to cool and contain a fan to circulate air through the coil to provide cooling (and heating, if it's a heat pump), and the outside piece goes on a concrete pad on the ground. Two pieces of small diameter copper tubing connect the pieces, and can be hidden by covering them with a piece of conduit and painting it to match the exterior of your house. With some additional effort you could even run the tubing inside the wall so it isn't visible from the outside at all. Cost is significantly more than a window unit, but if you are planning to stay in the house a while it may be worth it.

You can keep your power bill down if you make an effort. I've haven't yet seen a power bill over $200. I keep the house (~2300 sq ft) at 78 degrees F in the summer and run my pool pump 20 hours a day. There's about $60 a month of parasitic usage - that's my typical bill in the spring and fall when the house is empty and the HVAC is shut off, so my bill goes up about $140 during the peak summer months compared to the lowest months. I could probably halve the parasitic usage, but I care more about reducing power consumption during the peak usage months.

[olecapt]

Pink - You can also use a portable and hide the outlet in a window open about 3 inches. There is one for sale down the block...

EVERSTAR PORTABLE ROOM AIR CONDITIONER 8000K mpm08crbb4 - Las Vegas - Everything Else - north las vegas

Do it right and it simply appears the window is open 3 or 4 inches...

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by Tires

Is there any solution to keep trash cans from blowing away between the time the garbage is emptied and the time people get back home to collect the empty bins?

Yes. Put your garbáge in plastic lawn bags. In Albuquerque that was required. At first I thought it would be a lot of trouble, but actually it worked out well.

[Buzz123]

I saw an ad one day recently for a unit that sits on the ground, but has an unobtrusive duct that goes up the side of the house, and can be painted the same as the house. It would require going through the wall with one vent, but that wouldn't be much of a problem. I sure wish I'd had that for our last home. The one A/C unit just wasn't enough to keep the upstairs cool. The neighbor put in a window unit in his front facing bedroom and it always looked really bad, so we didn't want that. We even had a portable cooler that you put ice in. No good either.

[Tires]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Yes. Put your garbáge in plastic lawn bags. In Albuquerque that was required. At first I thought it would be a lot of trouble, but actually it worked out well.

That sounds like good idea, but I bet the garbage pick up company doesn't want to deal with plastic bags that dont fit in their automated clamps and HOAs won't want to allow trashy looking Hefty bags sitting in the street.

[aitchem]

Just got back to Oregon from LV, looking at houses in the Aliante area. One thing I thought might make life easier would be more bridges across the strip, preferably with moving stairs. The traffic lights wouldn't need to stay red so long for the pedestrians?

[Prosze]

I use both garbage bags & cans my HOA doesn't care. Actually i'm getting tired of the pick up guys throwing away my trash cans when they think they are too heavy, throwing & breaking them etc.

What I don't like is when people put the paper recycle bin on the top so that it's contents blow all over the neighborhood. Put it in the middle, is that so hard to do?

[Tires]

Originally Posted by Dltordj

I use both garbage bags & cans my HOA doesn't care. Actually i'm getting tired of the pick up guys throwing away my trash cans when they think they are too heavy, throwing & breaking them etc.

What I don't like is when people put the paper recycle bin on the top so that it's contents blow all over the neighborhood. Put it in the middle, is that so hard to do?

So Republic will pick up loose trash bags by hand? Don't you need to use their bins for the remote control arm to work?

[Prosze]

They always take my bags. This is from their site:

In order to provide you with the finest twice a week solid waste services, we ask that you follow these simple instructions:

• Please use nothing larger than a 33 gallon trash can or lease a 96 gallon mobile cart from us. ALL TRASH MUST BE CONTAINED.
• Please limit your solid waste on any one pickup to six 33 gallon cans.
• Tree limbs must be tied and bundled and should not be more than 6 feet in length.
• You may place your heavy items out on any scheduled pickup day. Limitations: No more than 50lbs and can not be more than 6 feet in length.
• Break down all cardboard boxes and tie them in bundles. The accepted dimensions for broken down cardboard is 3ft x 4ft.
• Please use one location for trash pickup.

& here is a link of accepted/non accepted items AcceptedandNotAcceptedItem

[bay bridge]

I hate the following in Las Vegas:
1. High car insurance costs
2. High electricity cost
3. Low paying jobs.
4. Clark county schools (terrible educational system)
5. No jobs
6. High crime
7. Rude neighbors
And
8. Healthcare here sucks!!!!!!!!