Do Miami homes have heaters? (Orlando: apartments, new home, construction)

[Clodius et Claudius.]

I asked this because in Hong Kong, where the climate is virtually identical to Miami's, there is only AC, but no heater. Why would you need one? At 55 degrees, closing all the windows will suffice.

BTW, are the houses made of concrete? There are no earthquakes in Hong Kong but typhoons are common, so even the few low rise apartments there are are constructed of concrete.

[FlyMIA]

Yea lots of concrete homes in South Florida. The majority of homes are concerte due to very very high building codes and of course protections from hurricanes. As for heat, my home does have heat but it is almost never used it is an electrical heating system no one down here has oil heating or anything like that. But on the 1-3 days a year it might get in the 40s at night it's not bad too have but I agree the vast majority of the cold fronts in the winter all you need to do is shut the windows and maybe wear some socks and you're good.

[Chelito23]

Most new homes have heat. Heating and cooling central systems are a package deal and add value and increase the price of a home. So it isn't out of necessity...but it is just another way to make money. A better question would be, do people ever use it...

I can tell you, most old homes do not have heating and people have space heater they break out on cold nights, which invaribly happen every winter several times and you will hear about fires associated with them, very sad. The old homes are not well insulated, so they heat up fast and cool down fast....

If you live in a new home, the insulation would be sufficient that you wouldn't need to use the heat. In my old house, in the winter, during prolonged cold stretches, I have seen the temp inside drop to the 50s-after lows in the 30s and highs in the 50s and cloudy weather. And I kept the windows closed. Now, that is cold...but as Fly said, blankets and socks and it's fun for a few days and it does warm up to the 70s and you just open up the house and it's great. But if that is too cold, again, there are space heaters sold in stores.

[Clodius et Claudius.]

I suppose Li Ka-Shing is too stingy to build apartments with heaters. Needs to save construction costs. Not too much wind in the winter since Hong Kong's skyscrapers are crowded and wall out wind.

[rootzdread]

Of course we have heaters, and it can get much colder than 55 degrees here. Try low 40s on cold winter days.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Most newer places have central a/c which can be run in reverse as a heater. Interestingly, my Grandma's house, which was built in the 30's, came with a furnace but no A/C...what were they thinking?

[straight shooter]

Originally Posted by hurricaneMan1992

Most newer places have central a/c which can be run in reverse as a heater. Interestingly, my Grandma's house, which was built in the 30's, came with a furnace but no A/C...what were they thinking?

There was no A/C available for residential homes in the 30's and the winters were colder and longer in Miami back then.

[doom1001]

There's probably about 10-12 nights a year where the low temperatures can drop to around 30-40 degrees,sometimes even upper 20's especially if you live out west like I do.I myself don't like using the heater as I like it cold but on those coldest nights,maybe like 4-5 times in the year when it's between 25-35 degrees you pretty much need to turn on the central heating.So we do use it,but no more than 5-6 times a year.

[Marina1686]

I've lived over a decade in Miami and I have never used the heater, it never gets cold enough here. Once I was in Orlando with 25 degrees outside and I didn't need to use it either, just sleep with an extra blanket.

I use the A/C 12 months a year and probably 362 days a year, even January can get pretty hot in Miami. If you don't agree, probably I'm just a polar bear who loves cold weather

[WINTERFRONT]

No need for a heater system here.