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Here is the average relative humidity for both Chicago Illinois (70%) and Los Angeles California (71%)
No I have never been to Florida But here are some average relative humidity readings:
Jacksonville (76%)
Miami (73%)
Key West (74%)
Compare that to some more California cities:
San Diego (69%)
San Francisco (74%)
Santa Barbara (71%)
Sacramento (67%)
I'm in FL and the relative humidity in the mornings is near 100%. It goes down in the evenings significantly as it gets hotter. It's so bad in the mornings where I am that squeegeeing my windows does not even help because by the time you get around to the first window, it's already wet again.
If the OP is experiencing allergies, it may also be from dust mites/mold, which would start growing at those higher humidity levels. Simply adding in a window unit is not going to help when the overall humidity level in the home is higher than 60%. I don't think these two are compatible. Period.
Yes it is, but trying to sleep in a hot room is impossible and not good for you. If someone has to budget their money and the get highter electric bill than they can out getting their $5 Starbucks, brown bagg their lunch at work, etc.
To sit in a disgustingly hot home or apt is torture.
I don't mind not running the heat when it gets cold(I live in Southern CA and yes despite people thinking it doesn't get cold it does), always put on sweathshirt, but not going to sit in house if it gets extremely hot, two weeks ago we had unusaully hot weather, 109 by me, you bet the central air was on.
I had to do the no A/C thing last August/September. Got up to 85 degrees inside during the day and the nights where it didn't drop below 70 outside kept my room as warm as 80 with a dew point in the 60s. First floor apartment with no cross ventilation possible, window right next to the parking lot. Had to keep the curtains closed slightly for privacy. It was rough. Here in Georgia at night we keep the A/C on 77 overnight and that's plenty cool with a fan. 78 during the day downstairs, upstairs on 83.
Who's to say her roommie isn't already trying to save money? We don't know her financials. She may have already cut out her Starbucks run or whatever. Again, I wouldn't call her cheap, more than likely just frugal which isn't a bad thing regardless of income levels.
Hi there folks, I'm new to this forum and really hope that someone can give me the advice I need to get through to my thick headed roomy.
Some backstory: my roommate and I have been friends for many years. We have very different backgrounds and comfort levels. She's a twig, I'm on the heavy side. She's super no-nonsense logical unless it suits her not to be. I'm not that strict. She grew up living cheap because her family didn't have money to spare. I totally understand and respect that, but she has a very good income now, way better than mine. There's no need for her to be such a tight wad, but she is and tries to make me do it too. For instance she's tried to talk me out of using fabric softener on my laundry, saying that I'm "pouring money down the drain."
She loves fresh air and hates the AC because it costs money and it dries out her sinuses. She likes humidity after living in California for 6 years without it. I enjoy fresh air but I've always lived in the Midwest and I hate humidity and feeling uncomfortably warm in my own home.
When we first moved in together we had a place where we didn't pay for the AC. We had a roommate contract that dictated that whoever was uncomfortable could adjust the temperature. We never seemed to have any problems with it. If we needed to adjust it we discussed it first. After one year at that dump we moved into a townhouse where we have to pay for all of the utilities plus rent. Suddenly the thermostat became a battlefield.
I grew up in a house set at 72 degrees pretty much year round. My roommate, given the freedom, wouldn't turn on the air until it was at least 80 outside, and she would never set it lower than 78. We compromise at 75 for a setting but we constantly battle over when the air should be on and off.
Her schedule and mine differs, but not drastically. She gets up and is gone for the day before I wake up. I have often gotten up to find that the AC (which was on overnight) has been turned off and every window she could access without entering my room is open. She has let all the cool air out just so that I have to close the windows and turn the air back on to make the house habitable, making the AC work harder to drive the temp back down after the heat of the day rather than keeping the house closed so the AC has less to overcome. If she gets home before me she won't let me turn on the air. Sometimes she gets home after me and turns off the AC and opens the Windows without discussion. She argues that the temp outside is cooler now than when I turned on the AC and we don't need it any more, but I intentionally left the house closed because I don't want to let the humidity into the house. This example just took place again, and the humidity is 81% right now!
I have tried over and over to reason with her on this. I don't want to pay the bill for the AC anymore than she does but I can't stand being this uncomfortable and I can't sleep when I'm this warm. On a couple occasions I have nearly fallen asleep at work because it was too warm in the house to get a good nights sleep. I tell her. She tells me I should sleep in the basement where it's cooler rather than in my upstairs bedroom. She tells me to take cold showers and wear less clothing to bed. I've told her to set up her humidifier to offset the dryness but she refuses, saying it doesn't do enough. I've told her to split the energy bill 60/40 but she won't do it. We have fans running throughout the house at all times. If I complain that I'm warm she tells me it's because of what I'm wearing, even if it's very lightweight or skimpy.
My roommate is abnormal. Every one I have described this problem to says so. I feel that I am having to suffer - sleeping on an air mattress in the basement, taking cold showers, running three fans 24/7 in my bedroom, and generally being uncomfortable in a warm and humid house - just so my roommate doesn't have to pay her half of an average summer electric bill.
Every time we argue about it she manages to get the last word because she sees the bill as being more important than my discomfort.
If anyone has dealt with anything like this before, I desperately need some help. I am so frustrated and I have at least one more year to go to live with her. She intends to buy her own place next year. Until then I'm stuck with her and she just doesn't understand that she isn't doing anything to meet me halfway on this. She really is my friend and I care a great deal about her, but we've been having this problem for too long now and I'm at my wit's end. It's the ONLY thing we fight about!
One more thing. If you make a suggestion and I seem to fire back and shoot it down, please don't take it personally. I just know my roommate well enough to know what won't work and what arguments she will give me. The problem is I can't find the one argument that she won't be able to shoot down.
Shut the a/c vents in her room and leave the thermostat at 76 which should be cool enough to keep the humidity away. Do you have a ceiling fan in your bedroom because that helps a lot.
I had to do the no A/C thing last August/September. Got up to 85 degrees inside during the day and the nights where it didn't drop below 70 outside kept my room as warm as 80 with a dew point in the 60s. First floor apartment with no cross ventilation possible, window right next to the parking lot. Had to keep the curtains closed slightly for privacy. It was rough. Here in Georgia at night we keep the A/C on 77 overnight and that's plenty cool with a fan. 78 during the day downstairs, upstairs on 83.
Who's to say her roommie isn't already trying to save money? We don't know her financials. She may have already cut out her Starbucks run or whatever. Again, I wouldn't call her cheap, more than likely just frugal which isn't a bad thing regardless of income levels.
Well I said earlier the OP can buy a wall unit and offer to pay the difference in the utility bill. They know what their average bills are, the OP pays the increase.
If you can't afford to run you A/C than a look at moving in with a roommate. A roommate whom you make sure is OK with running the A/C when it is hot and humid. You're situation did sound tough, but you can change it.
As far the OP's roommate, I find these days many people who complain about having a tight budget, have the latest smartphone, and full cable, rent movies from Netflix, a daily Starbucks and never bring their lunch to work.
I pay $15 a month for cell phone service(that's correct $15 a month), have regular cable, and get movies from my local library for free, and eat out in restaurants maybe once every couple of months. I could spend more, but I choose to save the money.
I'm in FL and the relative humidity in the mornings is near 100%. It goes down in the evenings significantly as it gets hotter. It's so bad in the mornings where I am that squeegeeing my windows does not even help because by the time you get around to the first window, it's already wet again.
If the OP is experiencing allergies, it may also be from dust mites/mold, which would start growing at those higher humidity levels. Simply adding in a window unit is not going to help when the overall humidity level in the home is higher than 60%. I don't think these two are compatible. Period.
I'm in Houston
When I leave the gym in the morning, my glasses immediately fog up. I can't see and have to grope my way back to the car (because I legit can't see without my glasses on)
I live in S Florida...right this very minute (0618) it's 79 with 93% humidity. These numbers will be sky-high by noon. It was 100 degrees at 4pm yesterday.
My AC is on and it's set at 78 which perfectly comfortable for anyone and if I have the ceiling fans on, which I do most of the time, it can get chilly in here. If I set my AC lower than 78 I'd be cold and since I work in a freezing cold office all day I'd like to be comfortable at home. Granted, I'm not overweight so I can tolerate the heat much better.
My home is 1200 sft...not big by any means and I run my AC pretty much all year long and electric bill (coupled with using the oven, dryer, hot water heater and dishwasher) has never been over $68. I know it's hard to compare utility bills, but AC isn't always that expensive to run. However, the constant on/off of the AC will raise your electric bill.
I think both parties are being unreasonable and there's limited options here. The OP can move, buy a unit for her room (cheap to buy, cheap to run), or she can look into dropping some pounds which WILL make her more comfortable in more ways than one. I don't see how these two are going to live like this much longer.
Haven't heard from the OP for a while. Like others have suggested, a portable air conditioner maybe your best bet, as it saved me when I was renting upstairs apartment back in 2009. It was 94F at its highest up there, got fed up and bought a portable air conditioner unit. The landlord had the same attitude as some of the other people commenting here "it consumes too much energy" "it costs too much to run" etc etc, the usual from the cheapskate crowd. The unit ran for at least two weeks straight ( at least we were comfortable in one room ) , but we also looked for some where else to move to, gave less than a 30 day notice to move.
Hopefully the OP has decided to try and find someone to take their place on the lease to get out of it.
I once ended a relationship with a boyfriend because of this. I spent most of my time at his place. It was an inconvenience for me but I did it anyway. However, he refused to put on the A/C a few times. One day it was absolutely unbearable. No wind, no fan, no nothing. My legs were stuck to his leather couch until I worked up enough sweat to where I just slid off. It was like my own personal indoor slippy-slide. I was miserable. I told him that he either had to put the air on at his place only when I was over or he would need to start coming to my place more often. He didn't like either options so I slid off the couch, took my toothbrush and never looked back. I later learned he was just too cheap to put the air on for me. Bullet dodged!
I'm telling you. For many people not having A/C in hot and humid weather is no joke!
I'd tell her you need to compromise or you'll be looking to live elsewhere. Fwiw, 72 is pretty cool. We do 78 in the summer. If I'm actively cleaning house or something, I'll set it at 77.
As I've said, we can't switch rooms. My furniture won't fit in her room and her cats will want to sleep with her, which means they'd have to be allowed in my room which they know is off limits.
I'm considering a portable AC. It is looking more and more like the only solution.
Is this your house and she's renting?
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