Not your normal bug or weather question (Orlando, Palm Springs: travel, work)

[fore.RB]

Hello and thanks for your advise,

I know this is a somewhat weird question but here goes......

I spent a summer in Florida and yes it was hot, but I will be moving from a lifetime in a warm climate and just don't really mind hot weather. In fact I am happiest here when everone's complaining that it's too hot (mid 80's). When I was in Fl that summer it was 90-92 and I just dealt with the heat and left the windows open all night and enjoyed fresh air. By morning the room was nice and cool, or it seemed so after the previous day. My two part question is .....

1. Can you leave a house open at night or will the bugs be attracted to the light and drive you out. Are there special screens or ways to prevent entry of no-see-ums, etc. Or is part of sealing it up at night and using AC to prevent the onslaught.

2. Most people on this forum feel the heat is overwelming and opressive, but I just wonder if at least some people can adjust to it better than others? Can you acclimate to it? Most people in the world don't have AC and seem to be able to adjust. What do some of you long term residents think?

Am I delusional?

[**NoodLes**]

LOL try living in FL without AC and see how long you last! If you leave your house open at night I'd be more afraid of burglars then bugs. Bugs will swarm to the whitest light in your house and gotta love those nile mosquitos. Even if you open your windows at night your whole house will be damp and dank from all the moisture. Nightime can be the worst sometimes.

Yes you are being delusional and you won't last long with that mindset if you move to Orlando.

[Alphaman]

If you leave your windows open at night in the summer you will grow mold in your house. It is way to humid to have your windows open, everything will be damp in your house, believe me I know I went more then a week in august with a broken A/C. and the insects will find a way in.

It`s not the heat that gets to you it`s the humidity. I don't know how anyone can sleep at night in the summer with no A/C you will be drenched in sweat. Oh and when I first moved here with my mom and her Friends we went 3 months with no A/C not sure how we did it but she got her own place and cranked it up.

[gimme5]

A/C is an absolute must! Like alphaman said, humidity is the main issue. 95 degrees here isn't the same as 95 degrees in L.A. for example.

You can somehow adjust to the weather. It felt worse when I first moved here than it does now 4 years later. I don't think you can adjust to the point of not using the A/C at all, though.

[doggiebus]

1. Can you leave a house open at night or will the bugs be attracted to the light and drive you out. Are there special screens or ways to prevent entry of no-see-ums, etc. Or is part of sealing it up at night and using AC to prevent the onslaught. Screens keep most bugs out, but the no-see-ums are very small and will most likely come through the screens on most windows. So during no-see-um season (sort of speak) yep you will need to close up and turn on the A/C. Other reasons you may not want your windows open at night is it is just way to hot to sleep at night. We don't cool down like other places do at night we can still be in the 80s at night for 6 months out of the year if not longer. Another reason is, you really don't want to give someone easy access to break in.

2. Most people on this forum feel the heat is overwelming and opressive, but I just wonder if at least some people can adjust to it better than others? Can you acclimate to it? Most people in the world don't have AC and seem to be able to adjust. What do some of you long term residents think? As a native Floridian born and raised here, I have never gotten used to it. When I was a child we had cooler weather that broke up the summer weather, but the last few years its been summer almost year round, with no real break from the summer to recover. There are people on here that say they do get used to it, I consider them super human people. I am not sure where you are from, but our 95 degrees is different than 95F in Denver lets say. When I was out in Denver and it was 90F I could sit outside and have lunch, 90F in Florida eat outside isn't do able for me. The humidity adds a level of unconfortablity.

Am I delusional? Don't know you enough to answer this one.

[fore.RB]

Thanks for the responses. I knew going in it would sound funny to some of you. I did travel around the state from May thru August in an RV that had no AC other than dash mount and it was uncomfortable, but not over the top. I did stay pretty near the coast the whole time so inland may be worse.

In order to avoid the bugs I kept the lights off during the evening except when neccessary and used the TV as my lighting source. This seemed to work, after I learned the hard way of waking up in the middle of the night to a room full of no-see-ums. I had not comtemplated the problems with mold though.

My internal thermostat is just set higher than most people and I even complain about the winters here in Cali. Long pants, yuck! I understand the humitity is a big deal and here the heat is dry, but I did play 36 holes once in Palm Springs when it was 116 and survived (Chris, why are we the only one's on the course?).

Thanks again for the feed back..........Russell

[InternDoc]

well, I ONLY been here for a month so far (June 1). I slept at night here without turning on the A/C, just fan. So far, it's seems ok. Not sure if this consider summer yet though.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

Personally I love living in Florida but no way could I stand it here with NO AC.

Not too mention the security issues by leaving open your windows.

[Alphaman]

Originally Posted by Lindsey_Mcfarren

Personally I love living in Florida but no way could I stand it here with NO AC.

Not too mention the security issues by leaving open your windows.

Yep well said and the same could be said for people living in a cold state. People who love the cold of maine I`m sure would not sleep with the windows open and heat off when it`s -20 outside.

[dbansal]

I would say it would be difficult to get by with absolutely no AC, however my parents do open their windows at night and run the AC minimally. That is an extreme case though. If there is an afternoon thunderstorm the weather does actually get fairly pleasant and I do open my windows to cool things down, but I'm running the AC most of the time otherwise, in the summer.