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I could never understand the trend of retirees moving to Florida or Arizona with their hot climates. First, on retirement income they will have big electric bills for the AC. We left California (Bay Area) in part due to the heat, and even here in the Seattle area the hottest summer days in the 80s are hotter than I would like. We retire in 2-3 years and plan to find a smaller home on a larger lot within an hour or two of where we live now, staying in the nice cool, wet climate of the Northwest. Every year we get at least a month, sometimes two when neither the furnace nor the AC needs to be turned on, like today with daytime in the high 70s and night in the low 60s.
There are many variables and exceptions, but heating uses more energy than air conditioning:
The answer, experts say, is that both heating and cooling your home take large amounts of energy, more than we use for any other appliance. But according to researchers at National Geographic's The Green Guide, you will probably consume more energy heating your home than cooling it. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/...oryId=13941744
Our utility bill is SWFL today is much less than the one in NY two years ago. We traded heating for air conditioning six months out of the year.
Our budget billing in NY was $160 every month for gas and electric in 2017, we had no AC. That was only because we kept the temp at 52 degrees while we went to FL in the winter and weren’t there! The utility sent out a letter congratulating us for being #1 in energy efficiency out of a hundred nearby homes. We had a smaller, old house.
In FL, with total electric, our highest bill is $139 in summer and $75 in winter, for a monthly average of $103. There’s no need for budget billing. We run AC 6+ months a year and turn on the heat rarely in winter. We are also running a pool pump and heat the pool occasionally now. We have many winter days with the windows open and no need for heat, basically January through April. We have a larger, 19 year old house.
It's been my experience that it's more geographical. Westerners tend to move to Arizona and Easterners tend to move to Florida. Very few of the people that I know in Arizona came from the East.
I came from Connecticut and know several retired people from eastern states that have migrated to AZ but I can see where more people might be coming from the west. Makes sense that people who retire may still want to be fairly close to friends and family they've left behind.
I've been to Arizona many times. I even thought i would move there.
The last time i went was in April a few years ago. We left in the morning from Texas. It was a nice chilly day.
We get there - it was horribly WARM. No way
I've only been to the panhandle of Florida. It was okay. But too humid. Even more than our south texas beaches.
I don't understand it, either. Add to that the fact that FL is a natural disaster state, and I really don't get it. Unless it's the northerners, who, after a lifetime of snowy winters and high heating fuel bills, are ready for a life of sun and sand and no winter. AZ....I really don't get that, except i hear it's good for sinuses. Cost of living? Does it have some higher, less hot areas?
I am looking at Vero Beach, FL, which is about half way down or a little south of halfway. In no moth has it averaged above 90. July and August are the warmest and it averages 90. June and September are the only other two with an average high over 85. Those 4 months are also the only 4 months when the average low is above 70, August being the highest at 73. A lot depends on your heat tolerance, of course, but it's not brutally hot for most of the year. There are nice mornings pretty much year around. January has the coolest average high at 73; that's the big draw. Most days will be 70s and 80s.
I've been to Arizona many times. I even thought i would move there.
The last time i went was in April a few years ago. We left in the morning from Texas. It was a nice chilly day.
We get there - it was horribly WARM. No way
I've only been to the panhandle of Florida. It was okay. But too humid. Even more than our south texas beaches.
pretty simple answer.....WINTER
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We had a smaller, old house.
