San Angelo ... climate question please (Abilene, San Marcos: house, living in, versus)

[Aggie]

Howdy. I've been reading the threads on San Angelo, very informative. I know San Angelo gets about 20 inches of rain a year, and has lower humidity than further east in the Hill Country. In a well insulated house, preferably with a fair amount of mass, can you stay comfortable without air conditioning in the summer? I'm thinking house closed during the day, open up at night when temps cool, and maybe a whole house/attic fan to help draw air in if there isn't enough wind/breeze. I know this is a pretty subjective issue but any thoughts/observations will be appreciated.

[Diamond Dee]

Its mainly a dry heat we used the air quiet a bit in the summer.but we lived in an older house with hardly any insolation.hope that helps.

[spursfan]

You would melt without an a/c. I wouldnt even consider it.

[teatime]

I live north and a tad east of San Angelo, in Abilene. You can reduce the amount you use your AC but you can't eliminate it.

I have weather-stripping around my doors and windows and my house is pretty tight. As you said, I open the windows at night to cool down the house and it stays really cool until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon the next day. At that point, I turn on my ceiling fans and use my evaporative cooler in the main living areas to keep it cool longer. But, around 5 or 6 p.m., I do have to turn on the central AC because it starts to get stuffy.

Still, just using the AC for a few hours isn't bad -- it's much better than needing it most of the day! Dry heat is SO much better than humidity! But there ARE some humid days in this part of Texas, too, especially when our weather is affected by a front coming from Mexico or the Gulf.

[Rathagos]

Aggie,

I live in San Angelo, and I have had to go three days during the summer without an air conditioner last year when mine went out, and it wasn't comfortable. I have an attic fan, and we tried keeping the windows closed, etc. Problem is during the summer, it really doesn't cool off as much as you might think. We tried opening the windows for at least air flow and used fans, and we still sweat throughout the night.

I'm not sure what prompted your question, but if you're looking at lowering electric bills, a room cooler (an air conditioner for one room, and you can use a mobile one, not an ugly window one), you can probably cool the room down enough during the night to sleep and save a little on the bills.

Hope this helped.

[Aggie]

All ... I appreciate the replies. For the last question as to why I ask ... I currently live off-grid, have Solar PV for my power. I would like to continue this when I retire back home to Texas. You don't run an air conditioner off PV ... unless your name is Rockerfeller I would hope to build a house with thick walls, adobe, rammed earth etc. so I should be able to "store" cool ... that's the theory anyway!

We are from San Marcos, way back when it was a little town ... We have our "target area" narrowed down (sort of) ... south of Lampasas, west of I-35, north of Boerne, and San Angelo as the western extent of consideration. My first interest in San Angelo was peaked by it not having much "cedar fever" ... as JamesAbilene indicated ... San Angelo cedar pollen blows up to Abilene I like the 30+ inches of rain on the east side of my target rather than San Angelo's 20 inches because we also use rainwater harvesting for our water.

Probably a lot more than anyone wanted to know, or cared about ... I have just gotten to the point that I really like planning/researching our return home ... been a long time since I worked cattle in the Hill Country

Thanks again for the information and opinions.

[Rathagos]

I follow you there, Aggie! I am contemplating solar pv on my house, but am weighing the amount ($8-$12k per kWp or 800kWh) versus what my kWh usage is now. I don't think the savings would justify the expenses because there are still 6 people living in the house. In 5 years, 3 will be gone, and it might be more economically feasible to try it then.

Speaking of contemporary house building materials and such, I've done some reading on using hay as an insulator, too. Have you looked into that?

Good luck with whatever you do, and if you come to San Angelo, welcome!!

~Rath

[case44]

I don't think you'll have any trouble with San Angelo. They tend to have some severe weather begin in or near that area every spring when storms brew, but don't let it scare you away. They have really good weather year-round.