Compare Desert Heat to the Heat of the Deep South (Tucson: living in, cost of)

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by TurboD

I am wondering if there is anyone out there experiencing the same negative effects of dry humidity. I suffer with skin cracking on my thumbs and fingers, heels, nasal passages drying up and bleeding. Adding insult to injury, when winter arrives my body feels like a zillion "pins and needles", mostly at night upon retiring.
I am a native New Orleanean (20 yrs) and lived in Florida ( East coast) for 30 yrs before venturing to Tucson. Last year I was in Shreveport and Houston and had zero problems.
I wish that I could have the positive experiences with low humidity that I am reading about. Oh well!

If I wash my hands too often in the winter; they will crack/bleed somewhat (Bag Balm is my friend), but, what evidently saves me is I have rather oily skin for a person with a Nordic White complexion.

[alicenevada]

I am dry-skinned so I know I'll be investing in large tubs of ponds cold cream, eucerin calming cream, and Aquafor ointment. My husband also uses Bag Balm. I told my mom I knew I was in my thirties when I starting going to bed w/ the scents of Ponds and Bag Balm in my note...heh

[themudpuppy]

I live in TN and am trying to move to AZ. I used to go to Phoenix every summer. It was very hot, but much more tolerable than the high humidity of TN. The only thing I worry about is it being too dry for my nasal passages. At least the humidity of TN is better on my nose, but I'm allergic to the mold spores and smoke from wood burning stoves that comes with fall and winter. I hope I'm not trading one nasal problem for another. Maybe a humidifier in my bedroom year round in AZ would do the trick. It does help during the winter in TN when it's drier. My last trip to AZ was for a month, during the winter, and I did get dried out a bit but it wasn't too bad. Don't know about year round though.

Unless electricty rates are much higher there than here, I think that if I have electric a/c and heat, I'll probably spend less running a/c almost year round than I spend running a/c half the year and heat the other half. Here in TN we often go straight from heat one day to a/c the next. We used to get a couple of mild months in between winter and summer and got a little break on the electric bill, but the past few years it seems like we've gone straight from extreme cold to extreme humidity. So I really think I would save using a/c most of the year and heat for only a short period.

[alicenevada]

Originally Posted by tnp

I live in TN and am trying to move to AZ. I used to go to Phoenix every summer. It was very hot, but much more tolerable than the high humidity of TN. The only thing I worry about is it being too dry for my nasal passages. At least the humidity of TN is better on my nose, but I'm allergic to the mold spores and smoke from wood burning stoves that comes with fall and winter. I hope I'm not trading one nasal problem for another. Maybe a humidifier in my bedroom year round in AZ would do the trick. It does help during the winter in TN when it's drier. My last trip to AZ was for a month, during the winter, and I did get dried out a bit but it wasn't too bad. Don't know about year round though.

Unless electricty rates are much higher there than here, I think that if I have electric a/c and heat, I'll probably spend less running a/c almost year round than I spend running a/c half the year and heat the other half. Here in TN we often go straight from heat one day to a/c the next. We used to get a couple of mild months in between winter and summer and got a little break on the electric bill, but the past few years it seems like we've gone straight from extreme cold to extreme humidity. So I really think I would save using a/c most of the year and heat for only a short period.

So cool, tnp! Where in Tn are you from? Like I said, I'm originally from Memphis but I live about an hour east of Nashville right now, in the hills. It's gorgeous here but I'm starting to realize that beauty is not the only thing that contributes to a satisfying locale. Did you see what I am paying for my electric? It was 180.00 (doing budget billing) for the last twelve months and now it's going up (starting in June) to over 200.00! I mean, we have a new house w/ awesome insulation and we live in a hollow but it doesnt seem to make a difference. Plus, we have a really good 'zoned' heating/cooling system that should be saving us money...I shudder to think what our bill would be like if we didnt. I don't care if it's 115 in the summer out there, I can't imagine that we'll be paying that much for the year's utilities.

The dry desert air is hard on my nasal passages too but I prefer a few shots of saline a day than to have a contstant itchy runny nose and congestion. And don't get me started about the bugs! I'm gonna open up another 'comparison' thread and tell some of my horror stories...

[MeridithJill]

I know the humidity in the south is rough but the excessive heat here is just as bad. I think they both have pros and cons and they kind of equal out - so Its probably more of a personal thing.
All I can say is today its going to be 112 and it feels like a furnace when you step outside. whoooeeee!

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by TurboD

I am wondering if there is anyone out there experiencing the same negative effects of dry humidity. I suffer with skin cracking on my thumbs and fingers, heels, nasal passages drying up and bleeding. Adding insult to injury, when winter arrives my body feels like a zillion "pins and needles", mostly at night upon retiring.
I am a native New Orleanean (20 yrs) and lived in Florida ( East coast) for 30 yrs before venturing to Tucson. Last year I was in Shreveport and Houston and had zero problems.
I wish that I could have the positive experiences with low humidity that I am reading about. Oh well!

Me too! I am sssoooo dried out here. With out constant lotion I am doomed to a dry rash all over. My feet crack. No matter how much water I get. Don't get me started on my hair. lol I don't like the heat though. I don't think I could take the South either for that matter. I would have to go coastal New England or by a lake up North. Cooler summers. They might have a heat wave or two but not this 4 months of a blow dryer. I love monsoon for this reason as well. I love the moisture. I don't cough any more and my skin starts to feel good. I sweat more but it is nice to sweat for me. he he I think some people are lizards. They love the heat, more of it the better.

[alicenevada]

Yeah, I love the heat. I've always been the person who, after sitting in an airconditioned office all day, would go out in my car and just bake with all the windows up until I start to sweat. Then I'll finally roll the window down. I rarely ever use my air conditioning in my car unless I have to...my boys don't like to bake like I do.

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by alicenavada

Yeah, I love the heat. I've always been the person who, after sitting in an airconditioned office all day, would go out in my car and just bake with all the windows up until I start to sweat. Then I'll finally roll the window down. I rarely ever use my air conditioning in my car unless I have to...my boys don't like to bake like I do.

That's me.

I HATE air conditioning. I'd much rather simply have the windows down (even if it means I'm much warmer).

Ken

[themudpuppy]

Originally Posted by alicenavada

So cool, tnp! Where in Tn are you from? ..

I'm about an hour north of Nashville.

And don't get me started about the bugs!

Yeah, the bugs are really bad here. Can't set foot outside the house without getting bitten. Open the door just for a moment and you get a mess of mosquitoes in the house. I'm swatting mosquitoes every night before I go to bed. Spiders are bad this year too. There hasn't been a day since April that I haven't seen a spider in my house. And millipedes or centipedes (I don't know which is which) are bad here too.

I'm allergic to most repellants, so I don't put them on if I'm only going outside for a few minutes. I'm covered with itchy bites right now and I've hardly been outside the past week. Once the humidity gets worse we'll be dealing with those itty bitty sweat bees that sting like crazy. And then there's the ticks! I hate, hate, hate ticks, and they are super bad this year!

The only bug I fear in Arizona is the scorpion. I have both spider and scorpion phobias, but I think the black widows shouldn't be too hard to control. I do worry about the scorpions though.

[photobuff42]

Originally Posted by TurboD

I am wondering if there is anyone out there experiencing the same negative effects of dry humidity... Adding insult to injury, when winter arrives my body feels like a zillion "pins and needles", mostly at night upon retiring.

I experienced this in Vegas, too. I haven't had it since I moved to Missouri (of course it's summer now). I had chalked it up to stress. Maybe I was wrong?