[airics]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

But do you heat with electricity in Ohio, and do you even need a/c there? What's your gas bill in the winter, or do you heat with oil?

ok coming from ohio, i had a 1400sf ranch.. my electric in the summer was 300ish per month... the gas in the friggin winter would hit close to 500 per month... i keep the ac on 78, and the heat on 68...

in vegas, i dont know about the winter yet, but my electric wasnt bad last month and my ac is on 78

yes, you need ac in ohio, the friggin humidity will kill ya

[airics]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

The electric is EXTREMELY high in Vegas, at least compared to Phoenix where I am from. I just moved again on the first of this month, but the apartment I was staying previously had a bill of $400 last month just for electric, and this is an apartment. I have no idea how you are paying $280 for a three story house, unless you are keeping the ac at 90 degrees or someting.

nope 78 degrees, however the house in only 4 yrs old, 2 ac units, energy windows..

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by airics

nope 78 degrees, however the house in only 4 yrs old, 2 ac units, energy windows..

It is probably very well insulated, and your ac units are efficient. The apartment I was referring to with the $400 electric bill was a three bedroom apartment on the second floor. The apartment is also old (University Park, Maryland and Flamingo), with an old inefficient ac unit. My roommate was quite pissed off since he covered all the utilities himself.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by airics

ok coming from ohio, i had a 1400sf ranch.. my electric in the summer was 300ish per month... the gas in the friggin winter would hit close to 500 per month... i keep the ac on 78, and the heat on 68...

in vegas, i dont know about the winter yet, but my electric wasnt bad last month and my ac is on 78

yes, you need ac in ohio, the friggin humidity will kill ya

Well, I don't think it will kill you but I do hate humidity. I grew up in West Virginia (spent summers in Ohio a couple of times) and I knew one person with a/c that whole time. Nobody had it in their cars or houses. Theaters and stores (that had it) promoted it as a benefit of going there. We slept with our windows open and sometimes a window fan ran all day.

I've known a lot of old timers in Las Vegas that grew up here without a/c. Several people told me about parents making makeshift swamp coolers by hanging a blanket in front of a window with a water hose dripping on it, and a fan behind it blowing inward. Of course, some of these same people told me about finding rattlesnakes in the kitchen under the sink, and skinny dipping at Twin Lakes, too.

I think we're spoiled. And we definitely missed out on a lot of fun.

[DoctorWho]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

But do you heat with electricity in Ohio, and do you even need a/c there? What's your gas bill in the winter, or do you heat with oil?

I had a couple of pretty high gas bills (one in February of 2007). Usually around 50-60 I think (it's been a while, and my last place I lived I had $90 gas bills because it was split among the apartments in the building - usually I don't use as much heat, keep it in the low 60's). As a few others mentioned, definitely need a/c for the summer.

Originally Posted by aqualung8705

Why do you need an apartment, Doctor? You should have plenty of room in your Type 40.

LOL! Someone got it, AWESOME!!! The 5th Doctor to the 10th Doctor:

There is something very wrong with my TARDIS, and I've got to do something about it very, very quickly. And it would help, it really would help if there wasn't some skinny idiot ranting in my face about every single thing that happens to be in front of him!

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Of course, some of these same people told me about finding rattlesnakes in the kitchen under the sink, and skinny dipping at Twin Lakes, too.

Rattlesnakes in the kitchen? That would be terrifying.

[MadManofBethesda]

For everyone discussing whether LV has cheap electric rates or not, it would be more helpful if you just posted how much the company charges per KWH. Then it would be easier to compare with rates in other areas of the country. For example, here in the Washington, DC suburbs of Maryland, we pay $.1251 per kph in the summer. How does that compare to LV?

Just stating the monthly dollar amount of your bill is pretty meaningless because any two people might set their respective thermostats at vastly different levels.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Just move to Summerlin, Desert Shores, Peccole Ranch, The Lakes, or maybe somewhere in the northwest, where they have strict CC&Rs.

I just spent 8 days house-hunting in those exact areas. I think Peccole Ranch was my favorite area overall, taking into consideration the housing community itself as well as the surrounding areas. However, I made an offer in Desert Shores because I found a house on one of the lakes that I liked, and I liked the view of both the lake and the mountains in the backround. However, although Desert Shores itself is very nice, I'm really not that thrilled with the bordering areas. It just doesn't look as nice to me as the area around Peccole Ranch. If we don't end up with a contract on this particular house, we may end up buying one in Peccole Ranch after all.

[Buzz123]

There was no city here before 1905, and it really didn't get going until the 30's when they were building Hoover Dam. So up until the mid 20th century rattlesnakes were common. I attended a panel discussion at Clark County Museum, given by some native Las Vegans about the good old days recently; some of the old dudes told about hanging one on a fence post downtown near Fremont and 5th Street when they were kids. I haven't heard of one in town...at least not biting anyone...since prior to 1970. I've seen them in the mountains and at Red Rock and the Lake, but never in town...knock on wood. Still, if you buy in a new development, don't stick your hands anywhere you can't see inside of. You could walk past one all day and never know it was there since they don't want you to step on them, and they know you aren't food. They won't waste poison on anything they can't eat unless threatened. Once they bite it takes a while to make more poison, and that means they don't eat until then, so they do ration it, I'm told.... Unless that's a myth...

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

I just spent 8 days house-hunting in those exact areas. I think Peccole Ranch was my favorite area overall, taking into consideration the housing community itself as well as the surrounding areas. However, I made an offer in Desert Shores because I found a house on one of the lakes that I liked, and I liked the view of both the lake and the mountains in the background. However, although Desert Shores itself is very nice, I'm really not that thrilled with the bordering areas. It just doesn't look as nice to me as the area around Peccole Ranch. If we don't end up with a contract on this particular house, we may end up buying one in Peccole Ranch after all.

My wife and I kick ourselves constantly for not buying on one of the three Desert Shores lakes with the view you're talking about. At the time they were built we and many other Las Vegans, were being obstinate about lakes in the desert, and didn't want to encourage the invasion of Californians...I mean the growth... being forced upon us. You'll like Desert Shores. There are some apartments that never should have been allowed, but it's all kept up very nicely. When you move in I'd be happy to come over and give my opinion of your patio and maybe do a little fishing.

One of the things we like best about Peccole Ranch is the shady trail system that runs through it; we use it frequently even though we don't live there. We aren't far from either one of those. On the south side of Lake Mead Blvd, between Buffalo and Rampart, is a looooooong narrow park built in the arroyo so it looks like a natural desert trail. I think it's called Pueblo Trail Park or something like that. There aren't many natural arroyos around here that actually look that natural, so it is very beautiful. We walk that a lot too.

[aqualung8705]

Bah, that's nothing a sonic screwdiver, a 17 foot long scarf, Sarah Jane, and K-9 can't fix. Just be sure that you don't rent in the Pyramids Of Mars apartment complex. Losts of nasty Daleks, Cybermen,and Sontaran hood rats hang around there.