Palmdale /Lancaster utilities (San Gabriel, San Fernando: rental, house, neighborhood)

[ariel5389]

Moving to the Antelope Valley June 1st and looking for a rental house. With summer coming, would it be cheaper to rent a house with air conditioning or a swamp cooler? Please provide as detailed of a response as possible including size of house and cost per month.

[cyberfx1024]

Originally Posted by ariel5389

Moving to the Antelope Valley June 1st and looking for a rental house. With summer coming, would it be cheaper to rent a house with air conditioning or a swamp cooler? Please provide as detailed of a response as possible including size of house and cost per month.

Either way you are going to paying out the butt for it because utilities are really high there. You living in the AV will have to have AC due to temperatures of over 100 on a daily basis.

[volosong]

You wil typically find 'swamp coolers' in older construction. Central air conditioners will be in newer construction. Swamp coolers work well in this climate, (low humidity), and it's just a guess, but I suspect the costs will be less.

My home is a two-story, 2,850 square foot house that was built fourteen years ago. I have central air and a unit for the downstairs and another for the up stairs. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that except for about three weeks of the year, the maximum daily temperatures were no higher than the San Fernando or San Gabriel Valleys.

It is not "over 100 on a daily basis" up here. Being an arid climate, the weather is highly variable. The normal highs in the dead of summer are in the mid to high 90's. In some years, yes, the temps will hit the century mark. But remember that this is only in the hottest part of the day. There is a persistent SW wind that cools things off nicely in the late afternoon and evenings.

In my specific case, I work 'down below' and do not run the a/c during the day. I may turn it on for an hour or so when I first arrive home, but after that, it has cooled off enough to open up the windows throughout the house. In the worst of the summer, the nighttime temps will hover around the high 60's/low 70's.

My electricity bill usually runs in the neighborhood of $50-$60 per month. For the four-six week period when I do use the air conditioner, it will get close to $90-$95.

Since I purchased my home in the framing stage of construction, I had the foresight to have ceiling fan wiring put into all the bedrooms and common living spaces. Even one in the tandem garage space, (actually the workshop area). The fans do get extensive usage. During a typical day, the a/c doesn't need to be turned on until mid-afternoon. The house is well enough insulated to hold the nighttime coolness till then. On weekends when I know I'll be out for a good portion of the day, I won't use the air until I get home. I also close the vents on rooms that are rarely entered.

Look for a house with mature trees on the south of the property lot. Those really help keep interior house temperatures moderated. Also, try to find a place with the common living spaces on the north side of the house.

Sorry I cannot compare/contrast swamp cooler/air conditioner relative costs. My parents has a swamp cooler when I was growing up. It seemed to work well enough, but what do I know as a kid? Another thing to keep in mind is that newer construction house tend to have better insulation. That helps a lot too.


.