Only thing bugging me about moving to SA is... (Houston: house, living)

[GenPatton]

I think you know it - THE HEAT!!!

I've been tracking the weather on my iPhone since April and it's been 100+ every single day.

How do you guys deal with it?

I'm from Cali so I know I will have a hard time adjusting.

Do you keep your AC on 24/7? What's the elecrtic bill per month? Do you run errands late at night or early in the morning?

If I can find some way to deal with the heat, I think I'll be packing my bags

[SweethomeSanAntonio]

SA is sub tropical and is usually green and lush but the past few years its been nothing but drought. CA has better weather but the economic climate is in the dumps. Ive been to LA and San Diego three times, but would never live there.

I did have one question? If you hated it so much why are you here in the SA room furthering your displeasure?

[Sonny Chiba57]

Some of us are acclimatized..It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the humidity specially after it rains. Just imagine having no a/c in your vehicle like me. Ugghh...This time last year I was visiting in Alaska and it was in the high 60s low 70s with no humidity. It was soooo wonderful. I think I'll move there and come back in the winter.

[Bo]

I run errands before noon, when possible and spend as much of my day as I can in AC.

[L210]

Originally Posted by GenPatton

I think you know it - THE HEAT!!!

I've been tracking the weather on my iPhone since April and it's been 100+ every single day.

How do you guys deal with it?

I'm from Cali so I know I will have a hard time adjusting.

Do you keep your AC on 24/7? What's the elecrtic bill per month? Do you run errands late at night or early in the morning?

If I can find some way to deal with the heat, I think I'll be packing my bags

I run my A/C 24/7. The high temperatures have been getting a lot of attention, but the low temperatures are the ones breaking the most records. It's still in the upper 70s and lower 80s in the early morning hours. When I leave for work at night, it's still in the lower 90s and upper 80s. When you have your A/C on automatic, it turns off and on when it needs to. If you get one of those automatic thermostats, you can set the temperature to be a bit higher when you're away from home and then cool the house down a bit more right before you return. The worst thing you can do is completely turn it off. If you leave the A/C off all day and then turn it on when you get home while it's 103 degrees outside, your A/C will have to work extra hard to cool off your house and that can increase your electric bill.

Strangely enough, the heat didn't bother me yesterday when I was walking across parking lots. Being in SA since infancy has allowed me enough time to acclimate.

[Bo]

SA has some of the lowest electrical rates in the country, due to it's city-owned gas and electric utility. That's why we can air-condition without fear of a giant bill.

[tony78201]

the high today is 73, and low 59 in los angeles......must be nice

[Mom2Feebs]

Originally Posted by GenPatton

Do you keep your AC on 24/7? What's the elecrtic bill per month? Do you run errands late at night or early in the morning?

this made me laugh then I felt bad, because I know in CA you don't have to run A/C all the time, heck, some folks don't have it at all.

But still, I snickered a bit. Sorry, OP

My A/C is set at 75*F, but when it is really hot like this, even the most efficient air conditioner is only going to be able to cool a room 20*-25*F or so from the outside temp...just keep that in mind. And yes, it runs 24/7.

We live in a 2-story home with zoned A/C, meaning we have two units, one for the top floor and one for the bottom. Our living space is 2,310 sq ft.

Our electric bill for July to August was $276. The highest it ever was was last August, it was $358. The lowest was November of last year--$98. I am a stay-at-home-mom with two little kiddos so even though I try to be conservative with electricity, it isn't entirely possible all of the time...I do laundry (electric) twice a week and run the dishwasher every other day.

The good news is, it isn't terribly humid here. In the mornings it's lovely, but I can say that because I am from Houston, where easily you can break a nasty sweat and your glasses steam up at 7:00AM. You will find doing your errands as early as humanly possible will help.



Hope that helps.

[Penquin927]

You just get used to the heat over time. Last weekend a few of us went out to listen to music and it was outside. We were sitting outside about 8 PM and we were all thinking it felt pretty good but it was still in the 90s. But hey when it was in the 100s earlier in the day a slight cool down can make a difference.

I do go running in the morning since I can stand to be working out in the higher temps. When it comes to errands I do them when I can. Don't even think about the weather. They have to get done heat or no heat.

[Sarah TX]

I grew up in California, moved to SA about 6 years ago. My first summer here was pretty miserable, plus I had to work outside a lot of the time. Now that I have an office job, it's much nicer - it's not like you spend much time outside anyway, and the blasts of hot air can be refreshing after spending so much time in the AC (sort of like a free sauna).

People here definitely acclimate. At home, I keep the AC set at 78F and it is very comfortable, unlike my friends and family on the west coast who sometimes set their AC at 72F or lower! So that combined with the lower rates means my energy bill is pretty reasonable (it has been about $175 on average for an 1800 sf house with high ceilings). When I went on a tropical vacation with my family from Washington, they thought that the 85F days with high humidity were terrible, but I found them to be quite pleasant.

Edited to add: One other thing to note is that our winters are generally colder than most places in California.