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Old 07-24-2008, 01:29 PM
 
1,632 posts, read 6,832,347 times
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For us, it's probably more like three weeks (not consecutively, but I don't see what that has to do with anything) of uncomfortably warm weather, although this year was an exception. We got A/C in our new home as an option four summers ago and have never regretted it. Of the 100 homes in our 2004 era development, I would guess that perhaps 10% have A/C.

Could we survive without A/C? Of course. Does it make our life better in the summer? Heck yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nullgeo View Post
Boy I'm stunned to read some comments saying folks aren't willing to put up with the few days of hot weather we get in the NW annually. Blows my mind that anyone would spend good money on an A/C to use fewer than 10 days in a year ... and those 10 days are never in a row, either. 2x a summer, some years, we get 2 - 3 days in a row that hit near or just above 90* ... y'all are nuts if that's a problem ... 'scuse me for saying.
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Old 07-24-2008, 05:59 PM
 
Location: WA
319 posts, read 1,909,199 times
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I moved to Seattle last month from Arizona. All I can say is I've been cold most of the summer here. We had two days where I was able to wear shorts, and might have wanted to turn on the A/C if we had it (but only a couple hours in the afternoon). But, mostly I've been cold. At work they have the A/C on high all the time, and outside it's in the 70s. In Arizona, I was used to keeping our thermostat at 85 in the summer! But, nights have been in the 50s lately here. We keep the windows open at night, but if I'm watching TV I'll need a blanket. The dampness seems to make it even colder. I have a feeling I'll freeze this winter.

I too was very surprised about the no A/C thing, but have managed just fine. Even on the warmer days, having the windows open at night and then shutting the windows and blinds as soon as it starts to get warm, the house stays pretty nice all day. We don't even have ceiling fans or anything, but our place is pretty shaded by trees.
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Old 07-24-2008, 07:05 PM
 
Location: Happiness is found inside your smile :)
3,176 posts, read 14,680,287 times
Reputation: 1313
Quote:
Originally Posted by tortoisegirl View Post
I moved to Seattle last month from Arizona. All I can say is I've been cold most of the summer here. We had two days where I was able to wear shorts, and might have wanted to turn on the A/C if we had it (but only a couple hours in the afternoon). But, mostly I've been cold. At work they have the A/C on high all the time, and outside it's in the 70s. In Arizona, I was used to keeping our thermostat at 85 in the summer! But, nights have been in the 50s lately here. We keep the windows open at night, but if I'm watching TV I'll need a blanket. The dampness seems to make it even colder. I have a feeling I'll freeze this winter.
This is me. In Sacramento my AC did not turn on til 85 degrees.
And AC at work is awful - I want to go outside to warm up and it's only 70 outside

And yes I freeze to death all year long - I wear sweaters if it's under 70 degrees
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Old 07-24-2008, 08:42 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA! Finally! :D
710 posts, read 1,395,767 times
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ah, sounds like heaven... I HATE AC and can't wait to not use it, lol... I'd rather have fresh air. This summer has really sucked here in Houston - it hasn't been unusually hot really, but it is warmer than last year and my AC is crap... The other day it was 98 with a heat index of 104 outside, and it got up to 89 upstairs and 82 downstairs and it was awful. I usually set the thermostat to 84 during the day and 79 at night during the Summer, but it will hardly ever hold that temperature. It's just not powerful enough. Funny thing is, the landlord replaced the 13-year old one last year, and the new one sucks more than the old, lol. I think he went with the cheapest one he can get. I will NOT miss having to deal with AC at all when I finally make it up there

I bet you all have pretty low electricity bills then... Last month's was $150 for 800 sq ft town home.
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Old 07-24-2008, 08:59 PM
 
Location: SE Arizona - FINALLY! :D
20,460 posts, read 26,282,885 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrman78 View Post
ah, sounds like heaven... I HATE AC and can't wait to not use it, lol... I'd rather have fresh air. This summer has really sucked here in Houston - it hasn't been unusually hot really, but it is warmer than last year and my AC is crap... The other day it was 98 with a heat index of 104 outside, and it got up to 89 upstairs and 82 downstairs and it was awful. I usually set the thermostat to 84 during the day and 79 at night during the Summer, but it will hardly ever hold that temperature. It's just not powerful enough. Funny thing is, the landlord replaced the 13-year old one last year, and the new one sucks more than the old, lol. I think he went with the cheapest one he can get. I will NOT miss having to deal with AC at all when I finally make it up there

I bet you all have pretty low electricity bills then... Last month's was $150 for 800 sq ft town home.
Not necessarily.
Sure we don't use A/C in the summer, but it gets dark at 4:30 in winter so we use a lot of lights - and heating bills are MUCH higher here than down in Houston so overall costs may turn out to be a wash - or worse.

Ken

Last edited by LordBalfor; 07-24-2008 at 10:08 PM..
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Old 07-24-2008, 09:51 PM
 
Location: WA
319 posts, read 1,909,199 times
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Our electric bill for the first month was $80 (we have a washer/dryer and cook a lot). Not bad, but I don't want to think about what it will cost to heat the place with electric heat in the winter. 1,200 sq. ft.
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Old 07-24-2008, 10:27 PM
 
Location: Seattle area
854 posts, read 4,135,871 times
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I think electric rates are lower overall here too. I know our house in Dallas was 1700 sq ft and our house here around 2100 sq ft, and our bill for gas + electric is lower than our electric bill in dallas. We used to hit the high 300s for electric in dallas in August. It was half that here in April, even with heating (and there was snow in April, so it wasn't exactly a warm month).

As far as replacing the furnace... I think it is the original, 30 years old. They've come a LONG way in efficiency since then, so that alone makes it worthwhile. Oh, and not worrying about a leak would be good. It's not an emergency as it does still work; I just know that we WILL need to do it, and I'd like to enjoy the use out of it, and the next one should last longer than we will in the house if we're lucky, so doing it sooner is probably better. The question is, then, do we add the heat pump? All the companies we have quotes from so far are saying that we should get a heat pump and primarily heat using that, full-electric, that it's cheaper, more efficient, etc. The furnace blower would distribute the air and, when quite cold out, would supply the heat instead of the heat pump. The heat pump having AC is just a bonus. I haven't had time yet to really dig through, but we are getting the same story from several contractors. Anyone have experience with that setup??
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Old 07-24-2008, 10:29 PM
 
Location: rain city
2,957 posts, read 12,702,874 times
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I lived in Texas for years, electricity is crazy expensive there. Much much cheaper in western WA, most of it is hydro powered. Very reasonably priced.

I went to the city and they looked up 4 years of electric bills for this address, it's a 2 bedroom townhouse, no W/D in the apartment, electric billing is bimonthly. The highest bill ever sent to this apartment was $120 . That was for two months of electricity, it's an all electric apt.
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Old 07-25-2008, 01:31 AM
 
Location: Seattle-area, where the sun don't shine
576 posts, read 1,816,381 times
Reputation: 193
It looks like it depends where you come from. I'm a native here, so I find 85+ to be hot, which it gets to a good number of days, so A/C is convenient.

Then again, being a native, I also don't find 50 degrees cold, and in fact wear shorts almost the whole year except for December, January, and anomalous cold days like that day where it snowed in April and I contemplated rubbing myself out.
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Old 07-25-2008, 02:47 AM
 
Location: Kent East Hill
41 posts, read 162,614 times
Reputation: 16
Believe me, after all those days and months of gloomy skies and rain, you will be happy for sunshine and a few hot days during the summer.
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