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TrophyHusband

how long can i go with no heat or a/c?

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one of the biggest kicks to the nuts i got when i moved to florida was energy costs. not only does electricity cost twice as much as in idaho, i use twice as much in a smaller house.

i was looking forward to the winter, but then when it finally came i found out that the money i saved on electricity by not using the air conditioner got eaten up and then some paying for gas to heat the house.

right now the weather has been nice. we are now on day 11 of having the heater/airconditioner turned off. last night it did get hot upstairs. i almost turned on the a/c, but i opened windows and turned fans on high. by bedtime it was comfortable enough to sleep, but it was a little humid. the ten day forcast shows mild weather continuing. i'm going to try to keep this going for as long as i can. we'll still probably have a high bill though, our dryer runs for at least 2 hours a day.

i do have to acknowledge that skymama was right. in a thread about air conditioner setting a while back (i can't find it, but i remember it) she predicted that i would have a huge electric bill when i got down here.

i'm ready to move back north and preferably west.


"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

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I've spent 3 summers in Houston without air conditioning. I don't believe we've turned on our A/C yet, and we're unlikely to for awhile yet.

We're not home in the daytime except on weekends, of course, but part of it's just a matter of getting used to what the temperature is outside. A/C is really, really nice in the summer -- but use it to reduce discomfort, rather than to achieve a particular standard of "comfort." There's a difference.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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that's pretty cool. i'm guessing that is the future of home building in southern states. i have no idea though when homes like that will become fairly standard.

some day i am hoping to build a house that my wife and i will spend a good many years in. when i do, i want to take advantage of all the efficiency technology available at the time within our financial means.


"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

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you're tough! i'm not quite so tough.

after our first bill of almost $300, i set the a/c on 80 hoping to reduce the bill. i was uncomfortable and sweating profusely and my next bill was still $300. i figured that since my electric bill in the summer was going to hurt like hell no matter what, we might as well be comfortable. to date, our lowest bill has been $134. i'm hoping our next one beats that. we're also getting a new washer and dryer so i'm hoping that cuts it down as well.


"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

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If you wait until April 16th, you could qualify for the FL rebate program. Make sure you read up for it, I've read you have to do something like sign up for it in advance and put in for it on the very first day, or else you may not get it. The program ran in other states and they were out of rebates on the first day.

If you can go without A/C even this week, you're a stronger person than me! I've already been running mine.
She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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What Wendy forgets to tell ya'll is she lives in one of those underground homes!!!! Nah j/k Wendy. How do you go WITHOUT A/C here in H-town?!

With my 2-story I do run the a/c. My biggest bill last summer was $210. Not so bad... but beats sweating in my home!


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i'm up in the panhandle, so we're at least a few degrees cooler than you.

we're already on top of the rebate thing. we're doing our shopping now and will make our purchase at 11 am on the 16th. supposedly you can sign up for a priority number at a website to be lauched "early april" but it appairently hasn't launched yet.


"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

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one of the biggest kicks to the nuts i got when i moved to florida was energy costs. not only does electricity cost twice as much as in idaho, i use twice as much in a smaller house.

i was looking forward to the winter, but then when it finally came i found out that the money i saved on electricity by not using the air conditioner got eaten up and then some paying for gas to heat the house.

right now the weather has been nice. we are now on day 11 of having the heater/airconditioner turned off. last night it did get hot upstairs. i almost turned on the a/c, but i opened windows and turned fans on high. by bedtime it was comfortable enough to sleep, but it was a little humid. the ten day forcast shows mild weather continuing. i'm going to try to keep this going for as long as i can. we'll still probably have a high bill though, our dryer runs for at least 2 hours a day.

i do have to acknowledge that skymama was right. in a thread about air conditioner setting a while back (i can't find it, but i remember it) she predicted that i would have a huge electric bill when i got down here.

i'm ready to move back north and preferably west.



Just wait till hurricane season.... and the power goes off for a couple weeks:ph34r:

No AC down there SUCKS if you are not used to it. When I was a kid we did not have it...but the house was an OLD southern house with high ceilings HUGE windows and lots of fans to turn the air a bit. Modern homes just are not designed for the climate.

OH... and make sure you have REALLLLLLY good screens, if you plan on leaving the windows open for a breeze. The mesh size neeeds to be reallly small to keep the sabre tooth gnats out of the house. Grandfather used to turn on the lights in all the bedrooms about an hour before bed time, completely fog the whole room with DDT and especially hit all the screens hard with the spray. He would then turn off the lights, close the bedroom doors, and let the room air out. All the bugs that had been drawn to the lights of the room died on the screens.

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I was 19-22 or so when I lived without it. I have it now, but even now we keep it hot.

By inching up naturally with the weather and using ceiling fans, we find that 80 is OK most of the time. Really. On hot nights I might take a cool shower before going to bed. We have some shade, but not on the hottest part of the house (S/W side). But it's mostly that first one -- we just let temperature happen and grow accustomed to it; use 80 as the default, and only set it down when it's bad.

Again, though -- I'm not home in the daytime, and I think TrophyHusband is. That makes a difference -- I leech off the office's A/C during the day.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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we're heading to upstate new york for the summer. as for the rest of hurricane season, we have a large fifth wheel and a generator. we can be comfy for quite a while.



Be sure to stock up on fuel..BEFORE the stom hits. When the power goes buh bye, no one can get it out of the ground tanks.
I have a couple months supply of diesel for my backup diesel genset.

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We almost never use either heat or A/C. We might turn on the heat for a few days during the winter, and use a window A/C for a few days in the fall, but that's about it. Advantages of living near the water in a temperate area.

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i am in and out of the house all day. for at least a little while this will be an advantage. i get up really early so i can open up doors and windows to make the house cold in the morning and then close them again when it gets warmer outside than in. once the nights stop being cool this will no longer work.

hopefully i can get used to the heat as it gets warmer and be comfortable at a higher temp. my family is generally comfortable in much warmer temps than i am. in a 75-80 degree house i will never stop dripping sweat and that's kind of gross, especially after bedtime.

my poor doggie is already uncomfortable, pants much of the day, and sucks down the water. golden retrievers just weren't meant to be in florida. i'm going to have to shave her this week i think.


"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

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for the couple of small storms that have come in since we've been here, some gas stations have been sold out of gas before the storms even hit. i can't imagine what it will be like when a real storm heads this way. people here are still a little jumpy from the hurricane butt-raping florida took about 6 years ago.


"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

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i get up really early so i can open up doors and windows to make the house cold in the morning and then close them again when it gets warmer outside than in.



It's usually very humid in the mornings, you might find that it'd be better to leave the house closed up. It also helps to keep all the blinds closed during the day.
She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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we're already on top of the rebate thing. we're doing our shopping now and will make our purchase at 11 am on the 16th. supposedly you can sign up for a priority number at a website to be lauched "early april" but it appairently hasn't launched yet.



TX is having nearly the same rebate program but as a flat rebate per unit depending on efficiency, and i see FL has a % rebate. For ours, A/C's and water heaters can be purchased anytime from April 16th through 60 days of rebate reservation (April 7th) because they are not normally purchased at a store or normally paid for before installation. You might want to double check if that is the case for you guys as well.:)

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

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We have a huge house that since the kids moved out goes mostly unoccupied, except for the bedroom and office.

I use window a/c and a little floor heater for those rooms and our energy bill went down a bit over 70% !










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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I haven't used the heater or air conditioner for over a month. I have a smaller house and pay about 66-80 a month for electricity. The first year I moved here I couldn't stay cool and then it seemed like over night I was freezing when it was 70f. I think I used my air conditioner non stop and had dbl the bill I have now.
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I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
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I went all last summer, as an experiment, without AC...Left the windows open, and kept an industrial fan running, 24/7.

My place is fairly shaded, except for about 3 hours, in the middle of the day.

I'd say, I saved $60-$80 each month, on the bill.

Back in the day, before ac, they had whole house fans, which were huge venturi fans, mounted in the ceiling, in a central hallway...You just cracked the windows, and a good breeze moved through the house.

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i could do 4 years in vegas. meg has no desire to go there though. i think it would be fun. i could summer in washington and bring back lots of tuna, and maybe even get up there for a week in the spring to stock up on halibut. good times.


"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

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