DW said "the heat (florida) wasn't so bad..."

[rayinpenn]

DW said "the heat (florida) wasn't so bad..."

We keep a bunch of bikes in my wife's late father's florida house to ride to the clubhouse and exercise. My daughter came home from a trip to the pool with a broken pedal. The next day my wife has a set of new pedals is waiting for me to install. It's about 8AM I have my coffee and head to the garage - 20 minutes later it is done - a simple repair done while sitting in a lawn chair yet I am drenched with sweat -- the temperature never got out of the high seventies. The humidity must be up there as well

Three days later (today) 8AM and I'm lounging on my deck here 30 miles or so from Philadelphia and it is a joyous post rain 68 degrees. Our deck is surrounded by some very sizable trees which provide shade until about 11am. The birds are chirping, a plane passes by every now and then and I hear a dog in the distance. My own mutt is sleeping on the outdoor love seat opposite me. Paradise. - well almost. The real estate taxes on casa RayinPenn are between 8 and 9 grand. The stairs to the 2nd floor master are less and less friendly to my knees. Come October paradise will be down south.

Pennsylvania's tax laws help offset some costs for retirees: Social Security benefits and payouts from 401(k)s, IRAs, deferred-compensation plans and other retirement accounts are all tax-exempt. Florida has no personal income taxes....


Nothing is perfect, there are always trade offs...it is all a big puzzle.


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[Fermion]

I am in the Pacific Northwest where we put up with 300 days of rain just so we can enjoy the bliss of 72 degree summer days. It is going to be 96 today

Might as well move to Florida.

 

[cooch96]

At least in the PNW the humidity is surprisingly low. 92 here feels like 78 in Iowa.

Plus, no mosquitoes. Well, DW always seems to get bit, but she likes to spend all day gardening and refuses to wear bug spray. If she tried that in the Midwest, she'd be a dried out husk by noon.

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

I've been a lot of places and seen a lot of things. Considered north AR but altitude does not alleviate hot summers. Hard to beat western NC at three to four thousand feet. May go to FL for a few weeks in the winter, but so much cheaper to rent than buy and maintain two houses.

 

[Mulligan]

I am in the Pacific Northwest where we put up with 300 days of rain just so we can enjoy the bliss of 72 degree summer days. It is going to be 96 today

Might as well move to Florida.

You guys are making a run for Phoenix. Their high I read in paper was only about 104 today. Things have been seasonal to below here in MO. GF had a jacket on while watching fireworks. I didn't even notice you all were in a record heatwave until Ha mentioned it and the local paper did also the following day.


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[Gotadimple]

I am in the Pacific Northwest where we put up with 300 days of rain just so we can enjoy the bliss of 72 degree summer days. It is going to be 96 today

Might as well move to Florida.

Nah!! You're forgetting that today's humidity will be about 30% (no where close to what the humidity is in Florida), and they don't have the Olympic Mountains or Mt Rainier to look at!

Rita (with fans running!)

 

[haha]

Nah!! You're forgetting that today's humidity will be about 30% (no where close to what the humidity is in Florida), and they don't have the Olympic Mountains or Mt Rainier to look at!

Rita (with fans running!)

I think I am going to get a room AC unit. Though last few days I am only modestly uncomfortable from about 4-10, then I go to bed. I have very good cross ventilation in my LR, but not in bedroom. So I have started sleeping on the couch. I sleep like a log out there, and it is really nice to wake up well rested to a fresh breeze. Because of all the windows morning is very light out in LR, but I have a sleep mask like Gloria Swanson wore in Sunset Boulevard.

I can remember when I was a boy living in the upper south we would often sleep right on the floor of Masonite tiles directly on poured concrete. Better a hard floor than boiling in bed. Our parents would turn on the ceiling lights, and go around the room conducting a massacre with fly swatter of the mosquitoes suddenly visible on the ceiling. Couldn't keep those mosquitoes out. Very different here, I think I have never killed a mosquito in my place, or almost any other bug or insect. I remember in Berkley, we didn't even own screens. Now I have modern windows with screens here.

Living on West Coast for ~50 years, I am now completely spoiled. By Eastern standards our current weather is a walk in the park, but I am looking forward to more normal conditions because I have besome soft.

My GF is Mediterranean and she loves this weather. We do go to the Lake Washington beach which I love, hot or not.

Ha

 

[Gotadimple]

I think I am going to get a room AC unit.
Ha

I have a free-standing AC in the bedroom. The vent out inserts into the bedroom window and is not readily noticeable (or at least not as noticeable as a window model). Cost is about 2X the window models, but it cools the bedroom nicely.

There is something to be said for the natural air-conditioning of the PNW. Generally the heat spells don't last long -- until this year.

Rita

 

[springnr]

These Puget Sound high temp events, and accompanied lack of breeze can make indoors unpleasant. Since this happens for a little while every summer I have been researching possible solutions. A couple weeks ago I online ordered two window fans from Costco which have allowed me to cool the house at night. This morning the inside temp was 63. It did take a while for interior temps to drop after the sun set.

I'm trying these in the upstairs windows to see if making my own breeze to evacuate hot air is adequate.
http://www.costco.com/Bionaire%C2%AE-Twin-Window-Fan.product.100110337.html

Then maybe installing one of these new quiet whole house fans.
HVACQuick - Whole House Fans

https://www.wholehousefan.com/products/

 

[MRG]

rayinpenn,
You moving permanently to FL? My DS in Austin always says it's a nice dry heat. Florida IMHO in the summer is a nice wet heat; one that I can't handle!

 

[MichaelB]

rayinpenn,
You moving permanently to FL? My DS in Austin always says it's a nice dry heat. Florida IMHO in the summer is a nice wet heat; one that I can't handle!

+1 on wet and heat, nothing nice about it IMHO.

 

[NYEXPAT]

The real estate taxes on casa RayinPenn are between 8 and 9 grand.
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

Not bad, 13 years ago I was paying 12k on a little two bedroom condo worth 500k. Now, I pay $600 on an Penthouse overlooking the Ocean. But, one of my greatest joy's in life was sticking my ex with the 25k in taxes on my former childhood home!

 

[Gill]

rayinpenn,
You moving permanently to FL? My DS in Austin always says it's a nice dry heat. Florida IMHO in the summer is a nice wet heat; one that I can't handle!

I guess that means you're not joining us for a round of golf this morning? This is the best time of year in Florida.
Bruce

 

[rayinpenn]

These Puget Sound high temp events, and accompanied lack of breeze can make indoors unpleasant. Since this happens for a little while every summer I have been researching possible solutions. A couple weeks ago I online ordered two window fans from Costco which have allowed me to cool the house at night. This morning the inside temp was 63. It did take a while for interior temps to drop after the sun set.

I'm trying these in the upstairs windows to see if making my own breeze to evacuate hot air is adequate.
http://www.costco.com/Bionaire®-Twin-Window-Fan.product.100110337.html

Then maybe installing one of these new quiet whole house fans.
HVACQuick - Whole House Fans

https://www.wholehousefan.com/products/

We have ceiling fans in each room - on cooler evenings we use a comparable dual window fan. Noisy but the room cools down nicely.


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[Nunthewiser]

You think the heat is bad in Florida, try living without air conditioning in your car. I did it for 20 years of commuting (LBYM) in my underpowered VW diesels that I wrenched myself and probably saved $100K over all those years. Left home at 5AM , work at 3:30ish and put up with it (no stopping). Retired now for six months and I can't find a used car that I like that has A/C.

Its miserable.

Wife and I are going looking for a new car for her today...I hope she makes up her mind soon.

 

[Sunset]

These Puget Sound high temp events, and accompanied lack of breeze can make indoors unpleasant. Since this happens for a little while every summer I have been researching possible solutions. A couple weeks ago I online ordered two window fans from Costco which have allowed me to cool the house at night. This morning the inside temp was 63. It did take a while for interior temps to drop after the sun set.

I'm trying these in the upstairs windows to see if making my own breeze to evacuate hot air is adequate.
http://www.costco.com/Bionaire®-Twin-Window-Fan.product.100110337.html

Then maybe installing one of these new quiet whole house fans.
HVACQuick - Whole House Fans

https://www.wholehousefan.com/products/

Those whole house fans work very well to cool down a house when the outside temp has dropped from a hot day.

I first experienced them in Kansas. Then Chicago.

Remember they blow the hot air out of the roof attic and draw the cool air into the house via windows, until you have replaced all the air in the house a few dozen or more times.

This means they are not good for folks with outside allergies as all the pollen/mold/etc will be flooding into the house.

As for noise, the ones I experienced were 15-20 yrs old and they made a loud noise, really I cannot see how they can be quiet as they need to push a lot of air.

I do think they are great considering the downsides, and they are pretty low cost and cheap to run, means you will run the AC less as the house is cooler.

 

[springnr]

Sunset, appreciate the info.
I really wanted to geek out go for the fancy whole house fan, but the two window fans are handling the occasional hot day with no breeze adequately. The downstairs intake windows face a lee side brick paved patio that is enclosed by the house on three sides, so fairly clean air. It takes about ten minutes to remove and box both fans until next summer.

 

[NW-Bound]

I had a pleasant 5-day long July 4 extended weekend up in my high-country home. I had to drive my mother back to her home in the low elevation, so am suffering the heat again.

Up in my high-country hideout (6800 ft), all I have to do is to open all doors and let the breeze blow through the house. Temperature there today is 78F high, with dew point of 43F, and the night low is 55F. There are very few bugs, as it's dry. It's just perfect in the summer.

If I could get my wife to abandon her veggie garden to the summer heat, I would be spending the whole summer up there. The only thing missing there is the internet.

 

[ERD50]

Those whole house fans work very well to cool down a house when the outside temp has dropped from a hot day.

I first experienced them in Kansas. Then Chicago.
...

I've thought pretty seriously about a whole house fan, they seem to make a lot of sense in some climates.

But when I tried to mentally note how many days a year (here, near Chicago, weather-wise) we would likely use it - like when it was hot but not too humid, and it was going to cool down at night, it only seemed like maybe 10 days a year? It just didn't seem to justify the expense.

Again, the humidity is the key for us. That is often the trigger for me running the AC, rather than just the heat. I don't like everything getting muggy. So running the AC through a few extra days probably doesn't amount to much. Though it still seems like a good idea.

Here it is July 8th, and we ran the AC one evening and overnight. That's all. And even that was partially because I wanted to test it in case it was not working, I didn't want to wait for the heat wave to call a repair place, and we have out of town guests in a few weeks.

-ERD50