Ken Alexander reflects on his time at FJ:

[Curious]

You know what's crazy (and I'm from the deep south, so maybe it's just me), but according to Lori they don't even have air conditioning :shock: For $450K I would damn well expect air conditioning (or buy a cheaper house so I could afford to have it put in).

We have a ceiling fan in each bedroom, central heating and air, and I keep this place at 70 year round (and damn the costs).

Apparently, in some areas of CA it's common not to have AC as the weather is mildish year round. I have a friend in CA and was shocked to learn that they didn't have AC. So this might be the case.

For me, you will pry my AC from my cold, dead hands ;)

[Naga Viper]

Did you enjoy the rain? That was different. :lol:

You know, I was feeling good that for once it didn't matter how dusty my car got this summer because of drought measures, and then there was just enough rain on Sunday to make a speckled mess of it... :x

And in other First World problems, now to turn on my AC for a bit since I don't get to live within five miles of the beach. :lol:

[lawfulevil]

Yeah, we got one super light rain last week. My car turned into a speckled mess. I finally gave in and cleaned off the back windshield this morning... SO THEN IT SPRINKLED AGAIN.

This is a clear edict from God- the Flying Spaghetti Monster disapproves of halfassing it.

[alba]

At least for the coastal part of California—like San Diego—it doesn't get humid very often, and certainly nothing like the Midwest. This past weekend was an exception in my neck of the woods due to a summer storm (typical number of those we get per year: zero to one), but generally, humid days are somewhat uncommon outside of the winter rains.

You know, I can see the sea from my bedroom window (over there, between the land and the sky :P ), but that just makes it humid here in the summer. It doesn't really get much above 20 C (70ish F?), but it's incredibly humid from the water. And, no, nowhere has air conditioning. Stupid Scottish weather :lol:

[polecat]

How humid does it get in California? Here in the Midwest we have insanely humid summers and I would start taking hostages if we didn't have A/C. We have done an unusual amount of travel this year - to regions where air conditioning just is not common. I've told my husband if he moves me to any of those places, I want to see actual working air conditioners in whatever house we settle in. Not that that will be an issue, but it still needed to be said :lol:

'Cause Mama gets grumpy when Mama sweats.

Hot and humid Midwest here, too, and we don't have central air because we have radiant heat (so no duct work). I tell you what, as much as I gripe about suffering with just window units, it more than pays off in the winter when my floors are toasty warm and the whole house feels like a cozy, comfy blanket.

Really thinking about installing zoned cooling, though.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Apparently, in some areas of CA it's common not to have AC as the weather is mildish year round. I have a friend in CA and was shocked to learn that they didn't have AC. So this might be the case.

For me, you will pry my AC from my cold, dead hands ;)

My relatives in Orange County didn't have A/C. I was surprised, since we consider it essential and live much farther north, but they get nice breezes and low humidity. I loved the weather, although I guess it would be hard to deal with wildfires and droughts if I actually had to live there.

[dairyfreelife]

My relatives in Colorado rarely use their a/c and some homes don't even have it. I was amazed when I went there how different it feels. Low humidity is awesome. Their 90F is nothing like my 90F or 32.2C for those who don't want to convert. It gets so sticky here in the summer. Makes the summers hotter and winters colder. But I won't complain because after last winter's weather, I will take the heat and sticky oven like air over snow and ice any day. And it has not been a very warm summer overall anyway. In fact some days have been downright chilly for summer here. Average is 85F here or 29.4C. But it's been averaging 75-80F or 23.9-26.7C and lots of rain this summer, which means humidity is not an issue. Usually we have a spout in July where it doesn't rain for two weeks. Not this year. In fact, there have been days the high has only been 65F or 18.3C, which is not at all normal and has felt like it was late September or October than July. I hope maybe it means mild winter this year. I am totally okay with little to no snow. Where they live, no a/c is likely possible. Where I live...they will have pry my central heat and a/c from my cold, dead hands before I will part with it. :snooty:

[SquirrelySquirrel]

I would love to know what Lori and Ken's income and expenses are. I live in Nj- property tax hell. My house is big- 1900 sq ft on a half acre lot, I pay 10,323 in yearly property taxes plus 250 sewer plus water, gas, and electric. Coup inning and selling oils over the internet are not going to cut it.

Holy shit! I may bitch and moan about Indiana, but the cost of living sure makes it hard to leave. We pay under $600 a year for 1500 sq ft on almost 3 acres. And people here bitch and moan like the world is coming to an end if anyone wants to raise property taxes by miniscule amounts to pay for things like school buses. Sheesh. We are in a cheaper part of the county, but even the more expensive areas don't pay more than 3x what we do for a similar property/home.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Just googled the weather facts for my area and San Diego.

Why do I live here, again? 94% average daily high humidity sucks. It makes cold feel colder and heat feel hotter, and just takes all the energy right out of you.

[Coconut Flan]

There is that. It's a lovely day here and very pleasant. We moved here from an area where 100/100 days were common in August. (100% relative humidity and 100 degrees or more.)

[Naga Viper]

The grass is always greener. A friend of mine in upstate New York bitches about the shitty weather they have seemingly eight months of every year, but then I have to remind him that his monthly mortgage payment for a decent-size house is something like $400 and I pay nearly three times that for a modest apartment in LA. (Granted, I'm basically paying extra for secured parking and some other features, but still.)

And then of course, somebody in NYC or San Francisco posts something about paying 50% more than I do for 50% less space, so...

[alba]

Don't come to Scotland, then, EscapedCardinal. Shit weather AND high house prices :P I grew up in Canada and find the winters here cold (and inadequately snowy).

[Naga Viper]

Well, as long as I can still visit for some proper haggis every now and then...

[HoneyBunny]

My relatives in Colorado rarely use their a/c and some homes don't even have it. I was amazed when I went there how different it feels. Low humidity is awesome. Their 90F is nothing like my 90F or 32.2C for those who don't want to convert.

Damn straight, and thank you for saying it. I was getting my feathers ruffled because we live in a $450K house in Colorado and don't have AC. When we built, 26 years ago, no one on our street had it. Slowly, as furnaces have had to be replaced, people have installed it so that we are the only ones without it. With no humidity, an evaporative cooler makes more sense, but our covenants don't allow them. We'll get AC someday, when we get a new furance. But I'm not sure we'll even run it until we get over 95F or so.

[Coco]

When we lived in TX close to DFW it was super humid, super hot. Even at 9am going outside to pick blackberries off the bush in the yard turned into sauna time... a/c was pretty much necessary for survival. So annoying, though. The noise and esp. the difference between going inside and outside is just irritating. Going into a building in Texas summers is almost like jumping into a super cold pool and getting a nose bleed. :|

Where we live now it feels like everywhere, inside and out, has A/C all the time. It's awesome. Don't have to change clothes going in or out, we can keep the windows open 24/7 and hear nature. Of course winter sucked... but being an indoorsy person i'd much rather warm up the car for 30 min. than try to cool off the car from being an actual oven, or drive suffering in stifling heat til the a/c makes a difference. Not to mention worrying about getting a seatbelt branding. :lol:

wikihow.com/Bake-Cookies-on-Your-Car-Dashboard

[lawfulevil]

I was born and raised in a dreadfully homogenous little suburb of North Dallas, and then I attempted college the first time in Texas as well. Almost 20 years roasting my ass off in God's Sauna every summer, I'm never doing it again.

But AC isn't the only option! We actually have a heat pump, not an AC (it can cool too, not just heat). We do use a zone AC in the office in the summer, 3 full towers plus a southwestern exposure means no amount of tinting on that (god damned) picture window can do it all, and I'd rather not cool the whole house trying to keep the office reasonable.