Does your home have AC?

[kenny]

Right now I wish we had it.
It's so hot.

If you have it what was your highest monthly electric bill?

 

[Niel]

Sure do. We live in a climate that can get pretty humid. I'd shoot myself otherwise lol.

 

[AprilBaby]

Yes, I would melt without it!

 

[kenny]

If your home has AC, what was your highest monthly electric bill ever?

 

[Efe]

AC and ceiling fans in almost every room. Live in Northern Virginia and the highest bill was $215.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Yes, we do. Our highest bill was $1200, but a couple of years ago we put in more efficient units and now it's about $600 at the highest. Well worth it, IMHO.

 

[texaskj]

kenny, you're a hoot...do we have AC?
Darlin' we'd be dead without it.
It actually costs more to run a furnace in an all-electric house down here. I think the highest summer bill was around $140?
Mature oak trees and lots and lots of fans help. I even have a ceiling fan in the bathroom, which is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I NEED a ceiling fan in the bathroom. We have them in every other room. I know a lot of people think they are tacky but I wouldn't give them up for anything. Not even diamonds.

 

[marcy]

We do. Our highest bill in the summer is about $225. Our worst bills are December and January because it is COLD here and heating our house takes more energy than cooling it.

 

[manderz]

We use window units as needed when it gets really bad. 2 of them in a little over 1000 sq feet. Our electric bill averages $75-90, never been more than $120.

 

[movie zombie]

yes.
however, despite unseasonably hot Hot HOT weather we have not used it...
why?
any sane person would ask this question.....

well, turns out a stellar jay set up a nest under our deck very nearly over the unit that brings in the air....it is also very noisy when doing so....

hubby decided it would be disturbing to the nest and the stellar parents...not to mention the stellar baby/babies.

I have said that I don't think there is anything in the nest....he insisted there is....and proceeded to buy an infra red outdoor camera which he hooked up a couple of nights ago.

and guess what? mom and dad are feeding something in that nest!

thankfully it is supposed to start to cool down because I can honestly say I don't know how much more of this hot house I can take.

 

[NOYFB]

Yes. It's expensive as hell, but oh so worth it!!

 

[ForteKitty]

Yes. $60. We are on the plan that does random shut off throughout the work week between 9-6 or something like that, in exchange for very discounted summer rates. Since we're at work, it works out great for us. The hottest it gets in the house w/o AC is about 83. Our insulation is pretty good. We like to sleep with a couple of windows open at night so the house cools down quite a bit by the morning. It usually doesn't reach 83 till mid afternoon.

 

[momhappy]

I would have a REALLY hard time living in a home without AC. It's part of the reason why I don't go visit a certain family member all that much (no AC).

 

[Matata]

We put in high efficiency furnace and air conditioning last year. Our air conditioner can be hooked up to solar panels but we haven't installed them yet. When our temps get up to 100, our highest bill was $110. We went on a payment plan a few years ago and based on our past usage our monthly payment is $90. I keep the setting at 74.

 

[Matata]

Kenny…if energy costs are a concern, there are high efficiency single room air conditioners that would allow you even greater control over settings throughout the house. They are slim profile and wall mounted. Kinda spendy though.

 

[Niel]

Do you have a dehumidifier kenny? That often helps just with making it feel more comfortable. Dehumidifier plus fan i can usually make it into the 80s without complaint. A last summer our AC went out when we went though a heat spell (95+) and i was ready to rage, though.

Funny thing is this year our heating unit went out when we were having a bit of a cold spell (10s) funny how that works.

 

[jaysonsmom]

We live in So. Cal, and it was over 100 degrees today, so yes we need AC! Our electricity bill runs between $140-300 a month. Not too bad for a 3000 sq.ft. house IMO. It probably would be a lot worse if we were home all day, but we are not home until 3pm ish.

 

[kenny]

Do you have a dehumidifier kenny?

No, but we don't need one.

Fortunately, when it gets over 90 here in costal Southern California the prevailing wind direction is usually reversed.
Instead of enjoying the usual cool humid air sucked in from the ocean as the air from the heated-up land rises, we get hot dry air from the inland desert.

STILL, dry or not, when it's over 100 …
If it was humid heat I'd die.

 

[arkieb1]

Kenny you'd be done for if you came to Australia in the summer , it gets to well over that where I live and 90 to 95%+ humidity. We run two aircons in the summer and the power bill is always well over $1000.00 per month.

 

[kenny]

Wow!
UGH!

 

[TooPatient]

If your home has AC, what was your highest monthly electric bill ever?

Highest ever was about $290 BUT -- that is gas & electricity. So about $40 of that was hot water heater.

We have the air conditioner but I do try to open all windows early in the morning when cool and use a dehumidifier also so we can have the air conditioner run less. Most of the time it doesn't have to run much. Days like the last few make me really appreciate it though!

 

[Smores84]

I'm with you, Kenny. I also live in SoCal and my current apt does not have AC, and it has been miserable today. It's too hot to do anything but sit on the sofa and eat ice cream...

 

[diamondseeker2006]

We have to have it in the southeast. Heat costs us a lot more than AC. We had $500 bills this past winter because it was so cold. The worst month of the summer it is probably half that much.

 

[FrekeChild]

It was 105 here today, and our AC cranked on a bit. But we went to the movies/daycare.

Electricity for our 1,800 sqft runs around $400/month during the summer. Heating is under $200 during the winter.

ETA: Sorry Kenny for those hot winds!

 

[Dancing Fire]

If your home has AC, what was your highest monthly electric bill ever?

about $350 during the hottest months for our 2350 sq ft single story home set at 78* 24/7, but our AC unit is 27 yrs old.

 

[FrekeChild]

I should probably mention that we typically have our thermostat set to 81 in the summer. With 100+ degree days being the norm, well, we have kind of adapted to the heat.

 

[zoebartlett]

We had AC for a few years in other places we've lived, but this condo doesn't have it. We run fans but in the middle of the summer when it's hot and humid, they don't seem to help much.

I can't quite remember but I think our electric bill was around $150 or so.

 

[justginger]

The area that I grew up in -- everyone had a/c, even the most disadvantaged. I guess Midwest heat and humidity was something no one was willing to deal with. Then I when I moved here, I ended up in a rental house without a/c. It was such a shock to my system; I genuinely didn't know that people built houses without air conditioning. It was...rough. Really rough. It gets hot down here, and that house was like a blazing inferno.

DH and I bought our house with no a/c, and had a large split system put in our living room that first summer. We don't use it often, but when we do, it's worth every penny. It's large enough (and our house is small enough ) that it cools the whole place.

If people are worried about electricity costs, you could consider getting solar. We bought a system a few years ago and it's been amazing. I think in 3-4 years now we've only paid an electricity bill maybe 6 times? And those bills were sub-$100. Most of the year we have standing credit due to the amount we've put into the system while we're at work, with very little power being consumed but heaps being made.

 

[Rhea]

We don't have AC (or AirCon as it's known here!) and never have. I don't know anyone who does. It does get warm here in London, but we don't have the humidity that I experienced growing up in the South of the US. In the 2 years we've been in this place we haven't used the heat either. Our 1980s build is incredibly well insulated so there's no need for either. DH used to tell me that the houses I lived in the South of the US were built like shit and that's why my bills were so high but I never believed it until I moved here. I love my very well insulated home!