COLD DARK ROOM

[EllieMay]

Hot, humid & nasty here! A real feel of 108 or so. I went out kayaking early & almost killed myself. Just toooo hot & humid to enjoy. @EllieMay yes...it does seem way hotter & humid. i gave Sully a pool bath yesterday, will do agsin today.

Be careful and don’t take any chances with the heat..
I have been soaking all of mine too! They are pretty content to sit in the “water hose” water... I think their soak holes in the enclosure stay pretty warm...

 

[Yvonne G]

Did you find her?

No, I haven't heard from her in a week or so, and no posting here either.

 

[Yvonne G]

Good morning all! It’s going to be another sizzler in Phoenix.

Do people in Arizona use the evaporative coolers? That's what I have here, but on humid days (few and far between) it doesn't work well. I also have an AC unit, but I can't afford to run it. Electricity is high here.

 

[Yvonne G]

The temperature in Phoenix today is supposed to hit 112+13% humidity. I can’t imagine humidity even higher than the 13% at this temp. I get up at four in the morning and while it’s still dark I start running water in the different tree holes and I check the burrows for the desert tortoises to make sure they’re OK. When I was a little girl I never had to be checking burrows in the summertime for the tortoises because they were always fine (tiny tim was one of those tortoises and here we are over a half century together still cooking). I have a Lisbon lemon that I’m struggling with that’s a fairly young tree-it’s supposed to be heat tolerant but it is not tolerating the heat here. Sometimes I wonder why I live in Phoenix.

A while ago Markw84 posted pictures of his pond, and it showed some pretty nice-looking sail cloth shades over his yard. Have you ever thought of shading your yard either with shade cloth or sail cloth?

TOPHOMEDEC

TOPHOMEDEC

tophomedec.com

 

[Pistachio's Pamperer]

Do people in Arizona use the evaporative coolers? That's what I have here, but on humid days (few and far between) it doesn't work well. I also have an AC unit, but I can't afford to run it. Electricity is high here.

Arizona and New Mexico both use them, also known as “swamp” coolers. They stink on days when there is actually humidity. And they can only cool your house down by about 10 degrees. Have to run them early to keep houses cool and then usually switch to AC. But then the ac is dealing with fighting the humidity the swamp put into the air, so lots of water condensing. My house in NM is equipped with a “industrial” swamp so it manages to cool 2200sq feet by about 15 degrees then it has to be switched to ac. House wasn’t equipped with Ac unit which is extremely common in NM. So I had to buy two huge floor units that vent out windows and have hoses that are run to drain either into a bucket or outside. Those units are supposedly the best and between the two capable of cooling 3000sq feet. They are also supposedly the most efficient and cost about 1200 for the pair. They would increase the electric bill about double. So normal bill of 60-80 would go into the 110-160 range. And electricity in NM isn’t too expensive.
Swamp cooler raises the bill about 30-60 a month. Then the AC unit about the same. So bad summers there can make the bill hit the 200s.

Swamp cooler also have to be serviced. They have these mats in them that the water covers that the fans push air through to get the cooling affect. Those mats can be cheap and cost 50-100 to replace and that’s done yearly or if you are lucky maybe every two years. They can be cheap straw looking stuff or look more like the woven plastic fiber stuff like goes into your furnace, so that affects the price as well as to how many mats and the sizes your swamp needs.
The industrial units use a more heavy duty mat that need replacing less 4-8years. But the cost is huge. Mats for my unit are 400.
Now add water usage as well. Water in my neighborhood is cheap. 30-40 bucks a month for a household of 4(no city sewer-most houses have a septic tank that needs pumped out) That bill will double when running the swamp on my house. Then add in that water in that area is HARD. So a filter must be added to the water line for the swamp cooler. That filter on my unit must be replaced yearly and the cartridge is 70.
Then most people pay someone to do the maintenance. A yearly “fee” to have the swamp and furnace serviced is about 500. Swamp has to be drained and cleaned and covered and mats changed out- spring and fall. And of course the furnace is cleaned and filters changed- spring and fall.

So to end this little educational moment. Lol sorry I was new to swamp coolers when I moved to NM so I find it interesting. I am not really a fan of them and think it’s pretty expensive.

-Meg

 

[Pastel Tortie]

No, I haven't heard from her in a week or so, and no posting here either.

We've been missing her. I've been missing the banter between @Chubbs the tegu and @maggie3fan. They keep us highly entertained when things start getting quiet around here.

 

[Maro2Bear]

The temperature in Phoenix today is supposed to hit 112+13% humidity. I can’t imagine humidity even higher than the 13% at this temp. I get up at four in the morning and while it’s still dark I start running water in the different tree holes and I check the burrows for the desert tortoises to make sure they’re OK. When I was a little girl I never had to be checking burrows in the summertime for the tortoises because they were always fine (tiny tim was one of those tortoises and here we are over a half century together still cooking). I have a Lisbon lemon that I’m struggling with that’s a fairly young tree-it’s supposed to be heat tolerant but it is not tolerating the heat here. Sometimes I wonder why I live in Phoenix.

But Phoenix is nice & not too humid. It’s a dry heat. Like those dry heat years I spent in Kuwait & Riyadh.

 

[Pastel Tortie]

Arizona and New Mexico both use them, also known as “swamp” coolers. They stink on days when there is actually humidity. And they can only cool your house down by about 10 degrees. Have to run them early to keep houses cool and then usually switch to AC. But then the ac is dealing with fighting the humidity the swamp put into the air, so lots of water condensing. My house in NM is equipped with a “industrial” swamp so it manages to cool 2200sq feet by about 15 degrees then it has to be switched to ac. House wasn’t equipped with Ac unit which is extremely common in NM. So I had to buy two huge floor units that vent out windows and have hoses that are run to drain either into a bucket or outside. Those units are supposedly the best and between the two capable of cooling 3000sq feet. They are also supposedly the most efficient and cost about 1200 for the pair. They would increase the electric bill about double. So normal bill of 60-80 would go into the 110-160 range. And electricity in NM isn’t too expensive.
Swamp cooler raises the bill about 30-60 a month. Then the AC unit about the same. So bad summers there can make the bill hit the 200s.

Swamp cooler also have to be serviced. They have these mats in them that the water covers that the fans push air through to get the cooling affect. Those mats can be cheap and cost 50-100 to replace and that’s done yearly or if you are lucky maybe every two years. They can be cheap straw looking stuff or look more like the woven plastic fiber stuff like goes into your furnace, so that affects the price as well as to how many mats and the sizes your swamp needs.
The industrial units use a more heavy duty mat that need replacing less 4-8years. But the cost is huge. Mats for my unit are 400.
Now add water usage as well. Water in my neighborhood is cheap. 30-40 bucks a month for a household of 4(no city sewer-most houses have a septic tank that needs pumped out) That bill will double when running the swamp on my house. Then add in that water in that area is HARD. So a filter must be added to the water line for the swamp cooler. That filter on my unit must be replaced yearly and the cartridge is 70.
Then most people pay someone to do the maintenance. A yearly “fee” to have the swamp and furnace serviced is about 500. Swamp has to be drained and cleaned and covered and mats changed out- spring and fall. And of course the furnace is cleaned and filters changed- spring and fall.

So to end this little educational moment. Lol sorry I was new to swamp coolers when I moved to NM so I find it interesting. I am not really a fan of them and think it’s pretty expensive.

-Meg

I know of a couple swamp coolers in use in Florida... Not a bad way for moderating temperatures in aquaculture greenhouses. I don't know anyone who uses them in their residences, though.

 

[Pastel Tortie]

But Phoenix is nice & not too humid. It’s a dry heat. Like those dry heat years I spent in Kuwait & Riyadh.

Dry...heat...? No, we don't really understand that concept of DRY heat in Florida. We do understand humid and downright muggy.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Do people in Arizona use the evaporative coolers? That's what I have here, but on humid days (few and far between) it doesn't work well. I also have an AC unit, but I can't afford to run it. Electricity is high here.

I would be near death if we didnt have our a/c on. Heat wave running here & oppressive humidity. ?

 

[Pastel Tortie]

Good afternoon everyone. What have I missed. Been gone so long, 4 years

What you've missed... Is more of an essay question than a short answer. Maybe more of a novel.

I have been on the Forum less time than @EllieMay, but welcome back!

I'm Anne, and I live in North Florida. I did live in the UK for about three years, but that was around 15 years ago. Near Blackpool and outside of Leeds.

 

[Pistachio's Pamperer]

Dry heat with me having an abused body and early arthritis is “good”. Also NM has no real winter.

I have lived in a lot of places. And the humidity and crazy instant thunderstorms in Georgia and Maryland are soooo not my thing, but not really much winter. Indiana and Ohio have those issues too but the winters. Ugh! Depending on what part of Texas you can deal with the heat/dry. Or the humidity and heat. Oklahoma deals with humidity and instant storms.

I soooo gotta find a place that doesn’t drive me crazy. Lol

 

[Maro2Bear]

Arizona and New Mexico both use them, also known as “swamp” coolers. They stink on days when there is actually humidity. And they can only cool your house down by about 10 degrees. Have to run them early to keep houses cool and then usually switch to AC. But then the ac is dealing with fighting the humidity the swamp put into the air, so lots of water condensing. My house in NM is equipped with a “industrial” swamp so it manages to cool 2200sq feet by about 15 degrees then it has to be switched to ac. House wasn’t equipped with Ac unit which is extremely common in NM. So I had to buy two huge floor units that vent out windows and have hoses that are run to drain either into a bucket or outside. Those units are supposedly the best and between the two capable of cooling 3000sq feet. They are also supposedly the most efficient and cost about 1200 for the pair. They would increase the electric bill about double. So normal bill of 60-80 would go into the 110-160 range. And electricity in NM isn’t too expensive.
Swamp cooler raises the bill about 30-60 a month. Then the AC unit about the same. So bad summers there can make the bill hit the 200s.

Swamp cooler also have to be serviced. They have these mats in them that the water covers that the fans push air through to get the cooling affect. Those mats can be cheap and cost 50-100 to replace and that’s done yearly or if you are lucky maybe every two years. They can be cheap straw looking stuff or look more like the woven plastic fiber stuff like goes into your furnace, so that affects the price as well as to how many mats and the sizes your swamp needs.
The industrial units use a more heavy duty mat that need replacing less 4-8years. But the cost is huge. Mats for my unit are 400.
Now add water usage as well. Water in my neighborhood is cheap. 30-40 bucks a month for a household of 4(no city sewer-most houses have a septic tank that needs pumped out) That bill will double when running the swamp on my house. Then add in that water in that area is HARD. So a filter must be added to the water line for the swamp cooler. That filter on my unit must be replaced yearly and the cartridge is 70.
Then most people pay someone to do the maintenance. A yearly “fee” to have the swamp and furnace serviced is about 500. Swamp has to be drained and cleaned and covered and mats changed out- spring and fall. And of course the furnace is cleaned and filters changed- spring and fall.

So to end this little educational moment. Lol sorry I was new to swamp coolers when I moved to NM so I find it interesting. I am not really a fan of them and think it’s pretty expensive.

-Meg

Wow! Who knew. I think the mat company is making out. Get these swamp coolers installed in 10,000 houses....charge them x every two years. We can all move to Maine.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Dry...heat...? No, we don't really understand that concept of DRY heat in Florida. We do understand humid and downright muggy.

Exactly.....was talking about Phoenix.

 

[Pistachio's Pamperer]

What you've missed... Is more of an essay question than a short answer. Maybe more of a novel.

Lol. Hey now... I am feeling verbose this morning. And bored and lonesome.

 

[Pastel Tortie]

I just realized I didn't actually introduce myself to @Chubbs the tegu... Oops...

Hello Jay, I'm Anne. Nice to meet you!

Unless he prefers me being that mystery woman in North Florida, in which case he can just ignore my post. Although, knowing @Chubbs the tegu, he's probably going to make a comment... I'd be disappointed (and maybe a little worried) if he didn't!

 

[Pistachio's Pamperer]

Wow! Who knew. I think the mat company is making out. Get these swamp coolers installed in 10,000 houses....charge them x every two years. We can all move to Maine.

No joke. And don’t tease me about Maine. That is somewhere I am very drawn to. I just worry about winter. Soooooo pretty. I haven’t been that far northeast though so I don’t know if I will really really love it.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Dry heat with me having an abused body and early arthritis is “good”. Also NM has no real winter.

I have lived in a lot of places. And the humidity and crazy instant thunderstorms in Georgia and Maryland are soooo not my thing, but not really much winter. Indiana and Ohio have those issues too but the winters. Ugh! Depending on what part of Texas you can deal with the heat/dry. Or the humidity and heat. Oklahoma deals with humidity and instant storms.

I soooo gotta find a place that doesn’t drive me crazy. Lol

Hey, let us all know when you find that place!

 

[Pastel Tortie]

Wow! Who knew. I think the mat company is making out. Get these swamp coolers installed in 10,000 houses....charge them x every two years. We can all move to Maine.

Snow... That's the stuff that makes national (maybe international?) headlines if it happens during daylight hours in Florida... Or was that Hades?

Similar forecast.

 

[Pastel Tortie]

Exactly.....was talking about Phoenix.

Mythical location... I may have to see this place for myself some day.