Anyone move to Portland BECAUSE of the weather? (Phoenix, Toledo: apartments, unemployment)

[LeftCoastee]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

Once about 4 years ago I was helping a friend rent out her house in the West Linn area. Everyone who called insisted they had to have A/C. Idiots! They had no idea what they were talking about. (She ended up not being able to rent it out b/c of the AC issue.)

So someone is an idiot because they want to have A/C? Sorry, but I'd have to say that I would always pick a house / apt that has A/C over one that doesn't. Why not have options? Just because you have A/C doesn't mean you are running it all summer long. My outdoor thermometer hit 97 degrees yesterday, which last time I checked, was A/C weather.

Cool mornings and cool evenings don't do much around 4pm when the sun has been beating down on the house all day. I installed a 4500cfm whole house fan that I turn on as soon as the outside temp drops below the indoor temp to take advantage of nightime cooling. It also removes the latent heat from my house / attic. But come 2pm the next day when its been in the 90s, there is no other choice than to sweat or turn on the A/C. I choose door number two.

[CWSC]

Originally Posted by LeftCoastee

So someone is an idiot because they want to have A/C? Sorry, but I'd have to say that I would always pick a house / apt that has A/C over one that doesn't. Why not have options? Just because you have A/C doesn't mean you are running it all summer long. My outdoor thermometer hit 97 degrees yesterday, which last time I checked, was A/C weather.

Cool mornings and cool evenings don't do much around 4pm when the sun has been beating down on the house all day. I installed a 4500cfm whole house fan that I turn on as soon as the outside temp drops below the indoor temp to take advantage of nightime cooling. It also removes the latent heat from my house / attic. But come 2pm the next day when its been in the 90s, there is no other choice than to sweat or turn on the A/C. I choose door number two.

Liberals don't believe in wasting any necessary energy! They are fooled by global warming and clean energy...

[CWSC]

I am a firm believer you need AC in Portland for at leash a month out of the year. My AC is on full blast right now!

[pathrunner]

Can we please refrain from bringing politics into discussions about Air Conditioning? Especially since I have gone out of my way to be helpful to you in your many threads? Thank you.

Yes, I think people are idiots (more accurate: babies) for wanting AC that they only need 2-4 weeks per year. Just suck it up and realize how much better you have it than most of the rest of the country. Using AC in Portland is almost like using a raincoat and galoshes and an umbrella here in Portland.

And it has nothing to do with global warming or saving energy. It has to do with the fact that I grew up in the Southwest, where AC is actually necessary. Here in Portland it is not necessary for the majority of people. Please take notice that I did not say "all people."

[LeftCoastee]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

Yes, I think people are idiots (more accurate: babies) for wanting AC that they only need 2-4 weeks per year. Just suck it up and realize how much better you have it than most of the rest of the country. Using AC in Portland is almost like using a raincoat and galoshes and an umbrella here in Portland.

I always forget how open and accepting people are in Portland.

[aroseinrain]

My husband and I have a portable A/C that we can plug in when the weather warrants it. We like to have one cool room in the apartment (especially at bedtime), and it's nice to be able to bring it with us when we move. I wouldn't expect an apartment in Portland to have A/C though...

[classicanne]

We have managed this past week in Portland without AC, but would have preferred to have it. I have a low tolerance for heat, and at 86 in my home office area yesterday, I was not feeling very well (if that makes me an idiot or a wimp, well, so be it; everyone's set point is different). I felt like I'd brought Florida with me this past week, and I moved here to get away from this!

I would have certainly preferred to have rented a place with AC, but there were other important factors as well, and my home satisfies all those other requirements. I will say, however, that the nighttimes have been a redeeming factor; I haven't slept with the windows open in the summertime since I was a teenager in Ohio (in the very deep south, sleeping with the windows open in the summertime will only get you heat and sticky dampness). There was more traffic noise than I expected, but that blended with the noise of the box fan created a very nice "white noise" and I slept great!

Anyway, today is the last day of 90s, for now. This heat wave is still way small-time compared to months and months of draining heat and humidity in Florida, so I'm still very glad to be here, AC or no AC!

(I am aware of window units and portable units, but they would not work in my style of windows. No problem, fall will be here in a few weeks!)

[pathrunner]

Originally Posted by LeftCoastee

I always forget how open and accepting people are in Portland.

Interesting way to get your snark in without violating TOS. You have no idea who I am, what I am, what my personality is like, or how you would react in person to the same words, so you shouldn't be so quick to jump to "internet message board" conclusions.

I had no idea I would be called "closed-minded" for voicing my opinion about air conditioning.

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

Once about 4 years ago I was helping a friend rent out her house in the West Linn area. Everyone who called insisted they had to have A/C. Idiots! They had no idea what they were talking about. (She ended up not being able to rent it out b/c of the AC issue.)

For two weeks a year they've got to have air conditioning?! How about the amazing air quality we have here - the wonderful cool summer mornings that - BIG HINT - cool off your house? The wonderful cool summer evenings that - BIG HINT - cool off your house? How about the wonderful temperate weather we have in the summer: mostly 70-80 degrees. Most people enjoy that range, though some obviously don't.

One could say I moved here for what the weather creates: the flora, the fauna, the rivers, the bridges, the culture (subculture), the range of biospheres - pretty much everything the state I grew up in didn't have (at least vast majorities of the state (the parts that do have no industry, job prospects or population to speak of).

Actually, the entire "cool" or "hot" feeling, this is entirely relative to each person. Odd that everyone you said said they *had* to have A/C, but for most moving here from either north or east of here would find OR actually very warm in the summer time day or night. Another thing relative would be where the windows face--if any window facing the setting sun in the afternoon/evening, they'd have a hard time keeping the house cool without living like a they're in a funeral home with all the curtains and blinds closed 24/7.

Having a window open does really nothing but circulate hot air. I find people who say it is too hot here in the summer time and they go out and buy a fan. That is idiotic. A swamp cooler is much more efficient at cooling a house than a fan is.

[dejo44]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

BTW: statistically speaking, The cloud cover of Cleveland, and other southern shore of Lake Eire cities, is on par with Portland and Eugene. Only, we don't got snow, we don't have below freezing temperatures all day long (a few nights here and there, but daytime temps above freezing.) Oh, and we don't have salt trucks or snow plows on the roads either. Cars don't rot away from salt slush.

Good luck on your move.

Phil

Thanks a lot Phil, I was wondering if I was deluding myself by thinking that our weather situation was indeed going to improve by moving from N.E. Ohio to Portland. I like the snow here, but the freezing temps and ice break a lot of bones in Winter. I would say that makes Winter a little less miserable there. But again, we don't talk (whine) about it as much as Portlanders do, so I thought it was much worse there. It must be the transplant factor from sunnier climates and not the natives complaining. We don't get many transplants in N.E. Ohio.