Arizona Living Questions (AC)

I have lived here for more than 12 years and I've never seen a rattlesnake outside of a zoo. We get occasional scorpions (2 or 3 a year), but some places do get more. Partly it's killing the food source -- we spray every 5 weeks or so, so we don't get a lot of bugs. If your neighbor sprays and you don't, guess whose house the bugs will live at? I have been stung once and it only made part of my foot a numb for a day. (BTW, don't Google "scorpion sting" -- the Internet will convince you death is imminent:rolleyes:)

A brand-new area that is displacing desert critters is the most likely to have them try to move in with you when their homes are eliminated.

PHXscuba

So all of those new homes that we fell in love with out in Gilbert are the most likely to see scorpions inside? :goodvibes

Fantastic! lol

Oh well, sounds like it is just something you sign up for when you are moving to an otherwise attractive sun drenched desert that's a quick drive away from Disneyland and Las Vegas :cool1:

I'm going to resist the urge to Google "scorpion sting" now...
 
Not necessarily. Those new homes in Gilbert were built where old farms and orchards were located. Scorpions are probably long gone.
 
I guess I should qualify what I said about new homes. If it's virgin desert that didn't have stuff there before, it's more likely to have critters. Old farmland has probably been turned/pesticided/etc. many more times.

Ask some of the neighbors in the tract you want to live, because each pocket has its own set of plusses and minuses: road access, bugs, schools, noise, amenities, etc.

PHXscuba
 
I guess I should qualify what I said about new homes. If it's virgin desert that didn't have stuff there before, it's more likely to have critters. Old farmland has probably been turned/pesticided/etc. many more times.

Ask some of the neighbors in the tract you want to live, because each pocket has its own set of plusses and minuses: road access, bugs, schools, noise, amenities, etc.

PHXscuba

Thanks for the clarification. That is a bit of a relief!
 


I'm so glad you asked this, I ventured down here to the DL section to ask the same thing. DH and I (and kiddos) are thinking of moving to AZ, maybe even NM in 2012 at some point. I looked at houses, great prices, but I am terrified by all the foreclosures. Is everything really that bad, job-wise? DH would probably transfer within his company, but if for some reason the branch closed, I don't want to be up a creek without a paddle.

It's funny, the cooling bills don't seem too far off if not identical to what we pay up here in PA in the summer. From the beginning of June to probably early September, the AC is on constantly. Our temps this summer were over 100 a LOT this past summer. (I was pregnant, too... what a mess.) It's a dry heat in AZ, right?

Oh, and how's the drive to DL? ;)
 
There are a lot of foreclosures and short sales right now. Unknown what they'll be like next year.

As for the drive to Disneyland:), it's about 6 to 6.5 hours from my house here in the Easy Valley (the far side of Phoenix) to Disneyland. A very easy drive on a major interstate.

I was just remarking to DS14 yesterday (as we sat at the park without jackets) that I'll take our total-year weather over the Northeast any day. The people getting hit with snow are mostly the same people whose summers are warm/hot and muggy! So we get at least the fall/spring/winter to be comfortable rather than just fall and spring.

PHXscuba
 
I'm so glad you asked this, I ventured down here to the DL section to ask the same thing. DH and I (and kiddos) are thinking of moving to AZ, maybe even NM in 2012 at some point. I looked at houses, great prices, but I am terrified by all the foreclosures. Is everything really that bad, job-wise? DH would probably transfer within his company, but if for some reason the branch closed, I don't want to be up a creek without a paddle.

It's funny, the cooling bills don't seem too far off if not identical to what we pay up here in PA in the summer. From the beginning of June to probably early September, the AC is on constantly. Our temps this summer were over 100 a LOT this past summer. (I was pregnant, too... what a mess.) It's a dry heat in AZ, right?

Oh, and how's the drive to DL? ;)

A lot of the foreclosures were people getting into way too high valued homes or "McMansions" beyond their means. Yes, you can get some pretty good deals with all of the foreclosures and short sales here in the valley. Some parts of the valley are worse than others.

As far as the dry heat, you can expect some humidity in July and August during our monsoon, but it is nothing like in the midwest or east coast. Eveything is aircondioned here!

The drive to DL is not bad from the valley at all. You can start out here in the morning and be having dinner in the park later that afternoon.
 


Thank you both!! This is sounding great. :cool1: Totally do-able. Haha, yeah we're those suckers with 15" of snow outside our door. I've totally had it with winters. No thanks, I'll pass. 30 years of snowy, blistering cold winters is enough for this gal.

The short drive to DL is just the icing on the cake. :cloud9:

I'm sure I'll have a few more questions, but you all seem so helpful. Thank you! :)
 
A lot of the foreclosures were people getting into way too high valued homes or "McMansions" beyond their means. Yes, you can get some pretty good deals with all of the foreclosures and short sales here in the valley. Some parts of the valley are worse than others.

As far as the dry heat, you can expect some humidity in July and August during our monsoon, but it is nothing like in the midwest or east coast. Eveything is aircondioned here!

The drive to DL is not bad from the valley at all. You can start out here in the morning and be having dinner in the park later that afternoon.

I could just cry reading that. Flying to WDW is a ridiculous ordeal from Philadelphia that begins at 4:30 AM and by the time we get there we're beyong exhausted. A 6 hour drive would be heavenly.
 
Totally driveable. My best friend and I went for a long weekend the beginning of December. We got our (combined 8) children off to school, left at 9 a.m., made one longish stop for lunch and Target in Indio, and were checking into our hotel about 3 p.m. (with a 1-hour time change).

I need at least 2 stops if the kids are coming along, but it's still an easy day. I got brave and started driving it without DH (to see family in the same area of CA) when our youngest was 3 and my older kids could help.

PHXscuba
 
We moved to Tucson last summer, but it's fairly similar in terms of the housing situation, cooling bills, and the bugs. I second what people said about living in previous desert land. Our home is 3yo, but was built into the base of the mountains. There are new homes going up on the 2 lots north of us, but then above that is mountain preserve. We see more scorpions, tarantulas, other crazy looking spiders, centipedes bigger than I ever imagined (we measured one that we killed, 7" long and 1" wide!!!), and animals: javelinas, bobcats, coatis, coyotes, packrats, rattlesnakes and other snakes. You name it, we have it.

But my kids go to school closer to "city" and they don't really see any of that. Well, I have seen coyotes run along the road, but that's about it.


We have essentially had the AC on daily since we moved here. There were a few really cold days where we needed heat, but probably 10-20 total. Even when it is 75 out, the sun really heats up some rooms in our house so the AC kicks on. I keep them all on a program and don't want it hotter than 77 in the main living areas, 75 in the kids bedrooms (because my daughter naps in the day and will sweat if it is any warmer than that). The master I let get warmer, probably 78 is the max in there. At night though, I want it cool in the bedrooms, and we need AC every night to get the temp to at least 72 degrees. In the morning it's generally around 70 degrees, with no AC, so it does cool off while we're sleeping.


Mrs. Charming (I think you were on the MTB thread with me when you were pregnant with your 2nd?), we drove to DL over NYE and going wasn't bad, but on the way back we hit traffic just west of the Phoenix metro area (it was 9pm on a Sunday night). OMG, it was miserable! That was the one thing that made me want the NE corridor again cause at least there are exits to get off there, and alternate backroads and stuff. Here we were just stuck! We also went to DL in October, and I flew alone with 3 kids and that wasn't so bad either.

I find that jobs here aren't terrible, but again, we're in Tucson, not Phoenix. I don't know anyone who is out of work, but wishing they had a job. Of course that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people in that situation here, but it also isn't super prevalent.
 
I'm probably catching this thread too late but I just wanted to chime in as I too moved from Seattle to Phoenix. I rent in downtown Phoenix so I can't comment on some of your questions. It is generally dry here, especially with a/c and heaters - I use a cool air humidifier a lot.

Never seen a scorpion, rattlesnake, or black widow. That has partly to do with living downtown.

I give tours of downtown Phoenix so if you have questions about that, I can answer just about anything.
 
Hey all,

I asked some questions about moving to and living in Arizona on here a while back and everyone was really helpful and cool (much better than City-data.com), so I thought I would ask again. My wife and I visited down there in September and fell in love with the place. We are now officially relocating from Seattle to the Phoenix area summer of 2012.

My current question is about air conditioning. How much does it cost to install a system? Do most new homes come with it installed? How much do you spend on average per month and what months do you operate it and at what temperatures? Also, does anyone use a swamp cooler and what happens during the monsoon seasons?

I would like to think that when we move we will be able to find a nice 2000-2600 square foot home that can be kept at a comfortable temperature the whole year without pinching pennies, but is this realistic? We loved Arizona, even in the 110 degree weather because we always knew we could find some AC when we needed it. But do those of you who actually live there put up with a certain amount of uncomfortableness in your homes in order to save money?

Also, is it better/cheaper to use AC if you have a single story home vs. a two story home?

Ok, I think that is all for now : )

Thanks for any information you can provide!



Sorry if I repeat anything other people have said, I haven't read responses yet... but....

It's definitely cheaper to have a one story home than a two! Most houses (all as far as I know) have a/c in them. Some have swamp coolers, but from my experience with those when I lived in New Mexico, they're useless most of the time! :headache: I live just southeast of Phoenix, in a 1,600 sqft house that was built in 2001, we keep the house at 85 during the day and 80 at night during the summer (May-September usually) and we pay about $250-$300 a month for our electricity. There are 2 adults and a 2 year old in our house, so we don't use a lot of electric other than the basics... On the plus side, there seems to be a LOT of people moving here from the Seattle area, so hopefully you'll feel right at home down here! :thumbsup2
 
Wow! There are lots of AZers on the boards! So cool! This AZer is on the west side of Phoenix (closer to DL! :thumbsup2). Used to live on South Mountain for 16 years, and moved to the west side of town about 10 years ago. I agree with the prior posters. Planting a few choice trees to provide shade to your home in the summer, will help with keeping it comfortable.
When I lived on S.Mtn, I saw 2 tarantulas in my neighbor's driveway, found scorpions on a daily basis in my pool, and black widows were common. Now, I have seen an occasional black widow.
The drive to CA is boring, scenery wise, but knowing we can get to DL in 5-5 1/2 hours is a nice treat, plus, when daylight saving time ends in Oct, we are once again an hour ahead of CA!
 
I saw 2 tarantulas in my neighbor's driveway, found scorpions on a daily basis in my pool, and black widows were common. Now, I have seen an occasional black widow.

Reasons 1-1000 why we bucked the big real estate trends almost six years ago and moved closer INTO town (developed) vs. building a house out on the edges farther than we lived at the time! Every time we'd get serious about looking at acreage, another friend out there would find something crawly (or slithery:eek:) in their garage, bathroom, bed, etc. Not for me!

I love living in AZ, although by about mid-July I'm ready to go to SoCal for a week!

PHXscuba
 
We get our share of critters (scorpions, centipedes bigger than I ever imagined, tarantulas, weird spiders, but with a pest control service we're fine. And we're in Tucson, which is much less developed than Phoenix overall, plus we're basically on State Park land, right on the base of a mountain. Since we started pest control (days after we moved in last summer), we generally only see the bugs in our garage or outside the house.
 
Yes, monthly pest control is our best friend. We get a lot fewer bugs than some people I know who don't spray. Plus, there just seem to be some "hot spots". I had a friend living less than a mile from us who found scorpions weekly (we find a few each year).

We are in the middle of the East Valley. Our area is 15-20-year-old homes built on former farm land, so I think that helps.

PHXscuba
 
We've lived in the Tucson area for 6.5 years and in north Phoenix for 1.5 years before that. Our house was built in 2004. It's 1 story, 2086 sq ft. Has a pool in the backyard. Running the pool pump + AC results in electric bill of $250-280/month in June-September. This is with running the pool pump in the early morning hours, which for us means lower electric bills (we are on a time of day plan with varying rates based on the time of day).

During the winter months, our electric bill runs about $180/month. Our heating is gas, so if your house has an electric heater, it would be higher.

Certain parts of Phoenix have problems with lots of scorpions, while other parts of town have problems with other bugs & roaches. When we lived in Phoenix, we learned to keep the tub drain plugged all the time except when we were using the tub or shower because of the huge roaches that would crawl up through the drain. Seriously, big honking beetles with 3-4" antennae.

I highly recommend getting some sort of regular exterminator service...you can do it once/month, once every other month, or once every quarter. Or if you want to save $$ on your monthly expenses, you could get the supplies from home depot and spray around the house yourself.

Scorpions feed on crickets. If there are lots of crickets around, the scorpions will show up some time after that.

One time, when ODD was 6 months old, we had a small bark scorpion inside the house on the carpet and ODD almost crawled right on top of it. It scared me half to death. The bark scorpions are very very poisonous. We called the pest control co that we use and they came over the very next day to respray.
 
Another Tucsonan here. :)

We have a 1900 sq foot, one story home and our average electric bill is around $200- $240 or so during the hottest summer months. We usually try to keep the a/c around 76. We tend to turn it down a degree or two when we get hot to just kick start it, then turn it back up. I rarely bother with adjusting the temp at night.. so we're at about 76 most warmer months. But the plus side of the "high" summer bills is our electric bill during the late fall and winter is very small. Usually my Nov-March electric bills (my house is 100% electric, btw) is well under $100. My main suggestion for buying a home in AZ is to go with a one story ranch home. The 2 story homes are a lot more difficult to cool and your electric bills will be higher.

I've lived up in the mountains before and currently live in a recently developed area that used to be farm land. I have yet to see a tarantula in Tucson, and I've lived here for 14 years. Guess I've gotten lucky with that. :goodvibes I've seen just a handful of scorpions over the years. Never seen a rattlesnake yet, although my DH is a firefighter and they remove them fairly often from homes around here. Black widow spiders are VERY prominent in my area and we have an exterminator come monthly to keep them from overtaking the backyard. Honestly though, I've never seen them. I just see their webs. Really, the only thing I see on a regular basis here is lizards. Of course I'm happy to see our lizard friends, because they eat the bugs. :)

The drive from Tucson to DLR is easy too. Takes us about 7 hours, and that's going I-8 to I-5. I prefer that drive as I don't have to deal with traffic in Phoenix and Riverside, CA. But even taking I-10 through Phoenix, it's a breeze. Leave early-ish morning and you're there by mid-afternoon. :wizard:
 
In my 40+ years in Tucson,I have yet to see a scorpion or tarantula. (outside the Desert Museum)
Our 'swamp box' does a good job keepin the house cool and at only a buck and a quarter. (a buck fifty sometimes) :rolleyes1
 

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