[Sheryl_Jones]

Thanks.

[Sheryl_Jones]

Originally Posted by lyra33

I have a Reverse Osmosis system. I bought it from Sears and it is a Kenmore. Even if you have to pay someone to install it- it is SO WORTH it!!! Our water tastes much better than the best bottled water.

I think I will add all this to my wish list - water softener, RO system and electronic air cleaner furnace filter I was thinking too. I hope electricity costs are cheap down there because I'm probably going to be using a lot of it running all these devices.

There are some websites saying that these whole house exhaust fans - they install in the attic and draw air through the whole house up and out the roof - are able to cool down an entire house cheaper than running AC. But it seems that wouldn't work in the LV climate because there'd be no cool moist air to draw into the house. But I was thinking something like that, if it worked, would be cheaper than running AC, if it cooled the house down that is. Maybe it would only be good at night time when it's cool.

Is it because of the heat, when I see properties for sale online, so many of them have the walls painted very dark. Many are painted light bright colors, but very often I see deep dark blacks, browns and reds and it makes me think people are trying to keep the sunlight from gathering inside the house where it will cause heat. Is that true, will the sunlight gather inside the house and warm things up, if you don't paint the walls dark colors? Is that why tile floor is popular too, because it stays cool under the feet?

I'm not used to warmer climates so it will be quite different for me when I get there.

[lyra33]

Darker colors will absorb heat, lighter reflect them. Solar shades on your windows help with energy conservation if you are worried about that.

[Sheryl_Jones]

Originally Posted by lyra33

Darker colors will absorb heat, lighter reflect them. Solar shades on your windows help with energy conservation if you are worried about that.

Yes, solar windows or if I can afford them, metal rolling security shades I can roll down to keep out heat and add security. My poor cat is not going to want to sit in the windows anymore if it's that hot. I'll play around with colors once I get there, if it's walls bouncing bright light and heat, maybe going darker colors might help.

[sdreloc]

Originally Posted by Sheryl_Jones

Yes, solar windows or if I can afford them, metal rolling security shades I can roll down to keep out heat and add security. My poor cat is not going to want to sit in the windows anymore if it's that hot. I'll play around with colors once I get there, if it's walls bouncing bright light and heat, maybe going darker colors might help.

Dark colors in the sun makes makes things hotter. It does not help cool anything down.

[Kaiminani]

Originally Posted by sdreloc

Dark colors in the sun makes makes things hotter. It does not help cool anything down.

Yes, there is absolutely no question - dark colors absorb heat into the building structure while light colors keep heat out.

For an enlightening example - read how this guy put about $15 of brilliant white lime on his roof and reduced his attic temperatures by 30 degrees - and his whole house temperature by 8 degrees.

Experiment With White Roof Cooling Effect

Steven Chu - US secretary of Energy and Nobel Prize winner in physics - has been promoting painting roofs white as the cheapest way to reduce heating bills.
Raw Story » US energy chief: Paint roofs white to fight global warming (http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/26/us-energy-chief-paint-roofs-white-to-fight-global-warming/ - broken link)

I bet the HOAs would throw a siht-fit but it really is the way to go if you can. Probably even plenty of opportunity for someone to start a business putting year-long coats of white on roofs. 8 degrees is a lot of money saved in AC bills.

[tiger08]

Originally Posted by Sheryl_Jones

I think I will add all this to my wish list - water softener, RO system and electronic air cleaner furnace filter I was thinking too. I hope electricity costs are cheap down there because I'm probably going to be using a lot of it running all these devices.

There are some websites saying that these whole house exhaust fans - they install in the attic and draw air through the whole house up and out the roof - are able to cool down an entire house cheaper than running AC. But it seems that wouldn't work in the LV climate because there'd be no cool moist air to draw into the house. But I was thinking something like that, if it worked, would be cheaper than running AC, if it cooled the house down that is. Maybe it would only be good at night time when it's cool.

Is it because of the heat, when I see properties for sale online, so many of them have the walls painted very dark. Many are painted light bright colors, but very often I see deep dark blacks, browns and reds and it makes me think people are trying to keep the sunlight from gathering inside the house where it will cause heat. Is that true, will the sunlight gather inside the house and warm things up, if you don't paint the walls dark colors? Is that why tile floor is popular too, because it stays cool under the feet?

I'm not used to warmer climates so it will be quite different for me when I get there.

Whole house attic fans work fine. There are many evenings in october, even into november, where the nights are cool enough to benefit from a whole house fan. We use a swamp cooler, so we wouldnt go that route but I see alot of people run their a/c on cool nights, because the house heated up so much during the day, what a waste! I like to sleep with my house in the high 60's, summer and winter.
Also, for those of you that run your a/c on a cool night, remember that it is bad for the compressor to run when outside temps in the low 60's and below.

[PinkString]

I never run my a/c on a cool night. I open windows! And use fans. Bedroom is upstairs so much safer than trying to do that on the ground floor.

[Sheryl_Jones]

It sounds like the whole house fan pulling air through might be workable for the cooler nights then, I wasn't sure if it got cool enough to work.

I am sure HOAs would have a fit if people wanted to paint their roofs white but if it saves AC costs and cools the house down then you'd think they would be all for it, if they cared about the people living there and having people be more comfortable, at a lower cost to the people who pay the HOA dues. But that sounds like another good idea worth exploring.

It sounds like one has to be careful at night leaving the downstairs windows open. I think I am going to consider security window film, bars in the sliding tracks or else gates or security shades that pull down over the downstairs windows, even for at night time. It depends what I can afford or not - and if I can't afford to do it then maybe I will place some heavy furniture so it's covering up enough of the downstairs windows nobody can get through.

It sounds like the sunlight is the problem, because of the heat, so maybe I will have to try blocking a lot of it out in different ways depending on first floor or second floor and facing directlly into the sun or if its indirect, then maybe not so much a problem for heat.

[sdreloc]

Originally Posted by Sheryl_Jones

It sounds like the whole house fan pulling air through might be workable for the cooler nights then, I wasn't sure if it got cool enough to work.

I am sure HOAs would have a fit if people wanted to paint their roofs white but if it saves AC costs and cools the house down then you'd think they would be all for it, if they cared about the people living there and having people be more comfortable, at a lower cost to the people who pay the HOA dues. But that sounds like another good idea worth exploring.

It sounds like one has to be careful at night leaving the downstairs windows open. I think I am going to consider security window film, bars in the sliding tracks or else gates or security shades that pull down over the downstairs windows, even for at night time. It depends what I can afford or not - and if I can't afford to do it then maybe I will place some heavy furniture so it's covering up enough of the downstairs windows nobody can get through.

It sounds like the sunlight is the problem, because of the heat, so maybe I will have to try blocking a lot of it out in different ways depending on first floor or second floor and facing directlly into the sun or if its indirect, then maybe not so much a problem for heat.

The HOA is made of people who live there. So, if they determine they will all save more money on utilities than they lose in property values from having ugly-looking roofs compared to neighboring communities, then they may be for it. Maybe they will have everyone get all matching white roofs.

If you want to make changes to the exterior appearance of homes in HOA community, check to see if it would be a problem before you commit to moving in.

Since you want to do so many things to the exterior (bars, gates, painting the roof etc.), you might be better off just avoiding any place with CC&R type restrictions.