Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop63
For any of you who have lived through a few Florida summers, and northern winters (e.g. Michigan), how does it compare? Is it as grueling, do you get use to it, or make every attempt to escape north during the summer month?
This is my biggest concern moving to the TV. I have owned 2 properties in the past and not something I really want to do at this point in my life. I don't mind the snow, just the gray and lack of sun.
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Among the places I’ve lived is Virginia, near Washington, couple hours west of Philadelphia, Lincoln, Nebraska, Southern California, Northern California, and Denver.
Washington, Philadelphia, and Lincoln are all very hot and humid in the summer—not much different from The Villages. Southern California is too hot in the summer but not humid. Northern California is bearable all year where I lived (the mountains near Napa Valley). Denver is very dry, which makes it hard to breathe through my nose. To get to delightful summer areas, to my taste, in much of the country that means where you live—Michigan—maybe, or New England, upstate New York, etc.
Lincoln is often bitterly cold in the winter, though many areas are worse. The Philadelphia and Eastern Virginia areas aren’t really “grueling” as winters go, though it can be chilly, and sometimes there’s a lot of snow to shovel. I lived in the country half my life in Eastern Pennsylvania, and I usually enjoyed the winters. I seldom needed a heavy coat.
In The Villages I do the same thing I did in Pennsylvania in the summer: when it was hot and humid, I stayed inside. I live in The Villages year round now, in a courtyard villa with an excellent HVAC system. It’s on all the time. I rarely open windows and doors. 24/7, either the AC or the heat is on. Yesterday’s electric bill was $80, but that includes charging my car in the garage. In mid-summer, electricity might be $100 or maybe even $120 at the worst. That’s about half what it cost me for electricity and propane in Pennsylvania.
In Pennsylvania, I found it too hot and humid to go out much in the summer. Same in The Villages. In both places, I stayed in air-conditioned comfort all day. So what’s the difference? In the evenings, in the summer, it’s quite delightful here. Because of the humidity, the air smells really good here. (In Denver, it’s so dry that nice smells don’t carry very well.) I live just north of 466A and not near a lake, so I’ve never seen a mosquito near my house. (If you buy a new house down south, bear in mind that mosquitoes breed in the swamps down there and will come to visit you.) Also, in the summer here, it rains or at least there are thunderclouds at least every other day. That cools things down and is fun to watch—great sunrises and sunsets.
Where The Villages shines, of course, is in the winter months. Yes, we usually get a couple frosts in the winter, but the most I bundle up is a fleece vest or a sport coat. It really is nice.