Taking the plunge.

[dja4260]

Wife accepted and signed contract for a job out there. We sold the house in 5 days with multiple offers. Bought a house in the area we're moving to. Kept 40k in our savings and will carry a small mortgage ($490). I'm interviewing for jobs as we speak. We walked with 180k in profit in our house. Our hard work has paid off. Our buyers have the clear to close, as do we.

Moving out on the 21st. Closing on new home June 12th. Bridging the gap with family and friends. I'm so excited it doesn't even feel real.

 

[sleddriver]

Wow...what a rollercoaster of emotions! Heart-break too at having your offer rescended at the last minute. So your wife will be working now while you look. Not what you planned, however sounds like you have safety measures in place. Good thinking.

Leaving Chicago & Illinois is a wise move all around. Your COL will really drop.

One thing to note when moving to the humid South: You're now in a cooling climate rather than a heating. Thus A/C system care is very important to save money, extend system life, keep you, your family and your possessions dry indoors. Indoor humidity should always be less than 50%. Have the evaporator coil and ductwork thoroughly inspected on any potential house. The former needs cleaning at least once/yr. If it's black & clogged, use it to get a discount.

Any AC system working in the humid South must deal with both sensible & latent heat loads.

I've learned a lot about AC, duct sizing/sealing and insulation living in hot, humid Central Tx. Present AC system is now 27yrs old, running well, and very, very clean. Current indoor humidity is 40%.

Best to you & your family!

 

[dja4260]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Wow...what a rollercoaster of emotions! Heart-break too at having your offer rescended at the last minute. So your wife will be working now while you look. Not what you planned, however sounds like you have safety measures in place. Good thinking.

Leaving Chicago & Illinois is a wise move all around. Your COL will really drop.

One thing to note when moving to the humid South: You're now in a cooling climate rather than a heating. Thus A/C system care is very important to save money, extend system life, keep you, your family and your possessions dry indoors. Indoor humidity should always be less than 50%. Have the evaporator coil and ductwork thoroughly inspected on any potential house. The former needs cleaning at least once/yr. If it's black & clogged, use it to get a discount.

Any AC system working in the humid South must deal with both sensible & latent heat loads.

I've learned a lot about AC, duct sizing/sealing and insulation living in hot, humid Central Tx. Present AC system is now 27yrs old, running well, and very, very clean. Current indoor humidity is 40%.

Best to you & your family!


Thank you for the advice. Were we're moving is actually upstate and lacks humidity. The previous owner (1 owner) had the home built to their spec, and really took good care of it. They had the HVAC systems serviced 2x a year. Pride of ownership was evident. New roof in 2011, ALL brick, new windows in 2013, all hardwood floors. House built in 1990 by a custom home builder. Nothing prefab.

 

[sleddriver]

You're welcome. Good news on lower humidity too, thus latent heat removal not as critical.

However, until you discover the details of "serviced 2x a year" and since you are the new owner, I'd still have the evaporator coil inspected and insist it be inspected and cleaned from whomever you choose to. Else the term 'serviced' is just far too vague.

Several surrounding neighbors houses are also 'serviced' yet I can feel the humidity increase whenever I walk in. Likewise when they come over, my home feels 'cool' to them. I show them the indoor temp of 78° and indoor humidity of 32%. They feel cool because the moisture on their skin from outdoors quickly begins to evaporate once inside my house.

Makes all the difference living in a hot, humid area to be dry inside.

"Trust but verify"

 

[SatinSilver]

sleddriver,

Do you service your own hvac systems or have them serviced by professionals? Thank you.

 

[dja4260]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
You're welcome. Good news on lower humidity too, thus latent heat removal not as critical.

However, until you discover the details of "serviced 2x a year" and since you are the new owner, I'd still have the evaporator coil inspected and insist it be inspected and cleaned from whomever you choose to. Else the term 'serviced' is just far too vague.

Several surrounding neighbors houses are also 'serviced' yet I can feel the humidity increase whenever I walk in. Likewise when they come over, my home feels 'cool' to them. I show them the indoor temp of 78° and indoor humidity of 32%. They feel cool because the moisture on their skin from outdoors quickly begins to evaporate once inside my house.

Makes all the difference living in a hot, humid area to be dry inside.

"Trust but verify"


Good call!

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
sleddriver,Do you service your own hvac systems or have them serviced by professionals? Thank you.
I do my own maintainence & repairs. Also did my own load calculation spreadsheet per Man J, and designed & installed a new duct system per Man. D. Haven't needed any R22 in 12yrs? Can't remember. Previously I was paying for a 3 ton system (which is now too large) but only getting about 1.8 tons of cooling out of it. Why? Restricted supply & return. Like trying to breathe through one of those teeny, tiny cocktail straws....

Unfortunately many consumers down here are sold on the latest, greatest, greenest HVAC system (WE'LL CUT YOUR ELECTRIC BILLS IN HALF!!!!!!!!) at rather extraordinary prices ($8-10k dollars), yet the duct system, returns and design is completely ignored. Makes no sense. Contractor makes big $$$$ selling you new boxes. But you'll still have poor performance, rooms too hot/cold, stuffy, indoor humidity too high, etc. if the duct system is bad and not balanced.

I think they're some older posts of mine on here about the work I've done. Search if you're interested. Down here we live in A/C. I don't particularly like the climate, but have gotten used to it. I wanted a dry house in a humid climate, which allows me to keep the indoor temp around 78°F, which saves electricity as I'm unfortunately locked into a city-owned electricity monopoly. They jacked the rates up, even for me a low user, about 18% to bail out the green-disaster specialty pools.

They went LONG on green and found themselves SERIOUSLY in the red. So much for the "Grand Vision of The Annointed". So my strategy has long been to do whatever I can and figure out the rest to pay them as little 'green' as possible.

When we had the severe heat wave here in 2011 or so, I was watering my roof after the Sun went down on a daily basis. Dropped the attic temp about 15°F in 20 min or so, greatly reducing the heat load the A/C system had to remove. Water is far cheaper than electricity. I took advantage of the fact that evaporating water absorbs a LOT of heat. Really kept my A/C bills reasonable compared to my neighbors who were paying $400-500/mo. They also live in bigger houses too!

HVAC design & installation isn't rocket science...but it is science.

 

[andyd]

I went to a BMW gathering in '05 at their Spartanburg facility. We got a group rate at a hotel in downtown Greenville. The business section. with street level stores. I gathered it was a cotton market town back in the day. I enjoyed my stay in this neck of the woods.

More importantly, be assured that you will be giving your kids the best there is,a mom.