About 2 years ago, my partner and I bought a condo down south. Both of us got tired of the sub zero cold temperatures, endless amounts of snow and lengthy Winters in the northeast. Then our original idea was to spend only the Winter weeks down south, and then return north for the Summer. We’ve since changed our mind. In our condo in the northeast, the weather is consistently cold! During the summer, the temperature often climbs into the mid-nineties with horrible humidity. We keep the windows shut against bugs, pollen, and exhaust fumes, and rely heavily on a central cooling system. The Fall and Spring are always chilly, windy and rainy. We get hit by storms that knock down trees, branches and take out power lines. We’re then left without heating, cooling, refrigeration, running water and lights for hours, afternoons or even weeks. The Winters tend to last around 15 to 20 weeks, and even with the oil furnace running non stop, there’s simply no way to keep warm. Plus, the air becomes really dangerous, resulting in health risks and property damage. In our current condo down south, we have a heat pump. That single equipment combines both heating and cooling capacity. We rarely use it. In the area where we’re now situated, the weather is normally quite mild. We get a few and humid weeks in the Summertime and less than a dozen chilly evenings in the Winter. The condo is never damp and sticky, and there doesn’t even seem to be a big bug population. We often leave all the doors and windows wide open to feel the fresh air.