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Funny, everything I've read about bigtooth maples (the type in Lost Maples) says they're supposedly ideal for this area and especially the hill country -- heat and drought tolerant.
thats funny, I have an old GE unit that is 26 years old. my house freezes, I am afraid to get a new one becasue of what you mention and the people I know who buy these "new" systems seem to have trouble with them in 5-6 years.
I am going on 27years.
Funny, everything I've read about bigtooth maples (the type in Lost Maples) says they're supposedly ideal for this area and especially the hill country -- heat and drought tolerant.
my silver maple and red maple may not last too much longer.
lol damn that sucks.
This summer is worse when you compare it to other summers because its been much hotter. This will probably end up as the hottest summer on record that San Antonio and much of the area will have experienced.
The real kicker is all the outside energy we've had to purchase due to the explosion at one of the plants. That has really sent the rates higher than normal. When you combine those two situations you have the astronomical bills.
What? That doesn't make any sense. The reason they've survived in Lost Maples is because the microclimates in those canyons. If they were perfect for this climate they would be all over the place and not isolated in those small areas.
Exactly. They were ice age survivors that live only in that canyon and one other near NM. If they were suited to grow here, they'd be EVERYWHERE.
Listed in the City of Austin's Native and Adapted Landscape Plants guide.
Excerpt from January 2008 Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine:
As a small, savvy group of Texas nurserymen are discovering, bigtooth maples, once established, are hardy, drought-tolerant, practically disease-free and moderately fast growers that add as much as three feet of growth annually. But it is the tree's autumn foliage, ablaze in hues of yellow, orange and red, that is making the bigtooth an increasingly popular landscaping choice in all but the coastal plains' salty environment.
One of those nurseries, Love Creek Nursery:
Lost Maples are native hardwood trees that will thrive not only in the rocky, alkaline soils of the Hill Country and Central Texas, but most other soils too. Many thousands of Lost Maples have been planted throughout the state in various soil types since we started growing them in 1982. They are virtually disease and insect free, and are not susceptible to Oak Wilt. With proper fertilization and care, they will grow rapidly at a rate of three to four feet a year and live for hundreds of years. It's great beauty and adaptability make it one of Texas' most desirable trees. It has very upright growth and durable wood, making it ideal for street plantings.
Davesgarden.com reports successful growth in:
- Fort Worth, Texas
- Garland, Texas
- San Antonio, Texas (3 reports)
- Wimberley, Texas
I guess the key phrase is "With proper fertilization and care".
True for most young plantings.
Consider getting something like this:
Sun Setter Awning
They work great.
i can see that thing going flying across the yard in a big ole wind storm.
Fortunately, one of the plants that was shut down last month because of fire was opened back up on the 16th ... hopefully that will alleviate some of the pain from August's coming up bill, since the highs for at least the next week are STILL over one-freaking-hundred and no rain in sight.
after my bill last week ($390), I moved the A/C setting from 79 to 80. I got unpopular pretty damn fast.
Had to move it back to 79 after a day and a half just to keep the peace.
last months bill was 149.99 2 bed room apt. lol
We have the motorized one and it worked great until right after the 5 year warranty period was up and the motor died.
Get a good arm workout cranking that thing in when needed, though!
I'm with you. Last month's bill jumped $100 higher than the month before. My old man ed about how high it was - so I also set the thermostat up to 80. Then he started ing about how hot he was
I told him he could pick one or the other to about, but he couldn't have both.
Mine was about $100 more, too ... so I did a little math and about $48 was attributed to the higher cost-per kWh, and $52 was attributed to increased usage.
*sigh*
Last edited by SpursWoman; 07-28-2009 at 03:37 PM.
Sorry to hear that. Check of the repair cost by chance? Any estimate of how much it saves you in cooling costs, by blocking the direct sunlight?We have the motorized one and it worked great until right after the 5 year warranty period was up and the motor died.
Get a good arm workout cranking that thing in when needed, though!
yepper. My wife is never happy... either she's too cold, or too hot, but never just right.I told him he could pick one or the other to about, but he couldn't have both.
We never repaired it. We just use the crank.
I don't think it saves us anything. My house faces directly north so I never really get direct sunlight for a long period of time. The awning mostly covers our kitchen area -- 2 windows and the back door (southern exposure) and we have lots of trees in our backyard, as do all my neighbors, so we get lots of shade anyway. One of the main reason we got it was so we didn't get rain leaking in our back door when we have torrential downpour.
We do have the largest one they have and did install it ourselves. That thing was a to put up!
Nobody can beat my bill, $1,009.83!!!!
Ridiculous!
And we have a radiant barrier roof and foam was just blown in our attic 2 months ago. Goddamn!
How many plasma TV's you have running that the AC has to pump the heat out for?Nobody can beat my bill, $1,009.83!!!!
Ridiculous!
And we have a radiant barrier roof and foam was just blown in our attic 2 months ago. Goddamn!
Just wait till cap and trade gets passed.
You aint seen nothin yet.
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