March 23, 2014
What do chemists think about as they drift off to sleep…
Merida’s heat has been building, and lately our upstairs bedroom/solarium has been getting hotter every night. March in Merida generally kick’s-off the annual HOT season here, with temperatures rising through April, to hit 104º – 115º F peaks in May. Mid-June often brings a little relief with the start of Rainy Season – as the daily afternoon rains come in as ~ cool fronts ~ which is a great contrast to Washington DC and the Eastern Seaboard, where afternoon summer showers mean steamy muggy nights of heat intensified by humidity.
Anyway, while lying in bed, sweating … trying to decide whether to turn on the clima, (AC), I started running the number in my head for ~ how much “AA” (“Aire Acondicionado“) costs to cool down our bedroom for a night. 
~
Short Answer: As little as $4 pesos a night . . . or over $100 pesos a night, ~ depending on your bedroom, ~ your air conditioner, and ~your lifestyle
For better or worse, figuring out your PPN ($pesos por noche) means we have to know:
~ How many hours will you run the AA por dia?
~ How cool do you want your room? a.k.a. What temp to set the A/C?
. . .continue reading here . . .
… And now you know what chemists think about as they drift off to sleep…
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Full Article can be read at: Just how much does it Cost to Cool a Room in Mexico?
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Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry
Read-on MacDuff . . .
Surviving Yucatan 
Thanks so much for that post! It will take me awhile to digest it all, but it sure is an interesting summary. (But I’ll add–I even have trouble understanding my AC’s remote control commands!)
Hi Alinde,
I made some significant edits to the article since you read it – including adding a section on reading your meter to find out exactly what you use – so, you may want to re-scan the current edited version of the article .
steve
Very timely as I’m about to buy a new minisplit from I think Home Depot where they offer LG Energy Efficient ones … or a Panasonic
Cool….
I made some significant edits to the article since you read it – including adding a section on reading your meter to find out exactly what you use – so, you may want to re-scan the current edited version of the article .
Will you be considering the “inverter” units? They convert (invert) the A/C house power over to DC (Direct Current). The DC allows them to smoothly vary the speed of the compressor motor – and keep the DC motor spinning at low levels continuously versus the normal alternating current air conditioners that are either FULL ON or FULL OFF.
Running the DC motor constantly at low speeds gives much more stable maintenance of room temperature (versus blasting the compressor on for 4 minutes to cool the room down 1 deg C, and then compressor off for 6 minutes as the room warms).
This basically means that if the AC compressor has to run full on for 80% (or so) of the time to get the temperature you want, then the inverter won’t save you much $$… but if you cool to only intermediate temperatures, where the normal AC compressor runs 30% or 40% of the time, the inverter can save you up to 60%. Typical savings by friends have been in the 30% range => a 3 year pay back… ???
steve
Thanks for this. I’m thinking about where to retire, loved Merida and the Yucatan but not sure if I can handle the heat. It was May when I visited and it was a scorcher! I relied on the hotel A/C to survive.
In choosing a home; I’ve heard that two story homes are much cooler on the main floor and hammocks are essential.
Hi Angela,
Amen.
Odd that you came in May. … Kind of like vacationing in Minsk (or Winnepeg) in February. (Winnepeg was actually colder than Mars for about month this year.)
Due to predictable seasonal weather patterns, May is our hottest month – with temperatures easing in mid/late June, to go into the somewhat cooler rainy season of July-October(-ish). What led you to come here during the hot-hot-hot May period?
steve
This was way back in ’97. I was in San Miguel de Allende the previous December with a group of artists then stayed a few more months on my own and took more courses. By mid March I was getting itchy feet so I took off for the Riviera Maya and went exploring. I flew there then made my way back by bus. It took 2 months from the beginning of April to the end of May. I went from Cozumel to Vallodolid, Merida, Palenque, Villa Hermosa and Mexico City. Merida was hot but the humidity in Palenque made it even worse… but I persevered. I was on a mission to see as many archaeological sites as possible! In Palenque they told me it was the hottest month to be there but I had no way of knowing that beforehand. My only source of information was a copy of The Lonely Planet. It would be a lot different now with the internet!
At the time it was the only way I could go but I’ll plan it differently next time.
I’m thinking of retiring there because Vancouver’s too expensive and besides that I just love Mexico.
Hi Angela,
Fun trip, eh?
You’re certainly welcome here. Merida still is pretty peaceful – with the lowest violent crime rates in the hemisphere (lower than Canada or the USA) for cities of 1 million people.
Still not too many gringos here – though you can certainly find them in Merida Centro and at the beach – but we are about 20 years behind the Riviera Maya development stage. That means things are still very very Mexican here – with almost no outside influences for at least 10 years of more development. Our main growth has come from people from Monterrey and DF, looking for financial/work opportunities – and quiet places to raise their families.
Enjoy,
steve
Thank you! That’s great to know!
I spent 2 weeks in beautiful Merida and explored the area from Progresso to the Ruta Puuc. It certainly has a lot to offer. I guess I could always spend May by the beach to escape the heat!
Thanks for erasing my comment on how to reduce the heat inside a house with and inexpensive roof coating. I would assume that might affect the use of AC.
Hi Jacobo,
I think you are mistaken: Your comment is still where you wrote it – in the “full article” – along with my reply from 2 days ago.
Today, you wrote a comment here (a different spot in Yucalandia). This is a post (short version). 2 days ago, you wrote your comments in the article. Click on the link to the article (see links above) to see your previous comments.
Happy Trails,
steve