# Cost of Living, and AC - Chapala/Ajijic



## UrbanMan (Jun 18, 2015)

I've searched the web for information about costs in Chapala/Ajijic. I've been unable to locate current information. I'm not liking the idea of forecasting based on articles that are 2 or more years old. Can anyone recommend a place to find current information? Yes, I understand costs will depend on personal tastes and even luck, but imperfect data is better than no data. 

On the subject of cost, I'm wondering with the Canadian dollar weak, and many current and potential residents being Canadian, has the environment changed?

Also, I know many say there is not a need for AC, but I am strongly wanting to have AC in the bedroom of wherever I rent. May not use it every night, might need it only in certain months, but I do want to have it available when I want it. Sweating all night when its hot is not what I have in mind as the good life. I understand most rentals will not come with AC - the question therefore becomes, is it easy to buy a unit? A run of the mill box 5000 BTU unit is acceptable. Related, should I expect the electrical of rental units to be robust enough to handle having an AC unit?

Thank you.


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

First, if you are interested in Chapala/Ajijic, then you really need to be asking these questions on their Board. If you Google Chapala/webboard, then you will find the access. They can supply lots of current info.
To make an attempt at helping (we/I lived there for 11 years), here are my thoughts.
The A/C unit will cost more than NOB, but will work ok. The months of middle of March thru the middle of June has Many nights that an A/C would be helpful. Electric is expensive in Mexico. Your rental will not include utilities, and yes, the wiring can handle it, but if not, you can have a dedicated line (assuming that the rental is not too old) installed easily. If you want A/C, you want A/C, right? The peso being so high now to the dollar makes some things less expensive to people with USD. Suerte !


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## UrbanMan (Jun 18, 2015)

Hello coondawg,

I understand electricity costs down there. After buying the unit, spend US$30 more per month and sleep well, versus don't spend and don't sleep well, I know what I will do. If the unit is used only after 9 or 10pm, and shut off at sunrise, it won't get insane.

You lived there 11 years - was it good? pros and cons? why did you choose to leave?


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

Life was good there. I lived in Chapala. Convenient to walk lots of places, weather was normally very nice, and life was good. Then, the cartel violence began to get local, the tourists from Guadalajara, on the weekends were trashy people, no parking places, no people out at night in the plaza (fear) during the week, and life was no longer as fun as before. So, we decided to move to Leon, where we have been slowly finishing a house we started building about 7 years ago. The basic reason was that it was not as much fun as before, and people should live in an enjoyable area, or move on. Do I like Leon more than Chapala? No, but wife's family is there and honestly, when we get together with a small group of them, it is really enjoyable. So, I make do. The violence aspect has improved, but the tourist situation and the crowds on the weekend has gotten worse. If I were new to Mexico, I would recommend that area to start a life in Mexico.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

I hear you about A/C. Both my spouse and I are from the cool coastal parts of Northern CA and the months that are hot here in Lakeside are not sleep inducing. There are some good, efficient small room air conditioners, like the Mirage. The only problem is that if you are renting, the place may not have a suitable opening to the outdoors. If you end up buying and install some solar panels on the roof, the cost of running an A/C will be minimal. Most of the year the weather is very livable.

Cost of living? Depends on what you want and need, and I also suggest you ask on the local web boards for more information.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

You'll need a heater in the winter before you need AIR in the summer. I live on the coast and only use fans. I lived in Jocotepec for 15 months and never wanted AIR but bought a space heater.

Thought I needed AIR in bedroom when I first got here and the house-sized apartment had one 110 breaker. Had to run a separate circuit and cut a hole in the wall


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

The temperatures at night are usually cool around lake Chapala , the warmest months are April May and part of JUne. Our house is under trees and faces north , we have ceiling fans and sleep with duvets even during the warm weather as the house is always cool. If you get a house without trees and facing south or west you may need A/C , I would not know about that. 
In the winter we use gas wall heaters usually in the evening and morning as the house get cold. It is usually warmer outside than in the huse.. We need heaters in December and January but not all day and a cooler day here and there.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

UrbanMan said:


> I've searched the web for information about costs in Chapala/Ajijic. I've been unable to locate current information. I'm not liking the idea of forecasting based on articles that are 2 or more years old. Can anyone recommend a place to find current information? Yes, I understand costs will depend on personal tastes and even luck, but imperfect data is better than no data.
> 
> On the subject of cost, I'm wondering with the Canadian dollar weak, and many current and potential residents being Canadian, has the environment changed?
> 
> ....


In terms of the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso, they've both weakened together as the price of oil has dropped. It means Canadians aren't seeing the windfall in purchasing power those with US$ are experiencing, but there also isn't the "sticker shock" in Mexico that I recently experienced on a trip to the US when I did the conversion from US to Canadian. 

The CDN$/MXN$ conversion has been fairly stable in the past couple of years. Here is a chart of the fluctuations over the past 2 years. 
XE.com - CAD/MXN Chart

Looking at the chart, it seems whenever the Canadian dollar has been weakest _vis-à-vis_ the peso was just when we were spending money on our house in Mexico, purchasing or doing renovations.... Aaargh! But I've given up fretting too much about that, and I've stopped losing sleep over it.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

citlali said:


> The temperatures at night are usually cool around lake Chapala , the warmest months are April May and part of JUne. Our house is under trees and faces north , we have ceiling fans and sleep with duvets even during the warm weather as the house is always cool. If you get a house without trees and facing south or west you may need A/C , I would not know about that.
> In the winter we use gas wall heaters usually in the evening and morning as the house get cold. It is usually warmer outside than in the house.. We need heaters in December and January but not all day and a cooler day here and there.


For maximum comfort with minimum heating and cooling, get a house with adobe walls and south facing rooms. In the winter with the sun lower in the sky to the south, the adobe will absorb heat during the day and keep the rooms comfortable at night. In the summer, the sun will be to the north (we are south of the Tropic of Cancer, so the sun is north of us at midday in the summer), and the rooms will be in the shade during the hottest part of the day. 

Thick adobe walls do a good job of smoothing out the temperature changes especially if the orientation is appropriate. I can verify that this works. I have lived in Gdl for years with no source of heat and just a room fan for circulation on rare occasions. 

Orientation is one of the most important, and most overlooked, aspects of a house. Think about where the sun is at different times of day and different times of year and where you want it. Do you like sun in the breakfast room in the morning? Do you want to avoid sun in the dining room in the afternoon? Orientation can make a huge difference.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Interesting because our house faces north and never gets sun. We have one door and a window on the southern side and that side gets hot and so does the western side . 
We do not get sun from the north at our house, it could be that the mountain at the back blocks it but our house is always cool to cold.

If you are further up the hill you get the breeze in the late afternoon so it helps but it can be warm which is nice in the winter ..

We have all the windows open almost at all time and always at night and the air is wonderful.


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## UrbanMan (Jun 18, 2015)

Statements can be made about the house never being hot due to shade. There are different definitions of hot I suppose. And maybe you can sleep with your window open, or maybe you don't want to if there are barking dogs and early morning roosters nearby.

So, sure, try to find some shade, pay attention to which way most of the windows face. Still gonna want my AC.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

UrbanMan said:


> Statements can be made about the house never being hot due to shade. There are different definitions of hot I suppose. And maybe you can sleep with your window open, or maybe you don't want to if there are barking dogs and early morning roosters nearby.
> 
> So, sure, try to find some shade, pay attention to which way most of the windows face. Still gonna want my AC.


Maybe after you get your first electricity bill for the hot months, you'll change your mind!


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## HolyMole (Jan 3, 2009)

Isla Verde said:


> Maybe after you get your first electricity bill for the hot months, you'll change your mind!


Here in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, rental agents will tell you that electricity bills for, say, a two bedroom condo....at any time of year.... will run between 2000 - 4000 pesos every two months, depending entirely on how much one uses A/C.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

HolyMole said:


> Here in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, rental agents will tell you that electricity bills for, say, a two bedroom condo....at any time of year.... will run between 2000 - 4000 pesos every two months, depending entirely on how much one uses A/C.


Yikes, that seems like a lot to me! The most I pay is around $200 every two months, usually somewhat less, but I then I live in a tiny apartment and in a place where AC in never needed. My bill goes up to $200 during winter when I use a tiny space heater to warm things up.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> Yikes, that seems like a lot to me! The most I pay is around $200 every two months, usually somewhat less, but I then I live in a tiny apartment and in a place where AC in never needed. My bill goes up to $200 during winter when I use a tiny space heater to warm things up.


Mine is the same as yours and I live in a huge old house way too big for me.


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

Since we installed LED bulbs, our electricity bill dropped to 1/3 or less than what it had been for the past decade – apparently we finally got into a lower category.
You see, your price is based on consumption; the more you consume, the higher the unit cost.
So running an air conditioner might not just add, say, 10% or 20% or 30% to your electricity bill – if you’re unlucky and it pushes you over into a higher category, it could double or triple it.
I don’t know how much this happens in Chapala, which has a lower elevation, but here in Mexico City, it gets cool at night even on the hottest days – it’s because of the altitude. As soon as the sun goes down, it’s like someone flipped a switch. There just never are hot nights.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

I had a short stay in a rental on the beach directly after a real low-life ****** moved out. The house had two old window AIR units. He must have left them on 24/7 and planned on walking out on a 6000 peso bill. I got the bill a few weeks later and of course the manager and the landlord ate it.

He was a low-life in more ways than one


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> Mine is the same as yours and I live in a huge old house way too big for me.


That's odd. I don't use a lot of electricity. Just my computer, a few ceiling lights and a table lamp, my coffee bean grinder, a toaster oven, a small CD-player, a clock, and my space heater in the winter. Maybe the rates are higher in Mexico City than in Guadalajara.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

It is not the size of the house that matters, but the actual consumption of electricity per person. Since you are each individuals, you probably consume similar amounts of electricity. In Chapala, our bills were in that same neighborhood every two months. Just slightly higher as two or more people might cause the pump to run more often; all other utilities being more constant. In 13 years, we never felt the need for AC, but did use a radiant gas heater a bit in the winter.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> That's odd. I don't use a lot of electricity. Just my computer, a few ceiling lights and a table lamp, my coffee bean grinder, a toaster oven, a small CD-player, a clock, and my space heater in the winter. Maybe the rates are higher in Mexico City than in Guadalajara.


Maybe you use more than I do. I have a standard US-sized refrigerator (large for Mexico) and a computer and a few light bulbs. No other electro-domesticos (appliances) in the kitchen.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> Maybe you use more than I do. I have a standard US-sized refrigerator (large for Mexico) and a computer and a few light bulbs. No other electro-domesticos (appliances) in the kitchen.


I have a very small refrigerator and don't use my electrodomésticos that much. Maybe I am home more than you and keep the lights on longer. ¿Quién sabe? Anyway, I like paying so little for electricity, which lately has been around six US dollars a month. Can't beat that.


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## UrbanMan (Jun 18, 2015)

HolyMole said:


> Here in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, rental agents will tell you that electricity bills for, say, a two bedroom condo....at any time of year.... will run between 2000 - 4000 pesos every two months, depending entirely on how much one uses A/C.


That doesn't sound too crazy to me. I'd also stress that if only one bedroom is cooled, and only when the sun is down, I imagine I'd fall more toward the low number or possibly even under it. 

There are of course plenty of folks who will fixate and sacrifice to save US$10 of electricity in a month, but will pay 20X that for full spectrum maid service, and spend 40X that going out eating and drinking.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

If your bedroom has cross ventilation via windows and doors, you will not need AC. Give it a chance.


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## dichosalocura (Oct 31, 2013)

I live in Chapala. Due to the high elevation, we are over 5 thousand feet, and the semi desert climate, we have very low humidity, so after the sun sets the temperature drops dramatically. Even on the hottest days of May and early June before the rains arrive, the evenings may feel slightly stuffy indoors but by 10 or 11 pm you will feel a definate chill develope in the air outside. During the rainy summer months, the rains keep the nights even chillier and cooler. A many of the houses here have brick ceilings and thick cement or adobe walls which keep most houses here feeling slightly damp, and cool year round. Air flow and house orientation is of course very important also. In most houses if you have a simple ceiling fan or stand up fan on you at night, you will be just fine, and even on the stuffiest of nights you may find yourself turning off that fan after midnight. If you find a house that has poor air circulation and the bedroom absorbs the afternoon sun like a sponge, you may need a/c on a few nights but more than likely it won't be neccessary.


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