[dylanz]

I live in Las Vegas and one year at the start of summer my AC went out. It took a week to order the part needed and make the fix. I lived out of casinos for that week (using HotelTonight to get a different place each night) and it was pretty fun. I gained 10lbs. That said, AC's are a necessity out here.

[oceanplexian]

I live a few hours outside Las Vegas and it's a lot more survivable than you would think given primitive technology and some knowledge.

I have one of those portable evaporative coolers and they don't need much power (50-100W). I have one and measured ~110F input and 78F on the output side using nothing more than water and a fan, pretty remarkable. The trick is staying out of direct sunlight, and the body can cool itself well with the same mechanism. Sweating is extremely effective due to the low humidity.

[pinkgolem]

I mean... I need ~120 watt an hour to keep the house between 20-23 C.

[kaonwarb]

In Nevada?

[barbazoo]

I'd probably invest in a secondary AC and a generator/battery to power it. That heat is brutal.

[ericd]

Absolutely. In the northeast US we have triple redundancy on heat, because it’s potentially life-threatening to have the heat go out in a blizzard with subzero temps. I’d treat cooling redundancy as similarly important in Nevada, especially if not very mobile.