I am in Vacaville which is technically "Bay Area", not desert but more Central Valley like. ( I have also lived in LA, NYC, DC, and Maidugari near the Sahara!). Rarely 115, and never 125, but triple digits from May through October is common, with the occasional days where the heat pumps out to SF, and the cool air pumps in. I can tell when it's going to happen because we get these hurricane force winds by way of the openings in the bay. We are within 45 miles, but we dress different than folks in SF. You can always pick out "the valley folk" spending a day in San Francisco. Even after 25 years I have to remember to check the temperature there, before I head out. To me, in addition to picking plants accustomed to little water in the summer, and lots of rain in the winter, I have to remember that (for many? I did not know there were deserts with hot nights...) the nights are cool, generally 50's, even in the summer. That means some of my best gardening happens November to April, but also that timing summer veg can be tricky. I cannot put in tomatoes and peppers in the early spring because it is still low 50's at night, and so is the soil temp. I think this is a bigger deal in the high desert, when nights can be downright cold.

@Jerrod....I have my Miele Little Giant washer programmed to Cold fill (actually, I even turned the hot water valve to OFF). So, my washer fills with tap cold and then gradually heats to the Temp I have set (Little Giant cycles are via exact temps...nothing says warm, cold, hot, etc...). So, I'm thinking I am getting optimal results in regards to temps working with enzymes and then ramping up to my "hot" set temp! I LOVE this washer more each day. In the past, after 6 months or a year with an appliance, I would be looking & cruising new models ;) But....I don't think I would ever want to be without my LiGi. I would sell it for an OctoPlus though. Just sayin' LOL

There really isn't anywhere to go with a perfect climate in the US. I've considered moving to Central Mexico, at the base of the mountains. It's supposed to be a lovely climate, aside from the summer rainy season, but winters are lovely. Guadalajara is a beautiful city that is cheap and has access to good medical care, great public transportation, and right outside of town there are big box stores if you need something from them. I've looked a lot into moving to Mexico, or buying an RV and being a nomad snowbird.

I want to hire fsq4cw. But unless he lives in Denver (do you fsq4cw?) I can't. We had our system redone 4 years ago. Just last week I went downstairs and found zero pressure on my radiant floor heat. I hunted around and found the Amtrol Ex-30 tank had rusted through and was leaking. I called the installing company to come replace it under warranty. I sent pictures of the rusted out portion and the whole tank so they can bring it and replace it in one visit. So they didn't bring it and it takes 2 visits. This always happens so I should not be surprised. When they finally bring the tank I reminded my husband to have them fill up the pressure from the air valve to 20 psi which is what the system is pressurized at and it is clearly labeled on the dial. The tech tells him that they don't do that, they just put them in and it isn't needed. My husband says he doesn't want to argue with the professional. After he leaves and I found out the tank was not pressurized properly I pull the instructions for the Amtrol Ex-30 that shows this must be done. I download a youtube video showing how to do it after it is installed. We isolate the tank, depressurize it by draining the system, pressurize it and then refill the system. In finding the instructions I find out there is the Amtrol RX-30 that has a plastic liner that is to be used for radiant snow melt and non-oxygen barrier tubing applications. I order two of them and we will be replacing both our EX-30s (one snow melt and one radiant floor heat) with the RX-30s ourselves. If you look at the Amazon reviews of the EX-30 there are other people with them rusting through in 1-4 years. Ours rusted through at 4 years. I don't know if they all have them on snow melt or older non-oxygen barrier tubing like us. But I can say that even after a short time the EX-30 is loaded with rust. Our contractor also installed the wrong size Amtrol EX-30 on our boiler system that is 225 btu and had to pull it for the Amtrol EX-60 since the pressure was all over the place. Even though it was only on for a short time we can see it is loaded with rust as it is still in our basement. Our old boiler had a Honeywell expansion tank that lasted over 20 years so not impressed with the Amtrol EX-30. Will your contractor buy and replace both tanks? Probably not. But you should get at least the snowmelt one replaced because it is the one for snow melt. He may buck against the other one. And I'm not sure that will even be a good part. I don't know how long it has been in their line-up but it was probably introduced due to the failures of the EX-30 on snow melt and non-barrier tubing. Hopefully Amtrol did a better job on the RX-30 than the EX-30. Edit: Just reread your post and you have a grey expansion tank on your side arm. That needs to be a potable water expansion tank if it is on the potable water side. Otherwise it will rust into your potable water supply. We also have a sidearm hot water tank and there is a check valve on the supply from fresh. That is why we have the potable water expansion tank on that line. The heated water from the boiler is on the same line as the boiler expansion tank so does not need it's own.