A/C Question

[Country Lady]

Tell me what you think. We live in A/C country. We keep it on 76 degrees. Does it really pay to bump it up to 78 degrees when leaving the house for a few hours? I've been doing this, but it seems to run non stop when we come in, however, with the heat we've been having it usually runs non stop in the afternoons anyway.

[BaronsMom]

I have bumped my A/C up to 80 deg F when I leave and when I get home, flip on the ceiling fans and it is tolerable.

When I'm home most of hte day - I'm trying really hard to keep my thermostat set at 78 deg F. so my A/C doesn't run a ton. Have drawn shades and drapes. Hate not seeing outside though. May end up closing off some rooms.

I lost a huge tree in a storm this spring that gave me all of my east shade for my home. Really am missing it now. I can tell the difference in the house with it gone - especially on the upper floors.

It is already 81% humidity here with an early morning temp of 73 deg F. Really don't like this humidity.

[teresab]

I hear ya' BaronsMom..I hate the humidity. I don't run our AC at all unless the humidity gets quite high. I set our AC set at about 82 degrees and will only turn the unit on when it is unbareable. I usually have the windows open for a cross breese and most of the time that is enough.

[Gary in ohio]

Changing the temp when no one is around can save money, just dont make large jumps. Depending on the temp/humidty and insulated quality of your home if you use large jumps you may spend more power trying to get the temp back down. If your only gone an hour or so you will not see a lot of differance, When your gone for the day then you will see the most. Use of a programable thermostat will do even better.

[js2743]

if you are moving it up and down it will cost more doing that.
think of your house as a big fridge if you have it set at 70 for a while every thing inside the house will become 70 degrees.

and then you bump it up to 78 when you leave and every thing becomes 78. and when you get back you bring it back down to 70, then it has to work over time to get every thing cooled back down.

its best to set it at a temp and leave it there because every thing becomes that temp and is much easier to keep cool same goes for the winter time and heating.

[perennial]

i think my house would feel like an ice box to most of you we keep it at
73-74 with ac. We do have geo heat and the heat it takes out of the house heats our hot water for free.

I put my ac on when it hits are 79 in the house - i'm a baker and anything that temp or above starts to get too soft.

However, if i'm not going to be home, i don't run it unless it will be really hot, then as said, i keep it at my constant temp.

[Gary in ohio]

Changing the temp when no one is around can save money, just dont make large jumps. Depending on the temp/humidty and insulated quality of your home if you use large jumps you may spend more power trying to get the temp back down. If your only gone an hour or so you will not see a lot of differance, When your gone for the day then you will see the most. Use of a programable thermostat will do even better.

[Country Lady]

We are well insulated. Our insulated walls are 6" thick with 18" insulation in the ceiling. Our garage also has insulation in the walls and ceiling and insulated metal doors. We have double pane tinted windows. We only raise the thermostat 2 degrees when gone. I'd like to think it might be helping on the bill a little bit.

[agmantoo]

Country Lady
You did not state the type of AC you have. If it is 1 large central or large window unit here is something that will save you money and keep the creature comforts on the plus. There is a device called a PTAC of PTHP that is very affordable to purchase and to install. The PTHP is the heatpump version and give both heat or cool. The units are very small and are rather efficient. If you were to get one of these and install it in conjunction with your existing AC and set the small efficient unit a couple of degrees cooler than you main unit the small unit would continue to dehumidify and cool to some degree. This would keep the larger power consuming unit off until the smaller unit could not keep up with demand then the main unit would kick in. Since the small PTHP would be dehumidifying nearly all the time the home would feel cooler at a higher temperature. You would not have the cycle swings and the high start current from the main unit. This is a neat method to render comfort for the least buck. I just installed a PTHP yesterday for a neighbor and he is elated.
You can see and read about PTACs here
http://www.ptac4less.com/new_units.shtml
Here you can see the prices, remember you are only going to supplement the main unit so you do not want a large PTHP. With your mild winters this would also make a nice affordable heat source for chilly days
http://www.acfactoryoutlet.com/home....FRghnAodcgS6Ug

[SquonkHunter]

Originally Posted by Gary in ohio

Changing the temp when no one is around can save money, just dont make large jumps. Depending on the temp/humidty and insulated quality of your home if you use large jumps you may spend more power trying to get the temp back down. If your only gone an hour or so you will not see a lot of differance, When your gone for the day then you will see the most. Use of a programable thermostat will do even better.

I tried an experiment with this some years ago. Bottom line, it took the A/C too long to bring the temp back down in the evening. Ended up actually taking MORE power than just setting it and leaving at a reasonable temp all day long. Just my own experience FWIW.

[Quint]

It may save a little if you're gone all day as long as you don't alter the temperature too much.

I use to set my thermostat as high as I could, like 80 or something. Finally I figured that if I'm going to spend the money to run the A/C I was going to run it at a comfortable level which for me is 76 or so. Why spend the money and put the wear and tear on the A/C if you're only going to be sorta comfortable. To me it's worth the extra 10 or 20 bucks.