H.Cornerstone
Member
Yep, I can't imagine how hot my house would be with no AC on all day. I leave mine at 81
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
What temp do you set your AC to before you leave the house for work?
- Thread starter Crud
- Start date
- Status
Where I live in California it is 100+ all summer. I keep AC on 78 when I am not home for a couple of reasons.
1. I have cats and don't want them to get too hot. (i could probably just stop here)
2. High temperatures are bad for food I leave stored at room temperature.
3. In some ways it is worse to try and cool a house from 110 degrees to 75 every single day than it is to maintain it around 78.
4. 78 is recommended as the most energy saving temperature that also maintains comfort.
MultiCore
Member
Yeah, in Socal, have mine set at 77.
I had it at 74 for a while because it felt so good...
Then I saw my electric bill. (3650sq/ft house...)
77 is as hot as I can stand it.
again, if you suffer from a dust mite allergy (it's estimated 10% - 20% of people do) it's doctor recommend to run your AC when ever it's over 70 degree or really humid. (part of me enjoyed my doctor telling me this as it made my wife unable to argue about the AC settings >.>)
A dust mite allergy can cause you to feel like you have a constant cold or asthma. (in my case it was like I had a minor cold where my nose would be constantly slightly runny/clogged) While you can take medications to help, as with any allergen it's far more important to try to reduce your exposure to it than just treat it with pills as pills can only do so much.
source
more info about dust mites
If you do suffer from a dust mite allergy it's recommended to take more steps than just keep the AC on, but well if they can't live they become far less of a problem.
JasonUresti
Member
We got some real soft cupcakes in this thread. Oh my god it's 90 degrees out, I must set my AC to 60 degrees or sweat might roll down my back. Come on now.
HUELEN10
Member
You need to check your temperature privilege, not all of us are fortunate enough to live in a crisp, non-humid, windy place where the heat wouldn't matter too much. Even high 80s in Florida can be horrid with the awful humidity levels.
Living in Osaka, Japan, right now it's 36 degrees (around 96F) with around 50% humidity with peaks of 70% humidity. When we are home, the AC is set to 28 degrees 82F) and that's cool enough :/
We turn off the AC when leaving unless we are coming back in 2 hour or less, otherwise we leave it at 30 (86F) which gets rid of the humidity and makes the house cooler than outside without actually spending much money.
We turn off the AC when leaving unless we are coming back in 2 hour or less, otherwise we leave it at 30 (86F) which gets rid of the humidity and makes the house cooler than outside without actually spending much money.
davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
78.
I used to turn it off, get back home to 100 degrees in the house, would have the ac on for 10 hours and would only get it down to about 85 before I left again.
It's not good for the electronics and stuff in the house to boil. Also the fridges work harder when the surrounding air is hotter so the electricity savings is kind of not worth it when everything is considered.
I would rather not be sweating my balls off when I'm at home all of the time.
I used to turn it off, get back home to 100 degrees in the house, would have the ac on for 10 hours and would only get it down to about 85 before I left again.
It's not good for the electronics and stuff in the house to boil. Also the fridges work harder when the surrounding air is hotter so the electricity savings is kind of not worth it when everything is considered.
I would rather not be sweating my balls off when I'm at home all of the time.
Frostinferno
Member
I don't have AC.
I'm with these guys. I can't imagine how amazing it would be to have AC at home. When it hits 90-100 degrees here, I feel like I'm being tortured, especially since I'm on the second floor in a place high up on a hill.
My electric bill actually went down by leaving I set to 78 when I leave instead of turning it off. Twelve hours of no AC with vaulted ceilings and the AC was working much harder to get back to my desired temp than it currently does.
I also got laugh at all the "rich" talk. Are that many gaffers so dirt poor that running the AC is seen as a rich person thing?
I also got laugh at all the "rich" talk. Are that many gaffers so dirt poor that running the AC is seen as a rich person thing?
I keep mine between 68 and 72 most of the time. I'm allergic to everything and have asthma so turning it high or off would be bad. Also, I couldn't control the humidity in the basement if I didn't run it a lot. Unfortunately we have to keep it cooler than we'd like so the top floor where the bedrooms are isn't too hot. Would cost too much to retrofit for 2 units or zoning.
lifetimeofnot
Member
do you live in an apartment? It woulld take a long ass time to cool my house and its relatively small.
Is there any real data that says it's better to leave it slightly elevated, rather than off? That just doesn't make sense to me... AC units are either ON or OFF with a specific air-volume rating. In other words, an AC unit doesn't see a 20 degree difference any differently than a 5 degree difference, it just works until it gets there. So having it run in increments through the day should be just as bad or worse than a long run when you get back.
I guess it comes down to the volume/geometry of your living space and how long you are gone. Of course, for people who have spoilage concerns or pets, it's understandable.
Anyways, no AC here. Midlands, England.
I guess it comes down to the volume/geometry of your living space and how long you are gone. Of course, for people who have spoilage concerns or pets, it's understandable.
Anyways, no AC here. Midlands, England.
DOWN
Banned
It's much easier for an AC unit to just maintain a very hot temperature close to the outside temperature if it's a hot day. It has to work much more frequently to fight the outside temps if you tell it to keep cool because the cool goes away faster, the further away it is from the natural air temperature. So yes, setting it higher saves energy on hot days.
Yeah, but then you're hot. The point is to stay cool on hot days. That's what AC is for. If its 105 degrees outside, I'm turning my AC unit to a cool temperature, energy use or cost be damned.
That's another good point for just leaving it off. If you keep the AC on, you're forcing it to work through the hottest part of the day, so the energy you spend gets less work done. Programming a long cool-down period right when you get home from work seems more efficient.
Tell me more.
Being able to turn a 100 degrees into 70 degrees only through city architecture is what we need.
The house itself is often at 22c-24c, though I turn off the AC in my room while I'm at work. After I come back I open the window (I don't open it before leaving as dusty winds might hit) for half an hour, maybe an hour and then turn on the AC. Doesn't really take long to go back cold again.
GHG
Member
Being able to turn a 100 degrees into 70 degrees only through city architecture is what we need.
Can you explain this?
I'd like to think that if it was actually a thing then there would be at least one example of this in the middle east somewhere.
I have no attic in my new house or I absolutely would. You're right, though, my old house had one and I hardly needed AC at all.
Much of the south is below the 35th parallel, which puts it in line with places like Libya, Iraq and Syria. Florida is as far south as parts of Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Add in moisture from the gulf and you get a really hot, humid place.
hendersonhank
Member
I turn it off when I go to work, but lol @ "5 minutes". When I get home and turn the AC on at 4pm, it takes an hour or two to drop 1 degree. It finally makes it to 76 around 8 or 9pm.
Woody Invincible
Banned
South MS here.
67 all day, erryday.
It takes too damn long to get it cold again, so I'll splurge on the welcoming blizzard to my arrival.
67 all day, erryday.
It takes too damn long to get it cold again, so I'll splurge on the welcoming blizzard to my arrival.
SillyEskimo
Member
My wife works from home so we never turn off our AC. Even when we go on vacations, we have a house sitter.
We keep it at 70 degrees in both summer and winter.
We keep it at 70 degrees in both summer and winter.
Yeah, 78 degrees as well here in SC. I have a Siberian cat and a Biston Terrier, and the BT needs it at least somewhat cooler than I'd usually keep it if we weren't home.
Whilst I don't personally run my AC all day, I will point out that you're not just cooling air, you're effectively cooling the solid objects in the house - plaster, tile, carpet, furniture, wood, concrete, metal and plastic. If you let the rooms swelter and everything heats up, it is harder to cool it down in the evenings because these things radiate heat into the rooms you're trying to cool.
Actually modern AC units vary the speed of the compressor the closer they are to the desired temperature, rather than simply turning on/off. It's supposed to be more efficient and extends the life of the compressor by not turning on/off all the time.
Actually modern AC units vary the speed of the compressor the closer they are to the desired temperature, rather than simply turning on/off. It's supposed to be more efficient and extends the life of the compressor by not turning on/off all the time.
We bought a really old house, so no AC here either. Though it's really well insulated so we can maintain 77 even on the hottest days (Ohio so not that hot) if we keep it all closed up.
Dr. Black Jack
Member
crazy monkey
Banned
i turn it off. open windows.
Mammoth Jones
Member
This. Thankfully no pets. My AC is turned off when we all leave for work. I can deal with waiting the 20 min it takes to cool the place down when I get home.
When I'm home? 60 in living room, 65 in bedroom, 69-70 in baby's room.
Mammoth Jones
Member
Lmao. Don't AC's contribute alot to global warming?
balladofwindfishes
Member
I think it must be because I'm from the temperate forests of western New York, but 78 is uncomfortably warm. At 78 I'm sweating like a beast. It's probably also because it's incredibly humid around here.
- Status