Air conditioning

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I am seeing posts where people keep their air condition at 65 all day. I have lived in FL and SOCAL. I keep my ac at 78 during the day and 75-76 at night. I would like to keep it cooler but I'm convinced if I kept it at 65 all-day when it's over 100 outside it would break. It would run continuously from May to November.

[murielm99]

1. I keep mine at 78 all the time.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. I don't think a residential air conditioning unit is meant to run 24/7 for seven months in a row.

I'm not testing it. 78 and 76 are fine. I also have fans.

[Ferrets are Cool]

6. This

[murielm99]

11. We don't run ours for seven months continuously.

We turn it off when things cool down and we open windows.

I don't like air conditioning, actually. I do without it whenever I can.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

38. I know you don't. Another poster said he keeps his apartment at 65.

At 65 my ac/heat would likely not turn off all year.

[zuul]

36. I'm in New Orleans and I keep mine at 78.

I have two units, one for the first floor and one for the second. Both stay at 78 and I’m in menopause. Thank Dog for hormone medication.

[Klaralven]

2. Probably people with central AC forced air systems that are badly balanced

It might not be 65 except where the thermostat is located.

[David__77]

5. In two story spaces particularly.

A thermostat on the first floor may register temperature much cooler than on the floor above.

[Klaralven]

8. In which case you need to open upstairs registers and close downstairs registers

The opposite of what you need in heating season.

[NutmegYankee]

13. Depends on where the air return is located.

I have central air fitted to a forced air heat system that has the return on the first floor. That causes the upstairs to stay 5-6°F warmer, but it would have been a major rip-out and remodel to put a return upstairs. For a New England home, it wasn't worth it. Knocking the humidity down was enough.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

15. Cold air drops. Heat rises.

Makes sense.

[FoxNewsSucks]

17. A long time ago an ac service guy

told me to set the fan to "on" instead of "auto". That way air circulates constantly and keeps the whole place a more even temp.

It doesn't seem to have caused any excess wear on the fan, and even if it did, as he said, that is a relatively inexpensive part to replace.

[NutmegYankee]

32. Some fancier thermostats have a "recirc" setting that runs the fan 30% of the time

I find that is a nice balance in cost versus even cooling.

[Pobeka]

34. Ooooh, I hadn't heard of that. Sounds like a great feature.

Thanks for that post!

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

40. Zoned systems are great to deal with this

My house originally had 2 independent central AC systems, each floor had its own outside AC unit and thermostat. When I had the furnace replaced 2 years ago I had the 2 units and thermostats removed and replaced it with a singe unit with zone control. The new ac unit is more powerful and more efficient than having 2 and each floor still has the ability to be set to its own temperature. There is a diverter in the main vent that will divert air flow from one floor or the other as they need it, or keep it flowing to both floors if needed. Its especially useful in the winter as I can keep the 2nd floor cooler as only our bedrooms and bathroom are up there. Saves on heating costs.

[David__77]

42. I want that.

Except I want to get a heat pump and no longer use gas heating. I guess I’m just waiting for something to give out.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

69. My motorhome has 2 A/C systems,

one in my bedroom and one to cool the rest of the home, they are labeled zone1 and zone 2.
I run the bedroom A/C only at night when I'm in the bedroom and I keep it off when not in there, I use zone 2 most of the time and keep it at 78, which is comfortable for me.

Luckily I'm not home much so my electric bill is minimal.

[csziggy]

70. That's why when we had to replace our main house system last fall we got zoned

We have zones for upstairs, the kitchen/dining room, the master bedroom, and the library. The living room is on a separate system. It made a world of difference both in comfort and in costs. My husband keeps the upstairs at 78-80, the downstairs thermostats are set at 76-78 (sometimes we have to drop them to lower the humidity).

When we had a single thermostat for the whole house, we set it at 74, the upstairs would be over 86, the library 84, even with fans pulling cool air into those areas. Our bills were nearly double what they are now, though part of that was that it was a less efficient unit that had problems with leaking coolant from day one.

Our house utility bill is almost half of what it was before - though part of that may be from changing out every light to LEDs. The only non-LEDs left are the under cabinet lights since they don't make LED bulbs the same size. I have LED tapes to replace those when I get the energy.

[Retrograde]

64. The same people who keep their homes at 78 in the winter

I don't like going back east in the winter because I find too many places are overheated.

I do understand about the thermostat, though. Ours is located in a room we keep closed off at night, but the old furnace (which seemed to have a mind of its own) seemed to turn on at random times: to be fair, it did date from the 1910s, according to the guy who installed the new one. The new thermostat is programmable, so we set it for 64 during the day, 68 in the evenings, and 55 at night. No air conditioning, but by leaving the windows open at night and closing them when the sun gets high we can keep things tolerable.

[mopinko]

3. makes it harder to go in and out, too.

i'm in the midwest, and can live w/o it. so far.
i'd say most in my hood have it.
i always hated it. rarely use it in my car.

[jimfields33]

7. I keep mine at 80 in central Florida

[hlthe2b]

9. It likely will and parts for ACs are nearly impossible to get right now.

In CO, we've had weeks of 90 plus days and several above 100. I don't turn on the A/C when I'm not there, send the pup to the basement to keep her cool, and then cool off by opening screened patio door and north-facing windows at dusk. Mostly I've kept spot fans and a ceiling fan on to circulate and only turned the A/C on to get it below 80 when I get home. Then I turn it off. If I still feel hot, I put flexible cold packs around my neck and lower back to cool off while I sit for a few minutes. We eat lots of cold salads, smoothies, and other foods that need not be heated. All this makes a big difference. Granted it is usually dry here and the lack of humidity does help, but hot is hot.

Even if you don't mind a $350 + electric bill, burning out your AC is going to be an unwelcome shock to many people.

[MontanaMama]

10. I just got central air conditioning

installed in my house in 2018. I didn’t get it just for the summer heat but for wildfire season when the smoke is thick and we can’t open windows for days or weeks on end. The HVAC guy that installed it told me not to keep the system below 72 for any extended length of time or the thing would freeze up. Once in a while, I’ll turn it down to 70 if its really warm. I haven’t used it yet this season...the nights cool off into the high forties and low fifties...so if we open the windows and close up early, the temps in the house stay below 70 all day.

[Polly Hennessey]

12. In summer my air conditioning is kept at 78 during the

day. Occasionally, will turn down to 77. At 77 it becomes downright cold. At night we keep it at 80 degrees. At night the temperature drops to the middle sixties and cooler. A/C rarely kicks on at night. We also have fans. In winter the heat is kept at 68 degrees.

[Bucky]

14. growing up in Houston, my folks kept it at 72

I dropped down to 76° overnight and I feel cold.

But I agree with others in this thread. 78° or 79° is good, sometimes I do 80°. That's a comfortable range for me.

[NutmegYankee]

28. It really depends on where you live.

The West has generally lower humidity (dew points) and air in the upper 70s can feel good. The East can get extremely humid and even with AC the inside air is more humid, so a temp of 70-74 is more comfortable. There is no one perfect setting of the thermostat. It varies by person and region.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

16. We keep ours set at 78.

To keep the humidity down. I have ceiling fans in the bedrooms, dining room, and kitchen. Window fans for at night.

[FoxNewsSucks]

18. Mine is set to 75

but the thermostat is in the exact center of my place and not in an area where air circulates much, so the thermometers in different rooms range from 77-79.

I turn it down when I have guests, but when I'm home by myself I'm just wearing shorts anyway so no reason to keep it cold.

[H2O Man]

19. There are two

air conditioners in my house, that have been there since the day I moved in. I have no idea if either one works, as I've never tried turning them on.

[onecaliberal]

20. We keep ours at 78 all of the time. We also have ceiling fans in all rooms.

When it’s 100-115 outside, 78 is very comfortable.

[shanti]

61. Exactly! n/t

[Silent3]

21. After we had all the carpets in our house cleaned, we were told to crank up the AC...

...to help dry out the carpets more quickly.

We were selling the house, everything was moved out, and we were living in an apartment while waiting for construction to be completed on our new house. So we just cranked it up and left until the next day.

We didn't even need to go into the house to know we'd overdone it. From the driveway I could see condensation on the windows, and even on the doorknob of the front door.

I don't think AC breaks very easily! The house was in the mid fifties when we got inside.

[SYFROYH]

22. Quality residential units can handle it. We keep ours on 68* and it runs a lot Feb to December.

It's a Trane and we've had it over 10 years.

The insider secret on AC units is to use inexpensive high flow filters and change them religiously every 4 weeks.

The long-term, high-density HEPA filters really stress the system.

[zeusdogmom]

26. My Bryant system is 26 years old

Currently running even though not all that hot outside but oh so humid. 🥵 I have tons of work to do in the house today and I want to be comfortable ie not hot and sticky. And lazy. Yes it is selfish to run it but there are times I do come first 😄. Beside Zeus Dog asked me to turn it on - he was really hot after our walk. 😃 Zeus is an older doggie - sometimes needs his creature comforts.

Environmentally I often feel guilty about running the AC because I grew up without it, as an adult spent 5 years in Texas without it in the house (work was air conditioned). I can manage quite well in the heat. But I don’t always accomplish much

[KentuckyWoman]

23. It always cracks me up

When I see facebook posts from people I know over 50 of a box fan .. "This was our air conditioning" ... while they sit in air conditioned homes typing on the keyboard instead of writing in cursive on paper.

I am in Ohio and so far have managed by keeping the shades down on the side where the sun beats in for the morning, plus ceiling fans.

When I do run the ac I set it at 78 ... just enough to get the humidity out.

[SheltieLover]

24. Ductless mini-split here with variable speed fan so it is

Meant to run 24/7. I keep it set between 62 & 67. It uses very very little power. I think my highest elect bill was $114. Love it!

[WhiteTara]

25. Is it meant for one room or the whole house?

This sounds intriguing.

[SheltieLover]

27. It does my whole house, but for a larger home more than 1 indoor unit would be needed

I absolutely love it!

For larger homes, there are outdoor units with hook ups for several indoor units.

Very quiet & somehow it manages to circulate the cold air down a long hallway & into my bedroom.

This particular unit has a heat pump which is effective down to -15 F. But it is maximized for cooling in hot weather, because that's the sad fact of life here. So, when we had that super cold weather last winter, the heater did go into defrost quite a bit, but that was the $114 bill I referenced.

Very popular in Europe from what I've read due to efficiency. No ducts, so no thermal loss in attic or basement - wherever ducts run. 👍

[WhiteTara]

29. Wow. We could rip the ducts out of the basement

and turn it into usable space. I have to check this out. Thanks Our house is 2200 sq feet. How many units?

[SheltieLover]

33. The heat pump.part would not be so good in, say, Chicago or other super cold climate

Size depends on layout of your home.

Another nice thing is they come with line set filled with rwfrigerant (spadly, currently 410-A, a blended mess), so if you have someone handy, you could save thousands on install.

I have a 12K BTU unit for 1,300 sq. ft., if that helps.

Mitsubishi tends to be the highest efficiency rating, but they might require professional install. 👍

[David__77]

43. I understand that there are "cold weather" heat pumps.

I do wonder if they still run into issues freezing up.

[SheltieLover]

46. Depends on climate & unit

Ours has a defrost function, essential imo, as these weird things can freeze with AC on, although ours doesn't.

They work by finding heat outside & bringing it inside, so if it's -20, there is little heat outdoors.

It was nice to have such a teeny elect bill, thou, as a 10-day cold snap in Chicago would have cost hundreds!

[SheltieLover]

48. I'm told by my resident expert that

All heat pumps will freeze outdoor condenser in cold weather, but should never freeze in AC mode in hot weather.

How the unit deals with inevitable winter freeze ups (outdoor unit condenser - looks like radiator), is what sets the quality units apart from junk.

That said, I've had numerous crappy heat pump / AC units that absolutely did consistently freeze indoor condenser.

Buy a high quality, well made unit. 👍

[WhiteTara]

55. Who makes your system?

Our house basically has 5 large rooms and equals about 2200 square feet. Zone 7

[SheltieLover]

57. Pioneer (not Pioneer Electronics)

But the newer version is not rated for heat below 5 F.

I would recommend looking at Mitsubishi units if you can afford.

Pioneer is great to deal with for self diagnosing, etc., whereas Mitsubishi would likely require the opinion of a licensed professional.

As with the tankless water heaters, though, be careful of brand you purchase because some companies void warranty if not installed by licensed person.

I always call warranty dept. before buying to grill them on policies & procedures. As well as to see if they answer their damned phones!

[WhiteTara]

58. Thanks. This is a new concept for me

We don't need to do anything, but our system is almost 30 years old and if we have to do something, I want to do something different. It would be wonderful to turn the basement into a second usable space.

[SheltieLover]

60. Super energy efficient!

And if you need, say a 3 (indoor) unit model, you just turn them on for a bit before using those rooms, if you wish.

It's very damp here, so if heat or AC is not needed, dehumidify function is generally running. 👍

Good to have your ducks in a row, so to speak.

And getting ducts out so space is usable would be great!

Not sure where Zone 7 is, but it's a decent unit. Great, actually, with great warranty & cost under $1K. Mitsubishis cost nearly 2x that, but they are reliable & read work horses.

You might also call some HVAC supply shops to see which brands they carry parts for in case of break down.

Here, they all carry only 1 brand & it's not mine. Typical of red hellhole I'm in.

[WhiteTara]

62. I'm in NW Arkansas

and humidity here is high too.

I'm happy to be looking into this for our future.

[SheltieLover]

63. You know with electric cars coming quickly

They will absolutely need to seriously upgrade the grid, the cost of which will, of course, fall on consumers...

Great idea!

We are switching to natural gas tankless water heater for the same reason.

[WhiteTara]

67. I'm waiting for Tesla's power wall to become

more affordable. I can't see the advantage of hooking into the grid without a battery for storage.

[SheltieLover]

68. Not sure what their power wall is

But I know their cust service & many features absolutely suck.

People buy them because it's "cool technology."

Not happening here anytime soon. I refuse to drive a whiny sewing machine.

[SheltieLover]

66. Another consideration

Is the length of line sets: max 25'.

So you might want to go with separate units & then you will have redundancy in case one unit fails!

Very easy install. Took maybe an hour or so. 👍

[Elessar Zappa]

30. I keep mine at 68.

I know it’s not great for the environment but I start sweating and feeling uncomfortable after 70 degrees.

[smirkymonkey]

37. Same here.

I really like it cool and dry. If it gets too hot at night I will wrap ice packs in pillow cases and put them under my neck and on my chest.

[Kaleva]

49. It won't make a bit of difference on the environment.

I don't think it's possible to measure the impact you keeping the tstat at 68 would have on the environment. It'd be about the same as you not having a/c at all.

[mcar]

31. 65 is ridiculous

I have lived in FL since 1992. During the day, my AC is never lower than 79; at night, it's 74.

[Polybius]

51. I keep it on 60 and never tough the temp

When I get cold, I just shut it off. I never let it run all day.

[Pobeka]

35. And so the climate change problem is exasperated (with the 65F setting).

AC takes energy, often energy that produces CO2 etc.

Which heats the air ultimately, and causes AC units to demand more energy. A vicious cycle.

KUDOS to you for keeping your house comfortable instead of cold.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

41. I am concerned that if I ran it that cool it would break and I would be without air condition.

[Kaleva]

47. It's the starting that produces most of the wear.

Steady state, running continuously, is the most efficient and produces less wear.

"Less frequent starts and stops of the fan can reduce the stress from startup, and potentially help extend it’s lifespan."

https://trusthomesense.com/blog/pros-cons-continuously-running-hvac-fan/

On the downside, your electric bill will skyrocket. My guess is that you'd come out ahead doing what you are doing. More wear on the equipment but saving much more on the electric bill.

[ChazII]

39. Mine is set at 80 degrees

and my aunt who lives in Page, Arizona keeps hers at 85 degrees.

[MenloParque]

44. 78

Mine stays at 78 all year round. When I was a huge fatty (I’m still so I can use this term) I kept it at 68. As I got healthier I felt more comfortable keeping the thermostat set higher. Now at 68 degrees I need a sweatshirt! My AC installer informed me anything constantly below 72 will cause more wear and tear on parts and decrease longevity of the unit.

[FakeNoose]

45. I have a window unit in my bedroom and I almost never use it

We might have a few hot nights in July where it doesn't cool down until well after midnight. So on those nights, I might run my air conditioner for a few hours. Most of the times it stays off and I'm perfectly comfortable. Honestly we've had a few summers where I never turned it on at all.

Our weather in Pittsburgh is usually warm days in the 80s, rarely as high as 90 degrees. Cool nights in the 70s or even the 60s. Often I wear long sleeves in the morning because it can be too cool.

[CousinIT]

50. 65 is way too cold for me. I keep mine at 77. n/t

[Tommy Carcetti]

52. Floridian here

77 during the day if we’re in the house, 78 if we are out.

75 at night.

My dad hated the idea of central air and so I didn’t have it until I was a teen and my mom forced him to get it. Good thing about that was it helped build up a heat tolerance that others might not have.

I’ll use AC but I don’t feel I can’t survive without it. Would much rather be hot than cold.

[csziggy]

73. Another Floridian here

I used to say that I sweat better than I shiver.

The house I grew up in didn't have AC or central heat. In the summer we had window fans. In the winter, the bedrooms were closed off and we used a kerosene floor heater to only heat the parts of the house we absolutely needed - bathrooms, kitchen, and Florida room.

When my parents bought a house with central air and heat - after we all left home - they left the thermostat set at 80 all year round.

AS I said in a different message, I keep our thermostat on 76-78. If the weather is in the 70s, I have to turn it down to lower the humidity. Today, with the tropical storm giving us clouds and rain, the AC isn't running much so the humidity is up in the house. I might kick it a little lower tonight for more comfortable sleeping.

I used to think I could survive without AC but anymore, I can't take extremes of heat or cold, so I stay indoors more. With it being in the 90s for the last couple of weeks, even a few minutes outside tends to wipe me out.

[IL Dem]

53. 76 in daytime.

72 and a fan on me at night.

[SoonerPride]

54. 70 year round. Summer and winter.

We use bill averaging and pay the exact same amount every month all year long.

I set it when we bought the house 17 years ago and haven’t messed with it since.

[ananda]

56. I keep mine at 80, and I have ceiling fans.

It works well that way.

[shanti]

59. Me too at 78

and I'm in ultra hot Sacramento. I can handle 78 with a fan blowing on me during the day, and just a ceiling fan at night. This is in a south facing hotbox of a house.

[Happy Hoosier]

65. 74 all the time.

I hate being hot.

[Baltimike]

71. I use a window unit in my bedroom because I need it cold at night...

and that way, I can control it more. There is no need to make the entire house cold when I am mainly in one space. I keep it off in the rest of the house, unless the temp goes above 90 and/or the humidity goes above 60%. Then, it's going on until it is comfortable, and then I am turning it off.

I also unplug everything that I am not using when I am not using it, with six exceptions: my refrigerator (obviously) my stove, my washer and dryer, my modem or whatever it is these days, and my landline telephone. I even unplug my tv when I am not using it

[trof]

72. 74 summer, 72 winter.

Coastal Alabama

[Calista241]

74. I use 2 Google Nest thermostats.

And they're wonderful. I use the ECO setting most of the time, except when i'm sleeping. ECO is generally around 74 - 76. I do turn it down to 72 at night. It's been in the mid-80's and low-90's here in Atlanta the last couple weeks, so it hasn't been bad.

Make sure to have your air conditioning serviced twice a year.

[DFW]

75. We don't have air conditioning in our house at all

Although warming has made the top floor of the house too hot to sleep in this past week, we just moved to the guest room in the lowest floor. It is over 30° upstairs, but a reasonable 16° downstairs.

[GulfCoast66]

76. Wow! That a huge difference. Must have thick walls or something.

Your correct, 30 is too hot to sleep. But at 16 I would need the heat on or a thick blanket.

Of course I’m from the Deep South. I wear jeans and long sleeves at 70 F!

[DFW]

77. We live in the German Rheinland

So we use Centigrade/Celsius.

For us, 30° is 86° F, and 16° is 61°F. Very few houses here have air conditioning.

[GulfCoast66]

78. Oh, I knew you meant Celsius. I go to Europe enough to know the conversation.

At least C to F. I just double the C, add 32 and knock off 5%. Not exact but no way I can figure 9/5ths in my head! Gets me close enough to know what I need to pack. We only try to go when temps are between 20-25 on average. One trip to Bavaria in a heat wave with temps in the high 90’s and no AC did that for us! Ironically our hotel had AC. But because it was past September 1 they were prevented from turning it on! Or so they claimed. I believe it was the Platzl across from Hofbrau Haus. Could have been the one in Strasbourg. It been 16 years.

But 61 is cold to me. Very cold. I would need PJs and a heavy blanket! And in Florida we would have the furnace on if the house got that cold. Either that or my wife would divorce me!

Have a nice evening.

[DFW]

79. The weather here was never very predictable in the best of times

Now, the only sure thing is that nothing is a sure thing.

[RegularJam]

80. An AC shouldn't be able to maintain 65...

Throughout a FL afternoon. Possibly in an extremely sealed and insulated home with additional efficiencies.

Mine runs from about 3:30 pm until 10 pm continuously.

West central FL. The sun beats down on the front of my old home.

These systems can run just about constantly. For many older systems a lot of the wear and tear happens during start up. Still minimal.

Often in FL 78 is about the point you don’t want to go higher than. You want the system running to a point that it lowers the humidity inside. In FL that is one of the greatest benefits of an AC. Making the inside less accommodating for mold and mildew. Depending on a number of factors just dropping the ac two degrees in FL can drop the interior humidity by five percent or more.

[OhioChick]

81. I keep mine at 68 n/t