Is it more energy efficient and economical to turn my central air off or down when I am not home?
Question:We are moving into a house with central air and want to be as efficient and economical as possible with the air. I am not sure if we should turn it down when not at home or all the way off.
Answers:
If you are going to be gone from home more than four hours then I would turn it down a few degrees (eight or so max). If you are gone on vacation set to minimal unless you are trying to control humidity.
If you are just leaving for a short time it is better to let the equipment run while you are gone. (better for the equipment and economical)
We have one in our bedroom. We used to turn it off during the day-it was upstairs-bad move, it took twice as long to recool. We are on a strict budget, but, we have found leaving the air on low during the day keeps the humidity away, then before bed we turn it up. Experts also suggest you run ceiling fans to help with the circulation. The new electric appliances are way more cost effecient. Now if I could get the Gas company to find a more efficient fuel...
it is easier on the unit to set the t-stat at reasonable temperature
and leave it there than to turn it up when you are gone then to turn it down when you get home the unit will have to work harder to get the home cool
It is more efficient to just turn the temp up a bit instead of turning it off. This way you are not having to cool the whole house the whole amount when you return. This also helps furniture from expanding and contracting continually from the difference in temps.
its best to turn it down. you can buy a thermostat that you can program to automatically turn down at certain times and back up at certain times to fit your schedule.
I am pretty sure it's more efficient if you turn it down, that way when you come back in the house, the A/C being turned back on does not need to work overtime to get the house back up to the cold temp.
Also, you might want to consider buying one of those regulating temperature controls - it will turn it lower when you are sleeping and when you are at work and then kick in again when you want it to - whatever way you want to program. We had that at my last house, and we definitely saw an improvement in our bills.
Turning your air conditioner off completely while you are away causes it to wrok much harder and ultimately use more electricity to try and cool it down when you get home. Turn it up a couple of degrees and it will keep the home mderately cool and it will work much less hard to cool it down when you do get home saving your a/c and your electric bill.
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