What temperature is recommended to run your central air unit on ??
Question:i live in louisiana, around this time it's usually 80 - 95 farenheit outside. what temperature should i put my central air unit on without my electric bill skyrocketing ?
Answers:
It would be dumb to set your AC to 80 while you are gone. If no one is there, why have it on at all? In my company, we design AC to run at around 75 in the summer. That is too warm for me. I prefer it between 65-70. But if you want to cut costs, just run it to the highest temperature that you feel comfortable at.
The best setting is the highest temperature at which you are comfortable. Some recommend 78 degrees when you're home and 80 degrees while you are away. As a rule, raising the thermostat setting just two degrees will reduce cooling costs by 5%.
We set ours at 78 and that is plenty comfortable for us. When you come in from a hot day outside it feels like a refrigerator inside.
You do have to consider what the outside temps are. Central heating and cooling units are not going to change the inside temps any more than 20 degrees.
In the south, when the temps are 100 degrees, set the thermostate at 60 and it will just run non stop..it will never bring the inside temp any lower than approx 80 degrees.
Sooooooo I would have to advise you not to try and beat a dead horse... if the temps go up to 95 don't expect to get more than 20 degrees (if that) cooler inside the house!
Make the most out of what you've got, the attic fan, roofline vents, thermal windows, window tint, ceiling fans (pulling the cold air up in the summer and pushing the warm air down in the winter), shade trees, keeping the blinds, shades and curtains drawn... things of this nature. Don't forget to close off the unused rooms, and replace your filters for maximum efficency. Also take a look at the insulation in the attic. Make sure you've got enough and no bare spots. Look at the attic stairs if you've got them to make sure you don't have heat/air escaping there. YOu can build a sort of box out of styrofoam that sits just inside and over the opening to prevent heat and air loss.
I used to live in Mobile.now I'm in SC. The power company provided an energy efficient person to come out and take a look, he gave us recommendations on how to reduce energy costs in and around the home!
Hope this will be useful to you!
All these steps will lower your electric bill.
Try 76 degrees. Lower than that will cost much more to operate. When your not home, set the t-stat are 80 Degrees and your home will remain very cool. Once your back home and are moving around, reset it at the 76 degree level.
78* is the magic number. Too hot when it's humid. I set mine at 76* when I'm home, 78* when I'm not.
I must be a wimp. Maybe it's a humidity factor. Where I live the humidity isn't very high, maybe 20% at the most in the summer. I keep my central air set on 73.
More Related Questions & Answers...