A/c running too much??
Question:We live in Las Vegas, so as most of you know its been upwards of 100 degrees lately. Our power company here just had a 12% increase in power rates. I want to know if when i leave for the day should i turn up the thermostat, if so to what degree?? I usually keep our home between 74 and 76 degrees when we're home, when we're gone i turn it up to about 80? I just want to know if thats ok? I want to save myself as much money as possible without having to live with extreme heat!! Thanks for any answers
Answers:
What you are doing is a great IDEA. If you can bare the heat when you return for a little while, turn it up all the way so that the AC doesn't kick on @ ALL while you are out. I used to do this in my apartment. My bill was nearing $200 & then I decided to just turn EVERYTHING off while I was gone & turn the AC all the way up. You would not BELIEVE the savings -- My next bill was about $56! And when we got home in the evenings I would put the thermostate down to 70 deg (nice & cool).
*ALSO, my sister-in-law once read in a magazine that leaving ceiling fans on while you are out does not help any at keeping the house cooler. It only makes you feel as if you are only 2 deg. cooler than what the house is set on when you are home. I turned everything off while I was gone.
Besides -- It is USUALLY cooler in the evenings when you arrive home so it won't have to work TOO hard to get back down to your regular 74-76 degrees.
Facts affecting Air Conditioning (AC) Power Use
· Heat loss or gain is directly proportional to the square of the difference in temperature on two sides of the material be it a wall or window
· So, if the temperature difference is 20 degrees, say 72 inside and 92 outside, it will transfer 4 times as much heat compared to a 10 degree temperature difference.
· If you turn off the AC or set the thermostat to a higher temperature, the temperature difference will be reduced saving power, fuel and money.
· The down side to this approach is that when you come home and the house is hot, it will take a while for the AC to catch up and you may be uncomfortable during that time.
· A fix to the wait for the AC to cool things off is a programmable thermostat, available at home centers, that will raise the set point and then lower it again at times you program in so it can increase the temp soon after you leave for work and bring it back down say a half hour before you normally get home.
· Take into consideration pets, plants and other things that may be sensitive to high temperatures. 78 degrees should not hurt anything though.
I don't know about the 80. How big is the home? I would set it to 76.
yes i guess so.
I don't know much about Vegas. I hear its a dry heat out there. Set it as high as is comfortable. Running ceiling fans and table fans can help a lot to make it feel cooler in a room.
make sure your house is well insulated and cover your windows
at work we turn the thermostat up to like 85 when we're closed to save money.
Leaving the a/c at 78 degrees when ur home is a good temperature, and about 82 when u leave. also, when u go to sleep, turn it off. u will be asleep by the time the house has warmed up. good luck w/saving money!
Turn it off when you leave. It will take longer to cool down when you get home, but it is actually cheaper to do that then leaving it on all day. Or try to get a timer and have it turn on a half hour before you get home!
my AC has a timer on it. i turn it off before i leave and i have it set to turn on about 20 minutes before i usually get home. depending on how long your away from home each day, this could help.
It's cheaper to keep doing what you are doing. If you raise the temp up to say 86, your a/c will have to work that much harder and longer to reach the 74 degree mark.
A 3-4 degree change will save money in utility costs. Leave it around 80 when gone and turn it down to the 75 mark when at home.
You will notice the difference in energy consumption and have lower $$$.
I'm sure you also keep the home shut up by using blinds, draperies etc on the windows and doors. It all helps.
You may want to consider getting an automatic setback thermostat which you can program to increases the temperature by 5 degrees after you go to sleep and reduce the temperature shortly before you come home from work.
Do not setback more than a few degrees though. It takes more energy to lower the temperature 10 degrees in an unoccupied house than if you had not setback the temperature for 8 hours.
It is also a good idea to leave the fan running constantly as opposed to only running during the call for cooling. This will reduce stratification (hot and cold spots in differing areas and heights within the house) and actually cause your A/C to start less frequently. Motors like compressors and fans use quite a bit of energy during start up and a fan motor left running only costs a few pennies per hour. As a side benefit, you will also have the advantage of better air filtration because air will be constantly moving through the filter.
I would also experiment with increasing the cooling temperature by a couple of degrees each week, become accustomed to the change and do it again each week until you reach your maximum comfortable temperature. It is a known fact that the human body cannot sense a 3 degree temperature change.
Additional comment:
Aside from the onvious additional measures you can take to reduce the cooling load on your house such as shading sunny areas and adding insulation there are a few other things you can do to increase the comfort of your climate system. The ducting of your unit probably has damper control valves where the round pipe comes off the square ducting. By partially colsing the ones to the rooms on the morning sun side of your house, you will be forcing more air to the afternoon sun rooms. If your house is a two story, you can damper down some of the downstairs room's supply vents forcing more air to the upstairs where heat is absorbed from your roofing.
If your duct system contains flexible duct runs instead of sheetmetal piping, have it replaced. Flexible ductwork has a tremendous amount of friction loss and definitely affects the performance of your system. Many companies use flex duct as the installation cost is much lower than using round sheetmetal pipe and the homeowner is left paying higher energy bills.
Using white or refletive shades on your sunny windows, keeping exhaust fan use to a minimum, and maintaining your AC system (inclucing the air filter), are the simplest methods to getting the most out of you climate system.
about 80 would be fine, and you can survive comfortable at 78 to save money ( or you should be able to )
most power companies dont advertise it, but have a computer digital meter which you pay 4 dollars a month for and it charges differently depending on usage, from 10 PM to 6 PM are low usage times so they will charge you less, Saturday and Sundays also, can save you as much as 50 bucks or more a month,, call them and ask,
What you're asking is the question on most people's mind this summer.
The answer, well isn't as simple as you might think.
Leaving the AC set for the same temp while you are out will use elec. during the day and the house will be comfortable when you arrive home.
Turning up the temp on the AC when you leave and then back down for comfort when you return is what I think quite a few people do, but the idea here is that you use more energy colling the house down to what you want compared to keeping it that temp all day.
We tried doing both individually for a month each a couple of years ago at my home and noticed little difference in the electric bill cost. However, I live in Texas, so we have a lot of humidity and when we built, I put a ceiling fan in every room to keep the air moving. I've never turned them off unless leaving for an extended vacation.
My suggestions woulbe these.
-Having an AC or insulation expert look at your AC to make sure it's vented correctly, and is running as effeciantly as possible it the first step.
-Make sure the fins on your outside AC compressor unit are free of any grass, bushes or anything that would hinder good airflow through them as it runs. Rinse them with a hose (NOT A PRESSURE WASHER) to clean out any dirt or clippings collected there.
-If you don't have shade on the outside unit after about 11am, in the height of summer, I recommend planting a tall shrub or tree that will shade it in the late morning hours. If it is in the full sun it has to work harder to keep the coils cooled. I have a privet plant trained like a tree on both sides covering it so it's shaded from 10am on.
-Adding insulation in the attic to hold in the cool and having someone spray on insulation to the duct work can make the AC work less to keep the house cooler. Look into a radiant barrier solution for the attic (Efficient Attic Systems in Texas do a nice job)
I've given you quite a bit to read here, but if you make the right choices in helping your AC to run efficiently, your house and stay comfortable year round and not cost you a fortune.
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