I just bought central air conditioning for my home, how often should it be running?
Question:I have it set for 69 degrees, it comes on for 20 minutes or so, cools the house then goes off, however it comes back on 30 minutes later to do it all over again. how can I control this? Should it be coming on twice an hour, is there a way to combat this?
Answers:
Depends on what the climate is like where you're at...but I've been told that 75 is ideal, both moderate & economical to your electric bill.
It depends on the size of the air conditioner and the thermostat. Our thermostat is somehow intelligent enough to know about how long it takes to cool our home (at 78 degrees). It's on for about 10 minutes and off for 10. It does save money.
Is your house cool enough for you? If so, then what it's doing is ok.
The hotter it is outside the more often it will come on, usually they are factory set with around a 3 degree tollerance. In other words if you set it at 69 it will come on and run until the sensor indicates that it is 69 in the room. It will then shut itself down until the temperature rises 3 degrees or until 72 then it will cycle on again. The better insulated the house is the less often it will turn on due to less warm air infiltration.
The cycle of the AC is not set on frequency of cycles per hour. It is controlled by the thermostat. The unit will run until it reaches the set temperature on the dial. Then it will go off until that temp rises. Then it will come on again to cool the air down to 69 degrees. 69 is a rather low temp for the summer. The norm (and more efficient) setting is from 72-78, depending on the area you live in.
There are a few factors governing how often it comes on. The first is the temp you want. The second is what the actual temp is that you want to reduce. Next is the insulating quality of the house. If you have a lot of southern exposure and a lot of sun hitting your house, it will run much more than a house facing north with many trees to hide the sun. You may want to check and see what kind of thermostat you have. There are a number of models available that can anticipate demand and cycle the system very efficiently. But the bottom line doesn't change.. the lower the set temp the longer and more often it will run.
It all depends on how well insulated your home is. The better insulated the less it will run
There is no set time as frame as when your air conditioner should be running because of variables such as outdoor temperature and the insulating properties of your home.
The temperature we humans are most comfortable with is 72.5f but this is variable also due to whether you are sitting sleeping or doing some sort of activity. I would suggest raising the thermostat temperature in summer above 73f to something you are comfortable with. Experience with using your machine and your desired comfort will determine this over time.
Do not concern yourself with how often the A/C starts an stops, only if the A/C runs continuously should you start to investigate.
It sounds like the installer has done you well, as the A/C cycling at 30 minutes indicates to me that your machine is large enough to handle the load in your home and will save you money from lower electricity costs.
Tip : On hot days start your A/C early in the morning before the days temperature gets too high.
There is no norm. Let your electric bill be your guide. From your description, it appears to be running in a normal fashion...
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