Air Conditioner PSA

[1stTimeCaller]

I know that most of you on here are not legally retarded as I am so you probably already knew this but just in case.

It is better to turn the thermostat to 80 or 85 than it is to just turn it off if you are going to be gone for the weekend .

I got home yesterday about 4pm. It was 102 outside and 99 inside. At 11 pm it was 87.4 degrees inside my house.

[colleyvillesooner]

I believe we have had this conversation before, but I can't remember what the outcome is.

I would really like to know which takes more energy/money.

1) raising the temp inside to 82 while I am gone all day, then dropping it to 78 or 77 when I get home and go to sleep.

2) Leaving it running at 78 all the time.

[mdklatt]

I believe we have had this conversation before, but I can't remember what the outcome is.

I would really like to know which takes more energy/money.

1) raising the temp inside to 82 while I am gone all day, then dropping it to 78 or 77 when I get home and go to sleep.

2) Leaving it running at 78 all the time.

Some back-of-the-envelope physics and the marketability of programmable thermostats make me think 1) is the preferred choice.

[Vaevictis]

The second takes more energy. Lots more energy.

Basically, the more heat gets transferred into the home, the more energy you have to use pumping it back out again. And the greater the temperature differential between the inside and the outside, the faster heat will enter the home.

In the second scenario, you'll end up having to pump more energy out of the home because more ends up transferred in.

[1stTimeCaller]

The second takes more energy. Lots more energy.

Basically, the more heat gets transferred into the home, the more energy you have to use pumping it back out again. And the greater the temperature differential between the inside and the outside, the faster heat will enter the home.

In the second scenario, you'll end up having to pump more energy out of the home because more ends up transferred in.

I'm confused. the second scenario being my second scenario or CVS'?

I know mine used muy more energy as the AC had to work non stop for about 14 hours.

[Vaevictis]

I was referring to the question about whether it's more efficient to turn up the temperature and then turn it back down, or to keep the temperature constant.

[Howzit]

My downstairs condenser quit working Saturday.

The end.

[1stTimeCaller]

I was referring to the question about whether it's more efficient to turn up the temperature and then turn it back down, or to keep the temperature constant.

and you think it takes more energy to keep it at a constant 78?

I'm still confused.

[Vaevictis]

With respect to your question, I'd probably just turn it up into the mid-80s. I expect it's more energy efficient to just turn it off, but there are things to consider other than just the energy efficiency -- A/C's also dehumidify the air.

Depending on what's in your house, you may be damaging things by letting it get so hot and humid in there.

[Mjcpr]

Get a programmable thermostat.

[Vaevictis]

I would really like to know which takes more energy/money.

1) raising the temp inside to 82 while I am gone all day, then dropping it to 78 or 77 when I get home and go to sleep.

2) Leaving it running at 78 all the time.


The second takes more energy. Lots more energy.

Thus, I think that leaving the temperature at a constant lower temperature uses more energy.

[1stTimeCaller]

I don't know for sure but I'm thinking that if I had left the AC at say 85, it wouldn't have ran a total of 14 hours over the course of Friday night through Sunday afternoon. It did run non-stop for about 14 hours to get the temp from 99 to 78.

I'm just guessing.

[1stTimeCaller]

Thus, I think that leaving the temperature at a constant lower temperature uses more energy.

Sorry, I was reading your earlier post wrong. Thanks!

[colleyvillesooner]

lotta good answers and tips here:

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cooling.html

[Stoop Dawg]

I don't know for sure but I'm thinking that if I had left the AC at say 85, it wouldn't have ran a total of 14 hours over the course of Friday night through Sunday afternoon. It did run non-stop for about 14 hours to get the temp from 99 to 78.

I'm just guessing.

That depends entirely on what the outside temp was. If it was 110 outside, your AC would have run constantly all weekend to keep your house at 85. If the average temp outside was 85, your AC would not have run at all to keep the house at 85.

As V said, it's all about temp differential. I believe that a typical AC unit in a residential home can only lower the outside temp by 20-30 degrees over an extended period.

Also, if you've closed registers to try to push air to other parts of the house, consider opening them back up (except in totally unused rooms, of course). I had shut off some in the living room and kitchen to force air into the bedroom. That was fine in the spring, but in the summer the AC unit could pump enough air. Opening the lr and kit registers did wonders.

[frankensooner]

We went camping all weekend and left our set on 85. I guess it ran all weekend, but my vinyl collection didn't melt. ;)

[Tear Down This Wall]

lotta good answers and tips here:

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cooling.html

Um...this guy says:

3. Try doing without AC, or just using it less

Try cooling your home to only 80 degrees (or warmer) instead of the 70's. This is especially easy to do if you have ceiling fans. Each degree below 78 will increase your energy use by 3-4%.
Many of us here in Texas actually get by without using AC -- good use of ceiling fans and box fans is really enough. Wearing a wrung-out wet shirt also does wonders, as does a quick rinse in the shower every couple of hours. (The amount of extra water used is negligible compared to the amount of electricity saved.) If you can't do without it AC completely, setting it at 85 degrees or higher and using fans will still save you a lot of money.

Wear a wrung out, wet t-shirt? A quick rinse in the shower every couple of hours? I'd hate to see this guy's diet advice: diet advice: "You want to be small? Squirrels are small. Simply watch them out the window to learn where they forage to nuts, then you go forage for nuts yourself. In a manner of days you should be waif thin to the point of brain damage, but you'll have the desired weight loss."

[SoonerBorn68]

The electricity out here on the rig is produced by generators, so it's free (for me). I got lucky enough to get a trailer that's got two A/C units. In the 8 days I've been out here the main one routinely turns off between 3-5am...the one in the bedroom has run constantly. Outside temp: 103. Inside temp: 64.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

good use of ceiling fans and box fans is really enough.

uh, where is that article on how inefficient ceiling fans were?

[Mjcpr]

OMG....that's worse than tubgirl and buttboy combined!!!

[mrowl]

IBTD

IBUB

and :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Vaevictis]

OMG....that's worse than tubgirl and buttboy combined!!!

Obviously, the horror that is tubgirl has faded from your memory. I suggest you go take another look.

[Dio]

Holy crap!

[skycat]

yipe

[Vaevictis]

You guys referring to the electricity guy, or did you foolishly go look up tubgirl?

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

gvs, you are so frickin lucky i can't moderate this forum.

[skycat]

I didn't expect the bottom post of page one to contain what the bottom post of page one contained upon my viewing of it a moment ago.

I most assuredly will not check to see if it has changed.

[SoonerBorn68]

another meltdown in progress?

[SoonerBorn68]

or perhaps a board suicide?

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

I could have died without seeing that...and been very happy

[mdklatt]

You know how some sites don't like their images linked to and substitute something else when it happens? I think that happened to GrapevineSooner in a horrible, horrible, horrible way.

[Viking Kitten]

Dude. That was so hot.

[Vaevictis]

Okay, I'm seeing it now. Yeah, someone swapped out the pic on Grapevine. It used to point to a picture of the electricity-faq-guy referenced earlier in the thread.

That's why I didn't get what was going on at first -- my browser had the old pic cached until I hit shift-refresh.

(What's sad is, after hanging out on Slashdot back in '01/'02, that pic doesn't even bother me. I've seen much, much, much worse.)

[mdklatt]

GrapevineSooner should be baned for not editing that post by now. :eek:

[StoopTroup]

So that's why they call it Hot-Linking.

[yermom]

GrapevineSooner should be baned for not editing that post by now. :eek:

heh, i so should have read the "PSA Don't Go Here" thread first

he must have gone home or something

someone should PM it to him, he probably hasn't seen it yet :P

[Beano's Fourth Chin]

that was naughty.

[StoopTroup]

Beano...

I'm pretty sure that was "Double Ick".

[tulsaoilerfan]

I believe we have had this conversation before, but I can't remember what the outcome is.

I would really like to know which takes more energy/money.

1) raising the temp inside to 82 while I am gone all day, then dropping it to 78 or 77 when I get home and go to sleep.

2) Leaving it running at 78 all the time.
78???? Are you crazy? Mine stays around 70 or less when it's this freaking hot:D

[StoopTroup]

71-72 here.

[Kimberlyz4OU]

:eek: Okay, so I'm just now recovering from the shock :eek:

and the worst part........my 16 year old son was looking over my shoulder, wow, just wow!!

I did the best I could, I told him it was posted by a horn -

[Stoop Dawg]

Um...this guy says:[/i]

He also says:

"By the way, if your fiancee isn't comfortable unless the temperature is at a meat-locker-like 75 degrees, then you should probably marry somebody else. Thanks for writing!"

:eek:

[SOONER44EVER]

Get a programmable thermostat.
Exactly!

[Grimey]

could someone tell me what happened please? I be confused...

[Vaevictis]

could someone tell me what happened please? I be confused...

The post got deleted, but someone hotlinked to a picture somewhere.

The web server that was hosting the picture took offense to the fact that hotlinking was going on (some people consider this stealing bandwidth) and returned gay porn instead of the picture that was intended.

(and hell, you just know people at work are going to have bosses going "Uh, what were you doing at a site that had the string 'gay porn' in it?")