Air Conditioner temp?

[Russ_Boston]

I've been told by many people who have retired south that they end up setting their air temp a lot higher than the did when up north. One friend says he used to do 72 up north but lives with it at 79 down in south Georgia.

What do you set it at and how much of a difference does it make in the $$?

[F16 1UB]

I've been told by many people who have retired south that they end up setting their air temp a lot higher than the did when up north. One friend says he used to do 72 up north but lives with it at 79 down in south Georgia.

What do you set it at and how much of a difference does it make in the $$?


Sorry Russ but I have to laugh on this one. Some days my wife would have the t-stat down to 72 in the summer and cranked up to 80 in the winter. Also her vocabulary does not include any such words related to conservation unless it's on sale for 50% off. Of course then there's a 22.5% interest rate on the charge card. Such is life. ;D

Steve

[Avista]

The book we got with our house suggests leaving the a/c at 78 degrees. We have done this. Never touched it day or night. We have been very comfortable.

[bamafan]

Having lived in the south, Florida & Alabama, all my life I can say that its the humidity that makes you feel so much hotter. A/C systems are designed to remove or regulate the amount of humidity in the air in your home. They will also only drop the temp @ 20degrees from what the outside temp is. So if it is 98 outside you may only get 78 inside lest the unit runs all day till it catches up. Insulation is the key.
We have our t/stat set on 76/77 during the day. My problem seems to be at nite. I have a programable tstat that I've set to drop 1 degree at 3:30am so the air will come on and keep me cool while asleep. At 8am it goes back to the day time setting. I have talked to one friend in TV who told me they set their tstat on 79 during the day while they are out, she works, he plays golf. They turn it down in the evening to about 75/76 and they have a very low power bill.

Steve, your wife and mine must be related.

[villager99]

my comfort zone has definately shifted from the low to the high 70's as i transitioned from a northerner to a snowbirder and now a floridian fultime. not sure how much money difference there is for a/c costs but
i do keep all ceiling fans going 24/7 to keep air circulating.
p.s. some of the village's printouts pertain to being sure to leave a/c units on if you're away all summer so that humidity doesn't build up.

[villages07]

We leave ours set at 78 all the time and find it very comfortable...probably was set at 75 or 76 'up north'; another difference for many of us is the uniformity of cooling a single level home vs a multilevel home. My 3 story home up north was freezing in the basement, comfortable in the main level, and stuffy/warm (even under a ceiling fan) in the upstairs bedroom level.

I just got an electric bill for the past 30 days (many days of 95+) and it was $130 for a 2000 sq ft house; I do have gas for HWH, dryer, and cooking so cost for an all electric house might be higher. I thought this was extremely reasonable for hottest month of a Florida summer.

[darbyduff]

Ok, I do not understand (and I'm not afraid to admit it)

Do you keep the air conditioning on ALL winter???? Are there any days where you do not have the furnace on (is there one???) nor the air conditioning? I have never lived South of E-470 in Colorado so I have no idea!!!

We have had the summer from HELL this year and we don't have an air conditioner. (It was a little dicey some nights but we live in the rec. room in the basement) When we were there in March (for 3 days) we about froze our :edit: off. (This was the weekend of the Chili Cook Off and it rained)

Thanks all

[villages07]

DD ... here's our experience so far; we didn't come full time til last November, so I'm not sure how October will go. We pretty much turned on our A/C in late May and expect to use it continuously til mid-late Oct, then maybe off and on till mid Nov; From mid-Nov til early May, no A/C (unless we get a short hot spell) and really no heat (I think we turned our heat on a total of 14 days last 'winter'); Humidity levels go way down after the summer rainy season until they re-emerge in April/May so no problem with leaving both heat and A/C off;

During warmer days in winter/spring, the house might warm up during the day, but, air it out after sunset and it cooled down quickly for comfortable sleeping. Guess it all depends on your comfort level, but, so far, I have been pleased with the heat/ac costs.

[coach]

Just found this site and really like it. Good comments from all. We keep our AC at78 with ceiling fans running in LR & BR. House stays very nice. The greatest time is about Oct/Nov & March/April/May. These months we run no air & no heat. We have screen sliders on our garage, so with the garage door open with sliders closed and glass sliders open to the lanai, we get a real breeze coming thru the house. We love it

[darbyduff]

Thanks Coach!! And welcome to TOTV!!! :welcome: :welcome: We're all really friendly here...!!!

[golfnut]

Put us down for 79, bump it up to 81 when we're out bummin' around which is most of the time.

[JUREK]

Remmember temp is not as important as getting the humidity out. If you are a snowbird or occasional visitor be sure to install a humidistat.. Ace Hardware carries them :bigthumbsup:

[bamafan]

What is a humidistat? What does it do? How much?

[Russ_Boston]

A humidistat measures/controls the humidity in the air. It is to humidity like a thermometer/thermostat is for temperature.

You can get the type that measure both indoor and outdoor. (using two separate sensors of course).

Price is anywhere from real cheap (just a few dollars) to as much as many hundred if you buy a complete weather station which also can measure rain and wind. I have one at my home in MA which measures outside temp, humidity, pressure both inside and outside and costs less than $70 (it is all digital and remote). I think i got it at Target.

A humidistat will be installed in the AC unit which will remove the humidity. With the meter mentioned above you can monitor the readings.

[JUREK]

Russ:

You are correct. I picked mine up at Ace. I don't care about temp I'm more concerned about humidity. I'm in the Villages every 2-3 months but when I'm gone I turn the humidistat on about 55%-60%. :bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup:

[Ice Cold]

Humidistats are old technology that cause too many problems. They works by overriding your thermostat and if set incorrectly can easily freeze up your inside coil and cause service issues. It is absolutley correct that humidity plays a big factor in your comfort level. I can be 70 degrees and if you have high humidity levels it will make you feel clammy. I would suggest an all in one themostat. honeywell makes a touch screen programmable thermostat that have humidity functions built in. very user freindly

[bamafan]

So what you guys are saying is that a humidistat takes the place of or overides the system thermostat? Living in the south now I hate humidity.

[golfnut]

Company that installed my HVAC said that if we're gone in the summer to install a humidistat and don't worry about temp in summer, humidistat will keep it at the right humidity which is what causes problems. They installed my humidistat for under $150 total.