2006-06-15 12:47:33 · 13 answers · asked by Karina 1 in Environment
Leaving it on all day certainly uses more electricity. When you leave it on, you are using energy to maintain a temperature gradient between the outside and inside of your home. If you leave the AC off during the day the temperature gradient goes towards an equilibrium. Even though your house is now warmer than it would have been, it takes less electricity to cool the house down to the desired temperature.
This is essentially a result of the 2nd law of thermodynamics because you have to do work in order to maintain a temperature gradient.
2006-06-15 12:53:53 · answer #1 · answered by professional student 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Our A/C guy tells me that it uses much more electricity if you turn it off during the day because then it has to run much longer to cool it down to a comfortable temperature at night, and it also reduces the lifespan of your AC unit. We have temperatures in the mid-90s here already and setting it to 80-82 when we're not home has reduced our power use and electricity expenses.
2006-06-15 14:25:12 · answer #2 · answered by ladylady 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The total energy is generally the same. Leaving it on uses a little bit of energy at a time. Turning it on & off uses all that energy at once to re-cool the house. Technically turning it on & off uses a little bit more energy, because it takes extra energy to START the air conditioner. More efficient air conditioners don't use as much energy to start.
2006-06-17 11:19:54 · answer #3 · answered by www.FreeDebtConsultation.ubb.cc 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What would make you fatter, eating all day long or eating only when you are hungry? The principal is the same. In addition to that it is normally hotter during the day so the AC will have to stay on longer to maintain your temperature setting. At night temperatures are falling anyway so your AC will have to cool the room down by fewer degrees and thus it will spend less time maintaining your room at the desired level.
2006-06-15 13:06:06 · answer #4 · answered by Thirst Quencher 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Turning it back on when you get home. In order for the thermostat to regulate itself, it will have to work twice as hard to re-cool once it's switched back on. Once it reaches the desired temp, then it will go on and off as needed to maintain the temp you want.
If you turn it down (or up say from 74 to 78 degrees) to save energy as opposed to turning it off completely, it won't have to work as hard and you will conserve energy during the day.
2006-06-15 12:54:50 · answer #5 · answered by hollice70 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Leaving it on uses more energy. AC units pretty much run flat out when they are on no matter what the inside/outside temperature. The insulation or lack thereof will do more to use/ conserve energy.
2006-06-16 06:55:55 · answer #6 · answered by 1crazypj 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Turning it off uses more power, because the air conditioner has to work overtime to bring the room temperature back down....however if left on, the room is already cool so its effortless to keep it cool :)
2006-06-15 12:55:05 · answer #7 · answered by WyattEarp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends, but usually leaving it on for more than a few hours is worse. If you leave for 4 days, turn it off, for 4 hours, leave it on.
2006-06-15 12:51:09 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
From my personal experiences, in general, leaving it on uses more energy.
However it also depends on the environment the aiconditioniner has to operate in, and the type of airconditioning system. but all in all, it is better to switch it off in a domestic environment and use it only when needed.
2006-06-15 19:41:38 · answer #9 · answered by Prosper O 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Leaving it on. Not only uses more electicity but uses up our resources like fossil fuels. Bad for the environment.
2006-06-15 12:53:56 · answer #10 · answered by lyndi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋