Is is better to leave the central a/c on all day at a certain temp or leave it off and turn it on after work?

Question

Which is more cost effective? Should I just leave the a/c on all day at 75 or leave it off and when I come home from work, turn it on. Which one saves energy? When I leave it on all day, it cycles on and off. When I leave it off, the house reaches 78 deg and it has to cool back down to 75 or 74

Answer 1

Leave it off during the day, energy rates are the highest during peak periods. Also your bill probably contains a baseline for usage in you area, this will put you ahead of the curve and less of a risk that you will have to pay above baseline charges. This is especially true where I live and my provider SCE.

Answer 2

You can adjust the temperature but you don't turn it off. The air will come on only if the house temp goes higher than what you set. If you turn it off and then try to cool the house down later, it will continue to run until it reaches your set temperature. Take into consideration that it is not just about cooling down the air, but the furnishings store the heat as well. 75 is a good temperature for day or night.

Answer 3

If you live in the south where it gets over 90 degrees before sunrise it is a good idea to leave the a/c on as it will take a long time to cool the entire house. (my house was over 110 degrees during the day after the hurricanes 2 years ago) If you live where it is more temperate and doesn't get as hot on a regular basis it is better to turn it off. I was told by an a/c tech that if your house is getting more that 12 degrees hotter than your preferred temp to leave the air running.

Answer 4

Install a programmable thermostat.

It can be set several times a day and for weekends too.

Recommend setting it to a higher temp a couple hours before you leave for work and start back down a 1/2 hr or so so that when you get home it will be cool again.when you hit the sack set it a couple degrees higher. It will save you money in the long run

Answer 5

it actually costs less t leave it run at a certain temp all day than to try to get the whole house up to a comfy temp after you come home from work. Think of it logically, it takes more work for your car to get up to 65 mph but not that much to keep it there.

Make sense?

A programmable thermostat helps with daily sun load fluctuations.

Answer 6

For me, I've lowered my power bill by as much as $75.00 by simply setting it at 82 or 83 while I am gone. If you work up a sweat then it will be easy to cool off by simply adjusting it to 80 when you get home. By the time you go to bed if you have a ceiling fan in your bedroom , USE IT.

Again, for me, I have saved money and I have been very comfortable.

Answer 7

they say to lv the setting on the a/c at 78 degrees 24/7 turning it off and on uses more power keep it at 1 setting all the time.

Answer 8

I've heard it's more energy efficient to leave it on at a certain temp. I don't use c/a though - I like my windows open and ceiling fans turned on!

Answer 9

My husband was an electrician.He maintains that it's much more effective to leave it on all day at a set temp.The reason being...........if your house gets warm the A/C has to work that much harder to cool it down,therefore using more energy.Keeping the house cool at all times is much more cost effective.
It's also more effective to leave it set at one temp at all times,day and night.
Hope this helps you.

Answer 10

Is is more cost effective to leave it on and draw the blinds , that way you are not having to cool all the objects in your house that warmed to the ambient temperature all over again , best to leave it on..