Should you always leave the air conditioner on?

Question

Is it cheaper to leave the air on all day at a consistent temp or just turn it on when you need it?

Answer 1

Not necessarily.

Facts affecting Air Conditioning (AC) Power Use
· Heat loss or gain is directly proportional to the square of the difference in temperature on two sides of the material be it a wall or window
· So, if the temperature difference is 20 degrees, say 72 inside and 92 outside, it will transfer 4 times as much heat compared to a 10 degree temperature difference.
· If you turn off the AC or set the thermostat to a higher temperature, the temperature difference will be reduced saving power, fuel and money.
· The down side to this approach is that when you come home and the house is hot, it will take a while for the AC to catch up and you may be uncomfortable during that time.
· A fix to the wait for the AC to cool things off is a programmable thermostat, available at home centers, that will raise the set point and then lower it again at times you program in so it can increase the temp soon after you leave for work and bring it back down say a half hour before you normally get home.
· Take into consideration pets, plants and other things that may be sensitive to high temperatures. 78 degrees should not hurt anything thing.

Answer 2

Actually if there is no one there to enjoy the coolness why run the electricity. Programable thermostat turn on my A/C at 78 degrees 5:00 pm and that cools it down from 82 maxium set temp during the day and at night I cut it back to 80 degrees. celing fans in every room to move air around helps too. Compact floresent light bulbs in every socket foresent flood lights outside. Burning coal to power my house is just wrong. Texas should use natural Gas. But the pipeline travels up to the north east. New York has lower energy natural gas prices than Texas. They make Gasoline in Texas and I still pay 319 a gallon for premium 93 octane. I am almost as mad as heck and I am not going to take this much longer.

Answer 3

We recently got a house, & experimented both ways. Our bill was SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper just leaving it at one temperature all the time. Turns out that it takes a lot more energy to kick back on & get the whole place cool again, than it would be just to leave it constantly going on the same setting. If there's a day that gets hotter than normal just compensate with fans. Your checking account will thank you.

Answer 4

Its best to leave it on. Because its summer your house will be hot so if you turn off the a/c while you are out it will have to work twice as hard to cool the house down when you return. It will also be alot cheaper to leave it on all day than to keep switching it on and off.

Answer 5

What is cheaper is to purchase a programmable thermostat where the temp is warmer when you are away and then will cool it to your setting when your come home. Think they run $40 to $50 but it will pay for itself. Stay cool!!!!!

Answer 6

Purchase a programmable Thermostat , follow installation instructions not all that hard , or maybe have a friend who is mechanically inclined a little . This can save you a lot of money .

Answer 7

I actually leave mines, on's all day, and into the evening, but I cut it off just before going to bed. I don't like to wake up cold.

Answer 8

Leave it on, it will take extra energy to cool the furniture again, just turn it down or up, less cooling while no one is home. Turn it back up or down, up meaning more cooling,down mean cooler, get my drift?

Answer 9

If your home insulation is good condition .set up temperature on 70*F and do not leave windows and doors open for long time.you'll save money in electric bill ,try it.

Answer 10

you air conditioner turns off when the temperature is good so there would be no point to turn it off