Is it better to leave an air conditioneron all the time at a constant temp. or to turn it off when not needed?

Answer 1

You should NOT turn it off. You should turn the thermostat up.

Let's say the outside temp is going to be 92 F. If you turn your A/C unit off, the whole house heats up to 92 before you get home. In the hottest part of the day, you arrive home, and your A/C has to work extra hard when you turn it on. Keep in mind, the ENTIRE house will be hot, not just the air. The floors, the ceilings, the walls...all of this material will be at 92 degrees. It take a HUGE amount of energy to cool all of this back down.

You are much better off turning your thermostat up to 82 or so when you leave the house, then turning it back down when you get home.

Answer 2

Off is off,not using anything.If the constant temp is comfortable all the time then its cheaper to leave it rather than try to cool it all down again.Me I beleive in fresh air anytime so if its cool out off it goes and windows get opened untill I get uncomfortable then close windows and go with the air but it usually takes less then 30 minutes to be at the previous comfort level, so it really depends on your space.Each house is different no matter what the experts say.lol.

Answer 3

Leave it on! If you turn it off, the house could heat up during the day and when you finally turn it on, it has to work much harder to bring the area down to a comfortable cooling level. Hence, and increase in electric cost. A good idea is too bump the temp. up just a little before you walk out the door. This way it is not running all day and does not have to work so hard when you get back home.

Answer 4

So what type of air conditioner do you have? If it is a window unit turn it off when you aren't home or using that room. If you have central air with a heat pump outside, keep it at a constant temperature or it will burn up a lot of money trying to catch up and cool the entire house all at once. You can turn it off at night and use a fan if you want but you won't be saving much.

Answer 5

Leaving it at a constant temp wastes electricity. If your system is properly designed, you can save 10-15% on your bill with a programmable thermostat. That will automatically change your temp setting. It is not hard to replace your old thermostat with the new one. For more about thermostats check out my source.

Answer 6

If your concern is saving money consider getting a programable thermostat. Bring the temp down when you are there and leave it a bit higher when you are not.
Good Luck!

Answer 7

it is best to leave the a/c on a constant temperature it saves on electric leave it on around 78 they say is the best.. turn ceiling fans off every day on only for a few hours either morning or night..

Answer 8

It is better to turn it off when not needed because it will save electricity. Leaving it on will drain power for the temperature sensor.

Answer 9

that really depends on how your place is insulated. how big the stablisment is.

you see malls dont shut off the cooling system after mall hours. they are set in a minimum then fired up in the morning before it opens.

however if we're talking about a small room that gets cooled in 10-15min then better shut it off.

Answer 10

I believe if it will be off for 4 hours or more, then it will be an advantage as far as cost savings. That's just a rough estimate, it also depends on the size of the house, or total area that is being cooled.