What temperature do you keep your AC at?

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ex-khobar Andy
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What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

I ask this because there is a CNN piece which claims that most people set their AC to 72F.
A National Opinion Research Center poll last year asked those who had central AC what temperatures they set their thermostats to during the day and at night. During the day, the most popular answer was 72 degrees. During the night, the most popular answer was 72 degrees.

There's a wide range in the data, with some people going as low as 55 degrees and some going as high as 76 degrees. Indeed, 13% of all of those with central AC said they slept in a temperature of 67 degrees or less during the summer. About 40% to 45% of people indicated that they kept their thermostats above 72 degrees during the day and at night.
What most Americans do agree upon is that having air conditioning is preferable to not having it. A 2019 CBS News poll inquired about whether Americans preferred having the windows open or the windows closed with the AC during a hot summer day. The clear winner was windows closed with the AC on at 65%, compared with 30% who said windows open.
Most of the time I have the AC at 79F or 80F but if it's very humid I might spoil myself and knock it down to 78F. Nightime I might push it up to about 81F. In winter I set the heat mostly to about 68F and let it go down to about 60F at night.

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BoSoxGal
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by BoSoxGal »

The AC unit in my apartment is too small for the square feet so the setting isn’t really relevant. I use it very sparingly, only on the worst of days when I’m immobilized by the heat and it’s really the dew point that is the issue. I’m hoping this summer I can use it much less since going on HRT has increased my heat tolerance.

I set the heat for 58/62 night/day.

I once lived with a guy who wanted to keep the thermostat at 70 year round - mostly so in winter he and his son could walk around in underwear. Honestly not a huge fan of the walking around in underwear anyway, but it’s a thing that especially bugs me because it’s something many people expect as the comfort threshold in winter which is one of the many reasons why we are burning the planet down.

But then I grew up in the energy crisis of the 70s; my father wouldn’t let anyone touch the thermostat and if we complained of the cold he told us to add on another layer. In the summer our only climate control was a box fan - or go down and play in the basement playroom. Nowadays people are soft and selfish. People heat their entire McMansion to 72 degrees when all they really need to warm up is their body and the room where they are on the sofa watching the boob tube.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
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Scooter
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by Scooter »

AC is usually at 24°C (75°F). Heat is usually 22°C (72°F) day and 20°C (68°F) night. But in a condo I am only paying for the electricity to run the fan on the unit, the heating/cooling source is hot/cold water pipes through the building.
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TPFKA@W
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by TPFKA@W »

I like things freakishly cool and hubby learned to live with it. Generally we keep the heat around 52F. I use portable ac units to keep our bedroom and sitting areas cool. We let the rest of the house swelter in summer. Hubby accuses me of being part penguin. We got something in the mail that showed our heating bill ,which is gas, compared and our bill is half the average of our neighborhood.

Big RR
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by Big RR »

I like it cool as well; I usually keep the heat at 64/65 in the winter (it would be lower if I lived alone), maybe 68 if it gets below O degrees F outside; the AC is intermittent, we are on a wooded lot so it is usually cool, but I will make it 75 on very hot days--multi days in the 90s (sure, I'd like it cooler but I am cheap).

Burning Petard
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by Burning Petard »

Put me at the mean/mode. I usually leave it at 72. But turn it off at nite, with a fan running in the bedroom. I have not turned ac on yet, but I have been using the fan. I live in a 3-story masonry apt bldg on the ground floor. I steal lots of heat in the winter from the neighbors and same with coolth in the summer. My 'intelligent' thermostat is currently still set on heat, 62. Probably will change the thermostat to cool function next week. For me, heat and ac is from a heat pump that is part of my monthly electrical bill.

snailgate

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Sue U
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by Sue U »

In summer, 84 day/78 overnight, Winter, 69 day/63 overnight. In the summer our electricity is free thanks to solar panels, but I frankly dislike air conditioning unless the combination of heat and humidity really demands it.
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Jarlaxle
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by Jarlaxle »

76-80, depending on humidity.

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Long Run
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by Long Run »

If we set AC at 72, it will be 66-67, so we set it higher to try to get the house about 70. It was a necessity to allow working from home.

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Crackpot
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by Crackpot »

I keep it at a constant 72 unless it gets really hot or cold at which point I adjust it a couple of degrees accordingly. My house is new enough and insulated well enough that adjusting the temp to much just makes the climate control work harder
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

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Gob
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Re: What temperature do you keep your AC at?

Post by Gob »

Our central heating, (no air con,) is set to come on if the house drops below 16 degrees C.
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