The A/C on a hot day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the thing though, we try to keep our house cool also -
- all blinds are shut in the day time

This doesn't really help keep the house cool. Once the sunlight is through the glass, it is converted to heat. It hits the inside of the blinds, heats the blinds, and the heat is distributed into the room. It does make it more comfortable for someone who would otherwise sit in the sunshine.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have ceiling fans in all bedrooms

This doesn't cool the house either, but does make it feel cooler under the fan and help distribute the cooling.

Anonymous wrote:
- we got great insulation added in our attic

This is probably the biggest thing you can do to improve comfort and efficiency.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have a whole house fan

This can help in cooling the house down in the evening. But you have to be careful. First, the fan itself has to be thoughtfully installed so it doesn't leak when it's not running. Second, you have to keep an eye on the dew point as well as the temperature. If the dew point outside is higher than inside you will be pulling in humidity which lowers your comfort.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have attic fans not only on the roof of our house, but also we got one installed on the roof of our attached garage. The difference that the attic fans and the extra-extra insulation made is phenomenal.

Attic fans are a terrible idea. They depressurize the attic and end up drawing air from inside the house into the attic. This ends up making your air conditioning work harder. Also, the purpose of attic venting isn't to cool the attic, it's to prevent humidity from accumulating in the attic. The humidity that gets into the attic is coming from inside the house. Pulling more interior air into the attic is actually defeating the purpose of the attic venting.

Anonymous wrote:

Finally, keep your AC unit clean outdoors. Watch YouTube videos to see the DIY.

Indoors too! Change the filters regularly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the thing though, we try to keep our house cool also -
- all blinds are shut in the day time

This doesn't really help keep the house cool. Once the sunlight is through the glass, it is converted to heat. It hits the inside of the blinds, heats the blinds, and the heat is distributed into the room. It does make it more comfortable for someone who would otherwise sit in the sunshine.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have ceiling fans in all bedrooms

This doesn't cool the house either, but does make it feel cooler under the fan and help distribute the cooling.

Anonymous wrote:
- we got great insulation added in our attic

This is probably the biggest thing you can do to improve comfort and efficiency.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have a whole house fan

This can help in cooling the house down in the evening. But you have to be careful. First, the fan itself has to be thoughtfully installed so it doesn't leak when it's not running. Second, you have to keep an eye on the dew point as well as the temperature. If the dew point outside is higher than inside you will be pulling in humidity which lowers your comfort.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have attic fans not only on the roof of our house, but also we got one installed on the roof of our attached garage. The difference that the attic fans and the extra-extra insulation made is phenomenal.

Attic fans are a terrible idea. They depressurize the attic and end up drawing air from inside the house into the attic. This ends up making your air conditioning work harder. Also, the purpose of attic venting isn't to cool the attic, it's to prevent humidity from accumulating in the attic. The humidity that gets into the attic is coming from inside the house. Pulling more interior air into the attic is actually defeating the purpose of the attic venting.

Anonymous wrote:

Finally, keep your AC unit clean outdoors. Watch YouTube videos to see the DIY.

Indoors too! Change the filters regularly.

Keeping blinds and drapes closed helps keep the house cooler for the same reason insulation keeps the house cooler. It reduces heat loss so the air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard for the same benefit. Windows the are the biggest heat loss in any house.

[Anonymous]

We have a split level and our AC struggles on the top floor. Opening doors and having fans running in the three rooms on that floor has helped a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the thing though, we try to keep our house cool also -
- all blinds are shut in the day time

This doesn't really help keep the house cool. Once the sunlight is through the glass, it is converted to heat. It hits the inside of the blinds, heats the blinds, and the heat is distributed into the room. It does make it more comfortable for someone who would otherwise sit in the sunshine.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have ceiling fans in all bedrooms

This doesn't cool the house either, but does make it feel cooler under the fan and help distribute the cooling.

Anonymous wrote:
- we got great insulation added in our attic

This is probably the biggest thing you can do to improve comfort and efficiency.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have a whole house fan

This can help in cooling the house down in the evening. But you have to be careful. First, the fan itself has to be thoughtfully installed so it doesn't leak when it's not running. Second, you have to keep an eye on the dew point as well as the temperature. If the dew point outside is higher than inside you will be pulling in humidity which lowers your comfort.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have attic fans not only on the roof of our house, but also we got one installed on the roof of our attached garage. The difference that the attic fans and the extra-extra insulation made is phenomenal.

Attic fans are a terrible idea. They depressurize the attic and end up drawing air from inside the house into the attic. This ends up making your air conditioning work harder. Also, the purpose of attic venting isn't to cool the attic, it's to prevent humidity from accumulating in the attic. The humidity that gets into the attic is coming from inside the house. Pulling more interior air into the attic is actually defeating the purpose of the attic venting.

Anonymous wrote:

Finally, keep your AC unit clean outdoors. Watch YouTube videos to see the DIY.

Indoors too! Change the filters regularly.

Keeping blinds and drapes closed helps keep the house cooler for the same reason insulation keeps the house cooler. It reduces heat loss so the air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard for the same benefit. Windows the are the biggest heat loss in any house.

Agree that windows are the biggest heat loss in any house. They're also the biggest heat gain in the summer. Blinds don't act like insulation because they have no insulation value. They also allow air to circulate freely so they don't prevent air leaking in, which is a major loss at windows.

But the biggest heat gain from windows in the summer is solar gain, and blinds do nothing to prevent that. The light is already through the glass by the time it hits the blinds and there's no place for the heat it brings to go but into the room. If you're sitting in the room it's more comfortable to not have the light shine directly on you, but the air conditioner doesn't work any less hard. Shutters on the outside, blocking the sunlight from going through the glass at all, are effective. So are awings and even trees.

[Anonymous]

Make sure the dampers are in the correct position for summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t want to let it warm up. If you have the temp set on the tstat to fluctuate a lot, it will run forever to cool the house back down on hot days. Better to set it at a consistent temperature +/- 2 degrees rather than +/- 6 degrees

During hot summer days, do not let the indoor temperature rise very much, because keeping it at a comfortable temperature is less work (also less electricity and less $$$) than letting it warm up and then try to cool it significantly.

If you have a programmable thermostat (e.g., with different settings for sleep, wake, morning, and away), then double-check how all of those various settings, including the time of day for each, are configured.

In winter, we let our indoor temperature rise naturally with sunlight through the windows during the day, because we know it will cool naturally after dark. In summer, by contrast, we keep the inside no warmer than 72F, which is our personal comfort level.

[Anonymous]

my ac is struggling and running 24/7 in this heat but I think it's to be expected since heat index has been 109+ last few days. It runs non-stop and it's about 73 in here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the thing though, we try to keep our house cool also -
- all blinds are shut in the day time

This doesn't really help keep the house cool. Once the sunlight is through the glass, it is converted to heat. It hits the inside of the blinds, heats the blinds, and the heat is distributed into the room. It does make it more comfortable for someone who would otherwise sit in the sunshine.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have ceiling fans in all bedrooms

This doesn't cool the house either, but does make it feel cooler under the fan and help distribute the cooling.

Anonymous wrote:
- we got great insulation added in our attic

This is probably the biggest thing you can do to improve comfort and efficiency.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have a whole house fan

This can help in cooling the house down in the evening. But you have to be careful. First, the fan itself has to be thoughtfully installed so it doesn't leak when it's not running. Second, you have to keep an eye on the dew point as well as the temperature. If the dew point outside is higher than inside you will be pulling in humidity which lowers your comfort.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have attic fans not only on the roof of our house, but also we got one installed on the roof of our attached garage. The difference that the attic fans and the extra-extra insulation made is phenomenal.

Attic fans are a terrible idea. They depressurize the attic and end up drawing air from inside the house into the attic. This ends up making your air conditioning work harder. Also, the purpose of attic venting isn't to cool the attic, it's to prevent humidity from accumulating in the attic. The humidity that gets into the attic is coming from inside the house. Pulling more interior air into the attic is actually defeating the purpose of the attic venting.

Anonymous wrote:

Finally, keep your AC unit clean outdoors. Watch YouTube videos to see the DIY.

Indoors too! Change the filters regularly.

Keeping blinds and drapes closed helps keep the house cooler for the same reason insulation keeps the house cooler. It reduces heat loss so the air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard for the same benefit. Windows the are the biggest heat loss in any house.

Agree that windows are the biggest heat loss in any house. They're also the biggest heat gain in the summer. Blinds don't act like insulation because they have no insulation value. They also allow air to circulate freely so they don't prevent air leaking in, which is a major loss at windows.

But the biggest heat gain from windows in the summer is solar gain, and blinds do nothing to prevent that. The light is already through the glass by the time it hits the blinds and there's no place for the heat it brings to go but into the room. If you're sitting in the room it's more comfortable to not have the light shine directly on you, but the air conditioner doesn't work any less hard. Shutters on the outside, blocking the sunlight from going through the glass at all, are effective. So are awings and even trees.

Cellular shades act as insulation though.

[Anonymous]

76 is. perfectly reasonable temperature indoors when it's 100 degrees outdoor. Are there really people out there who keep their house at 70 degrees in the summer? Who are you and why do you do this? How terrible for the environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the thing though, we try to keep our house cool also -
- all blinds are shut in the day time

This doesn't really help keep the house cool. Once the sunlight is through the glass, it is converted to heat. It hits the inside of the blinds, heats the blinds, and the heat is distributed into the room. It does make it more comfortable for someone who would otherwise sit in the sunshine.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have ceiling fans in all bedrooms

This doesn't cool the house either, but does make it feel cooler under the fan and help distribute the cooling.

Anonymous wrote:
- we got great insulation added in our attic

This is probably the biggest thing you can do to improve comfort and efficiency.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have a whole house fan

This can help in cooling the house down in the evening. But you have to be careful. First, the fan itself has to be thoughtfully installed so it doesn't leak when it's not running. Second, you have to keep an eye on the dew point as well as the temperature. If the dew point outside is higher than inside you will be pulling in humidity which lowers your comfort.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have attic fans not only on the roof of our house, but also we got one installed on the roof of our attached garage. The difference that the attic fans and the extra-extra insulation made is phenomenal.

Attic fans are a terrible idea. They depressurize the attic and end up drawing air from inside the house into the attic. This ends up making your air conditioning work harder. Also, the purpose of attic venting isn't to cool the attic, it's to prevent humidity from accumulating in the attic. The humidity that gets into the attic is coming from inside the house. Pulling more interior air into the attic is actually defeating the purpose of the attic venting.

Anonymous wrote:

Finally, keep your AC unit clean outdoors. Watch YouTube videos to see the DIY.

Indoors too! Change the filters regularly.

Keeping blinds and drapes closed helps keep the house cooler for the same reason insulation keeps the house cooler. It reduces heat loss so the air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard for the same benefit. Windows the are the biggest heat loss in any house.

Agree that windows are the biggest heat loss in any house. They're also the biggest heat gain in the summer. Blinds don't act like insulation because they have no insulation value. They also allow air to circulate freely so they don't prevent air leaking in, which is a major loss at windows.

But the biggest heat gain from windows in the summer is solar gain, and blinds do nothing to prevent that. The light is already through the glass by the time it hits the blinds and there's no place for the heat it brings to go but into the room. If you're sitting in the room it's more comfortable to not have the light shine directly on you, but the air conditioner doesn't work any less hard. Shutters on the outside, blocking the sunlight from going through the glass at all, are effective. So are awings and even trees.

Cellular shades act as insulation though.

+1 There was a noticeable difference in our heating and cooling bills after installing cellular shades. And ours were just from Home Depot, they weren't anything fancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:76 is. perfectly reasonable temperature indoors when it's 100 degrees outdoor. Are there really people out there who keep their house at 70 degrees in the summer? Who are you and why do you do this? How terrible for the environment.

Unless you’re not using your AC at all you’re hypocritical knocking others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:76 is. perfectly reasonable temperature indoors when it's 100 degrees outdoor. Are there really people out there who keep their house at 70 degrees in the summer? Who are you and why do you do this? How terrible for the environment.

F ck off. The difference between 76 and 70 is negligible, especially if the 70F house has better insulation and a heat pump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the thing though, we try to keep our house cool also -
- all blinds are shut in the day time

This doesn't really help keep the house cool. Once the sunlight is through the glass, it is converted to heat. It hits the inside of the blinds, heats the blinds, and the heat is distributed into the room. It does make it more comfortable for someone who would otherwise sit in the sunshine.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have ceiling fans in all bedrooms

This doesn't cool the house either, but does make it feel cooler under the fan and help distribute the cooling.

Anonymous wrote:
- we got great insulation added in our attic

This is probably the biggest thing you can do to improve comfort and efficiency.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have a whole house fan

This can help in cooling the house down in the evening. But you have to be careful. First, the fan itself has to be thoughtfully installed so it doesn't leak when it's not running. Second, you have to keep an eye on the dew point as well as the temperature. If the dew point outside is higher than inside you will be pulling in humidity which lowers your comfort.

Anonymous wrote:
- we have attic fans not only on the roof of our house, but also we got one installed on the roof of our attached garage. The difference that the attic fans and the extra-extra insulation made is phenomenal.

Attic fans are a terrible idea. They depressurize the attic and end up drawing air from inside the house into the attic. This ends up making your air conditioning work harder. Also, the purpose of attic venting isn't to cool the attic, it's to prevent humidity from accumulating in the attic. The humidity that gets into the attic is coming from inside the house. Pulling more interior air into the attic is actually defeating the purpose of the attic venting.

Anonymous wrote:

Finally, keep your AC unit clean outdoors. Watch YouTube videos to see the DIY.

Indoors too! Change the filters regularly.

Keeping blinds and drapes closed helps keep the house cooler for the same reason insulation keeps the house cooler. It reduces heat loss so the air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard for the same benefit. Windows the are the biggest heat loss in any house.

Agree that windows are the biggest heat loss in any house. They're also the biggest heat gain in the summer. Blinds don't act like insulation because they have no insulation value. They also allow air to circulate freely so they don't prevent air leaking in, which is a major loss at windows.

But the biggest heat gain from windows in the summer is solar gain, and blinds do nothing to prevent that. The light is already through the glass by the time it hits the blinds and there's no place for the heat it brings to go but into the room. If you're sitting in the room it's more comfortable to not have the light shine directly on you, but the air conditioner doesn't work any less hard. Shutters on the outside, blocking the sunlight from going through the glass at all, are effective. So are awings and even trees.

Cellular shades act as insulation though.

+1 There was a noticeable difference in our heating and cooling bills after installing cellular shades. And ours were just from Home Depot, they weren't anything fancy.

Agree -- at our house adding basic cellular shades reduced the electric bill.

[Anonymous]

Our a/c keeps up, but they're are definitely zones in the house that are warmer or cooler than where the thermostat is located. Upstairs is warmer, basement is cooler, front room with big southwest-facing windows is warmer than the back rooms with lots of shade from backyard trees. The differences are more exaggerated on days when the a/c is running hard. So some rooms might be noticeably warmer on the really hot days, but other rooms will be even cooler than normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:76 is. perfectly reasonable temperature indoors when it's 100 degrees outdoor. Are there really people out there who keep their house at 70 degrees in the summer? Who are you and why do you do this? How terrible for the environment.

F ck off. The difference between 76 and 70 is negligible, especially if the 70F house has better insulation and a heat pump.

+1. And sorry PP, I can’t sleep if it’s more than 72.