Ways to use AC efficiently in this heat

[elegantlion]

Our AC works, but I'm trying to not burn it out over the next few days. Our house is a bungalow, still needs some insulation, the attic dormer room is ds's bedroom.

 

So what is the best way to utilize the AC? I had it turned up most of the day so it wouldn't run constantly. I turned it down about an hour ago and it hasn't shut off yet.

 

Should I leave it low to cool the house off in the evening? Should I run it in the early a.m. ahead of the heat wave?

 

When dh isn't here ds and I can tolerate warmer temps during the day. We only have one ceiling fan and plan to add them to bedrooms, but that won't get done this week.

 

We're keeping blinds closed and not cooking (I seldom cook when dh is gone anyway :lol::lol:).

[Susan C.]

When we lived in Texas, it ran all of the time. It was still 95 degrees at midnight, of course it had to run. It is almost as hot here as well. And I can't take the heat. I tried to raise it during the day, but it gets too hot upstairs, and when I relower it in the evening, it doesn't run enough to cool it off upstairs to sleep. So, I prefer to leave it low. It seems to run less that way. An A/C guy even told me it used less power to keep it low. (I do watch doors and squack if they are opened too much to let out my precious cool air). Maybe fans, either ceiling or tower would help?

[elegantlion]

You could just move to Seattle. It's 65 degrees here.

 

Wouldn't a "heat exchange" be good about now?

 

I would probably freeze at 65. :lol::lol:

 

When we lived in Texas, it ran all of the time. It was still 95 degrees at midnight, of course it had to run. It is almost as hot here as well. And I can't take the heat. I tried to raise it during the day, but it gets too hot upstairs, and when I relower it in the evening, it doesn't run enough to cool it off upstairs to sleep. So, I prefer to leave it low. It seems to run less that way. An A/C guy even told me it used less power to keep it low. (I do watch doors and squack if they are opened too much to let out my precious cool air). Maybe fans, either ceiling or tower would help?

 

I wondered about keeping it lower. I let it run last night and the house is nice. It's supposed to be another wiltingly hot day today, so maybe I'll turn it down now and see how long it takes to cool off.

[RahRah]

If your DS could sleep in the living room (or other room) on your main floor, you could close the vents in his room and shut the door, letting that room get warm, while also forcing the cooler air into the vents on your main floor, so it'll take less to keep it cool.

 

If you have windows on the southern exposure, close the blinds and drapes, that will keep some of the warmth from seeping through. You can also do this as the sun moves, starting in the SE side, then southern exposure, then SW, closing one set of window covers, then the next (opening the one no longer in direct sunlight) as the sun moves throughout the day.

 

Since cool air falls, you could place a small fan on the floor to blow upward, near a vent, to keep the air circulating more. Our home has an upper level that can get quite warm and adjusting the thermostat downward to cooler will help, but then the main level and lower level get too cold....so we have a round cyclone fan on the floor at the top of the stairs, on the landing, blowing throughout the day, sucking cool air upstairs from downstairs - it keeps the temperature difference between the two levels about 3-5 degrees instead of 10-12 degrees....a significant difference and it's barely noticeable for noise.

[KatieJ]

My hubby is an engineer and works with A/c stuff at work, so he manages our household utilities to the best of his knowledge. I don't have that knowledge, but I can tell you a couple of things he does.

 

We don't adjust the temp. We just set it where we are comfortable and leave it there all the time. (Unless we are heading out on vacation and then we adjust the settings.)

 

We do have the bathroom vents, unused bedroom vents and all vents in the basement blocked off. Yes, some of them have tape on them.

We have vent covers that direct the air flow out in to the room and not just up behind the drapes. They are plastic covers and available at hardware stores.

 

Cold air falls naturally, so we keep the basement door shut as well.

 

We keep most blinds and drapes shut while the sun is directly on them.

 

Hubby cleans the furnace filters once a month. If they are dirty they don't work as efficiently. Our's is washable, but if your's is not, then replace it once a month.

 

Our DD is in MN and it's really hot there this week. They have had a/c problems with their new house ever since they built it 3 years ago. It just doesn't seem to be adequate for their home. DH told her to run a small sprinkler stream of water over the unit outside to help keep it cool. There is some kind of cone/coil thing in it that he says works better if it is cool. He is doing that with their a/c units at work right now as well. No, we are not doing that at home, but our a/c is appropriate for our house even in these temps.

 

HTH a tad!

[Orthodox6]

You could just move to Seattle. It's 65 degrees here.

 

Wouldn't a "heat exchange" be good about now?

 

You do have a spare room available, right?!

[Orthodox6]

If your DS could sleep in the living room (or other room) on your main floor, you could close the vents in his room and shut the door, letting that room get warm, while also forcing the cooler air into the vents on your main floor, so it'll take less to keep it cool.

 

If you have windows on the southern exposure, close the blinds and drapes, that will keep some of the warmth from seeping through. You can also do this as the sun moves, starting in the SE side, then southern exposure, then SW, closing one set of window covers, then the next (opening the one no longer in direct sunlight) as the sun moves throughout the day.

 

Since cool air falls, you could place a small fan on the floor to blow upward, near a vent, to keep the air circulating more. Our home has an upper level that can get quite warm and adjusting the thermostat downward to cooler will help, but then the main level and lower level get too cold....so we have a round cyclone fan on the floor at the top of the stairs, on the landing, blowing throughout the day, sucking cool air upstairs from downstairs - it keeps the temperature difference between the two levels about 3-5 degrees instead of 10-12 degrees....a significant difference and it's barely noticeable for noise.

 

:iagree: I came back just now to suggest redirecting the vents to keep desired rooms cooler than other rooms where cooling is less essential.

 

Ceiling fans also help.

 

We have two systems, because the house is larger than 2000 sq.f. (repairmen always tell us that builders are obligated to install two systems if the house is larger than that boundary point) The upstairs one we keep cooler because it is closer to the heat source (outside the roof).

[RahRah]

:iagree: I came back just now to suggest redirecting the vents to keep desired rooms cooler than other rooms where cooling is less essential.

 

Ceiling fans also help.

 

We have two systems, because the house is larger than 2000 sq.f. (repairmen always tell us that builders are obligated to install two systems if the house is larger than that boundary point) The upstairs one we keep cooler because it is closer to the heat source (outside the roof).

 

Upstairs our AC vents are actually in the ceiling, blowing down into each room, so that helps. We do also have ceiling fans in each of the bedrooms upstairs, and that helps ALOT. But, we have just one system for the whole house at this point and the HVAC company has suggested we split it into two, with one for upstairs and one for the main and lower levels.

[Mergath]

There are things you can do besides using the AC too, if you don't want to run it too much. We have only a tiny unit in the kitchen, so when I have to go into one of the hotter rooms, I just take a long sock, fill it up with cheap rice and knot the end, throw it in the freezer for a couple hours, and then take it out and wrap it around my neck. Works like a charm and doesn't kill the electric bill.

[AuntieM]

(Hey Mergath, good to see you, seems like it's been a while!)

 

Paula, have you tried reversing the ceiling fan to an updraft position? I'm experimenting with that in our new place. I am very tempted to adjust the thermostat down 5 or 10 degrees (:D), but my dh is also out of town and I would have to fess up when the electricity bill arrives.

 

Hoping this heat really does end soon - my plants are also thirsty, thirsty, thirsty.

[rieshy]

I just resorted to hanging a huge quilt over me little boys west facing large window. I was already keeping the blinds closed but the room was still cooking hot by bedtime. The quilt made a huge difference.

 

I'm also keeping all doors to the outside locked except through the garage. The cool air isn't sucked out as quickly as it is when the den door is opened 4 million times by the kiddos.

[K-FL]

Unless you have cathedral ceilings, changing the fan direction doesn't make much difference. With only one unit to do a 2 story house, you have very limited options. If ds is too warm, he may have to move to the 1st floor for a few nights. Getting more insulation sounds like a "honey-do" that needs to move up the list. If you're getting that much heat now, you're also losing that much in the winter.

 

BTW, unless you have a humi-stat (most people don't) your thermostat just reads temperature, not humidity.

[Desert Rat]

We keep our thermostat at a constant temp. We found that this helps the machine run more efficiently; it doesn't have to work so hard to cool the place down. We have small fans in every. single. room. Seriously. They help loads. We also limit doors opening and closing and have placed weather stripping to all the windows. We live in an older home and the really do need to be replaced. We've also added extra layers to the window facing west in our main living area. It makes the room darker but does help keep it cooler. Also, make sure you change your air filters regularly to help your a/c unit run more efficiently.

We live in the desert so 4 months out of the year we're hot. We've actually been very lucky this year and the heat hasn't been overwhelming. It's coming though.

[AuntieM]

Unless you have cathedral ceilings, changing the fan direction doesn't make much difference. .

 

We do have a cathedral ceiling here. Trying to figure it out. When we first moved in we wondered why the previous residents had the fan set to updraft. We swapped it, and it started blowing down all the warm air - definitely *not* refreshing as a fan should be!

 

We keep our thermostat at a constant temp. We found that this helps the machine run more efficiently; it doesn't have to work so hard to cool the place down.

 

This is my dh's mantra.

[Dobela]

Pay attention to your apliances as well. Running the dish washer and the laundry will add heat and humidity to your home during the hottest parts of the day and make it more difficult to cool your home. Try to do those in the evening or very early morning only. I also unplug everything I can. Anything that needs electricity to run will put out small amounts of heat.

[Margo out of lurking]

..

[BlsdMama]

Does it help you at all to know I just turned on my heater for five minutes because I'm freezing cold and I'd like it to feel like summer for just a little while? :glare:

[elegantlion]

I turned it down a little more today. It seems to shut off for a longer period. It's not so hot today either. We do a lot of the other things already. I don't run the dryer in this heat and the dishwasher runs at night.

 

We have a dehumidifier running in the basement. Our house is small enough we only have 7 vents, including the 2 in ds's room and we're rotate through the rooms most of the day.

 

I like the suggestion of keeping it at one level, which is what we mostly do. This excessive heat has me a little leery of overworking the system though.