Poll: What do you set your AC at in the summer?

[Kay in Cal]

We spent several weeks this summer at my in-laws. I love them so much... but I was so uncomfortable the whole time. They have a huge house (I'm sure expensive to cool), and keep thier AC set a 82. At night my dh would sneak out and change the thermostat for our room a few degrees (it has zoned cooling, so we could just affect the guest rooms), then turn it down in the morning again. Virginia is so hot and humid anyways... we really enjoyed the week at my mom's house--her AC was set to 65.

 

Now we are home and as we pack (or avoid packing--I'm working on boxing school stuff so the computer is in this room) our AC is set to 69.

So I'm curious... what do you set your temp to in the summer? Are we the weird cold people, or is 82 too hot for most of us?

 

I think our thermostat averages around 70, sometimes lower if we are being very active. Of course, in winter we only turn the heat on if it gets below 60 or so in the house (not often, here in So Cal).

[Jenny in Florida]

When I turn my back, though, my husband keeps turning it down to 77 or 78.

[kaylk in tx]

at night, 77-78 (i think... dh is in charge of this one because he can't sleep if he's too hot)

 

day, 82 until i start "flashing" and then i turn it down to 80. we're here in houston so setting it any lower would make our already too large electric bill enormous!

 

:D

[Snickerdoodle]

We wear sweaters most of the summer.

[Aubrey]

:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:

[Snickerdoodle]

Are you laughing at me? Because it's sad but true. We also rejoice when there is sunshine mostly because we can't remember what it's like between times.

[Parrothead]

I missed the "air conditioning, what's air conditioning" choice. That would apply where we live now. When we lived in areas that A/C was a must it was set at 72* and the heck with the cost.

[jonesloonybin]

I try to keep it at 73 during the day..but if I am really cleaning or doing something else that makes me hot I will turn it down to 71. At night it is at 69. But I have to have it colder at night. I can only sleep with big heavy covers. I cannot sleep with just a sheet or something light. I am trying to change but before this we lived in Maine and before that Oregon...both places that the big cover thing worked...now I am trying to adjust to the warmer NC weather....but I don't think this is going to be our "forever" home...I just cannot take the heat! (or the bugs! lol )

[nukeswife]

When we lived in Jacksonville FL we kept it set at 76-78 even in the depths of summer. The house we rented had poured concrete walls instead of stick construction so that helped a lot. I noticed when visiting my mom in WI that there's was always at 72 even if the temps weren't as hot as they were in FL.

 

Here in Hampton Roads VA, we keep it set at 74 but a few weeks ago we had a real hot spell and had to bump it to 72 just to be able to be somewhat comfortable.

 

I would have to say here if we kept this house at 82 we'd all sweat away to nothing. Now if someone can convince me that sweating is the way to loose the 30lbs I want to loose and not have it come back, then I'll crank that thermostat to 82 !:lol:

[Sahamamama]

I put 72-75, because that's where my hubby sets it, but during the day when he's at work, it can go higher, I don't care.

 

We live in New Jersey, so the summers are pretty humid. Lately, though, we've had some relatively cooler weather and nice breezes, prompting me to "open up" the house. But I "close it down" about an hour before hubby comes home, turn the AC to 72, and by the time he's home, it's cool enough so he doesn't MELT. ;)

 

I think that if HE had HIS way, it'd be at 65 or something. Maybe lower. :D

[Prairie~Phlox]

We keep ours at 77, although we would all like it a little cooler, this helps keep the bills down. Actually the last few weeks it's been nice enough out, so the monthly bill shouldn't be too bad.

 

Phlox

[JudoMom]

We don't have central air, but do have a window unit in our bedroom. It's set at 73 and only turned on for sleeping.

[Melissa in FL]

Ok, we are in sunny FL. We have duel air, one unit on each side of the house. The side that our kitchen and rest of living area are in, we keep at either 81-82. When money was tight I kept it at 86, and once in the while if it gets too humid I'll turn it down to 79-80ish. On the bedroom side we keep it at 78, sometimes at night my dh will turn it down to 77 (he tends to get hot in bed! LOL). We are very aware of the sun coming in the house and close the drapes of windows that let the sun in (we do the opposite in the winter). We just put in R22 insulation in both attic spaces this spring and that is what has let me lower the air.

 

The people who lived in this house before us kept the air about 70 (which would mean it would run without breaks during the day) and their electric bills were always in the $500-$600 range in the summer. Our highest bill since living here was just touching $300, and that was only once, last August. I can do a lot with that two hundred dollar difference. If my kids are to hot (like they were the summer before last when money was very tight) we have a pool they can go into and cool off.

HTH

Melissa

[kls126s]

I put 72-75, because that's where my hubby sets it, but during the day when he's at work, it can go higher, I don't care.

 

Exactly my situation. It's on about 72 whenever dh is home, unless he bumps it down to 70 thinking I won't notice. When he's gone, I either turn it off or bump it up to at least 76 or 77. The kids are outside playing and sweating anyway, so it's not like they are going to complain. I have an afghan I keep on the couch year round because I'm usually cold when dh is home. Doesn't make sense to me to pay to be too cold, but... :001_huh:

 

To his defense he does have pretty bad allergies so having windows open, even in nice weather, tends to set him off and make him miserable.

[Guest]

Just sitting here on the forum: 80-82

Start moving around: 78

Cleaning: 76

Night: 80 (and dh complains it's too cold!)

 

We had a similar experience recently - we live in the desert, so we don't really have a choice whether or not to run the air. We visited my family in CA and their house was 96 (and humid). We. Were. Dying. She told us how much it costs to run their air, even for a bit and I can't blame her. Just a little costs more than double us running ours constantly. (Same size house, too!) People complain about the heat here in AZ - I love it because I can justify running the a/c constantly! :D

[sleepy]

We usually set ours at around 70 degrees. 82 degrees is the kind of heat I'm trying to avoid.

 

I'm pretty sure your mom's house (65 degrees) is called Heaven. :D

 

Good to see you around, Kay. Hope all's well .

[Jugglin'5]

Yeah, DH and I have constant AC wars, he wants it 68, I want it 76, so it is usually somewhere in the middle. What's funny is that in the winter he wants to turn the thermostat higher than I do. I say, "Put on a sweater, we don't get to wear them much anyway down here!" I tease him that he likes whatever will cost us the most money on our bill.

 

Exactly my situation. It's on about 72 whenever dh is home, unless he bumps it down to 70 thinking I won't notice. When he's gone, I either turn it off or bump it up to at least 76 or 77. The kids are outside playing and sweating anyway, so it's not like they are going to complain. I have an afghan I keep on the couch year round because I'm usually cold when dh is home. Doesn't make sense to me to pay to be too cold, but... :001_huh:

 

To his defense he does have pretty bad allergies so having windows open, even in nice weather, tends to set him off and make him miserable.

[Lorna in the boonies]

83 because that's what we can afford, though dh keeps trying to turn it down to 80.

 

It's still a good 20 degrees cooler inside than outside, but 83 is killing us.

 

We're switching to a new electric company and are locking in a 12.1 cent/kwh rate (last month ours jumped to 25.7), so as soon as they switch it, we plan on lowering it.

[Annie Laurie]

Our's is at 78. We live in Texas and it gets hot in the summer but 78 works.

[JenneinCA]

Our AC is set at 82 degrees because of cost. Even at that we pay $209 per month year round to cover the cost of the summer air conditioning.

 

The forecast high today is 109, the low is 82. And it hasn't changed much for a long time and it won't get cooler until the end of October. But we have practically no heating expenses during the cooler season. I think our heating bills were under $20 per month even at it's coldest.

[Chris in CA]

Never turn it on, I love living at the beach!

[kokotg]

I try to keep it at 78 or so, I really do, but I just get bad tempered and evil when I feel overheated. It depends on how humid it is out for me--78 is fine if it's a nice, dry day. But it's usually not a day like that here, and I need to turn it lower just to make sure it cuts on enough to keep the air dry inside when it's humid out. I'm much more Spartan about winter--I can usually leave the heat at 60-62 and be fine.

[tmkclscroggins]

We live in Texas so air if a must! I keep it at 78 during the day and I used to turn it down to 69 at night. Since we've moved and dramatically increased our house size, I turn the upstairs to 74 and the downstairs to 72.

 

In the winter, I turn the heat to 61 at night. Boy.....do we sleep good them!

 

 

melissa

[Mabelen]

We set ours between 78 and 80 degrees because those are the temperatures that we feel comfortable at dressed in summer clothes.

 

I think different people have different internal thermostats settings. I have some Indian friends and they have theirs set at 84-86. When my kids are there playing they always end up all hot and sweaty.

 

Also some people like to wear the same kind of clothes in the house all year round. Personally, I don't see the logic of having to wear a sweater or long pants in the middle of summer at home just because the air conditioning is set that way, just like I don't get why some people insist on setting their heating so that they can wear shorts in the winter! But that is just me.

[TwinMominTX]

We keep our set to 77 during the day and turn it down to 75 at night. We have a large house and our electricity bill runs approximately $200 per month.

[shell in SC]

Are you laughing at me? Because it's sad but true. We also rejoice when there is sunshine mostly because we can't remember what it's like between times.

 

Snickerdoodle. . .I don't think aubrey was laughing at you. . .jealous maybe:D , but not laughing at you. . .you see. . .

 

 

(whispering. . .aubrey is in the middle of an a/c crisis right now.)

(I hope she doesn't mind me sharing that)

 

shell

[JFSinIL]

We have a 100-yr old house, kinda leaky probably, and it gets humid here so I need the a/c to run.....also the heat goes upstairs where we and two kids sleep, and I need the a./c to kick in a few times a night. So I aim for 76-78. Any higher and the air gets warm and sticky and upstairs is miserable.

 

Growing up in S. Calif./ we had NO a/c in or NEW home since my dad worked in an a/c'ed office all day and did not like it at home. We just about perished in the summer.

[Jill- OK]

When I turn my back, though, my husband keeps turning it down to 77 or 78.

 

That sounds about like our house.

 

I've kicked it up to 80 degrees, when it's just me and the kids, but dh can't keep it there, and will put it down to 75.

 

I don't mind 75 if it's nighttime, but I kind of like to have it as warm as comfort will allow.

 

My oldest son is more like me, I think; we both FREEZE at a lot of places in the summer, because they keep it absolutely frigid! (Well, 'frigid' according to my internal thermostat.)

 

My grandparents like it balmy. Many is the Christmas Eve when we're all sweating around their dining room table, lol.

[Rhonda in TX]

I answered 76-78, but we try to put it at 80 at night. We have a programmable thermostat. Last week, however, I could not sleep with it at 80 and moved it down to 78.

[Rhonda in TX]

We wear sweaters most of the summer.

 

That's winter down here! :D

[Stacia]

A/C at 71 at night. (Dh considers this the hottest that he can stand it in the house, lol. He would love to live in Canada, or Alaska, or anywhere colder than the southeastern US.)

During the day, I'll typically turn it up to 75-79. But, if it gets too hot, I'll turn it down for a little while to cool it off a bit.

[Shelbelle7]

Ours is set between 66-68 degrees, at night, dh will sometimes set it at 65 or lower. Brrrr. But, he works outside (construction) and is more than willing to pay what we need to in order to keep the house this cool. Considering that we live in the DC Metro area, which is known for hot, humid summer weather, I can't say I blame him. My friends call me "Ice Princess" because our house is so cool. However, ever since my mom hit menopause, she's become the "Ice Queen." She keeps her thermostat at least at 65. My kids are used to it being cool in our house, but when we go to my mom's they tell me they are freezing!! My poor dad spends the summer wearing flannel shirts. :D

[RoughCollie]

We keep our house very cold because that is how DH likes it. I sleep under a quilt and 2 blankets at night, or I'm shivering. I usually turn the a/c on right before DH gets home, set at 68 degrees, so the house is chilly before he goes to bed. The kids and I wear sweatshirts and long pants when DH is home.

 

Frankly, although DH doesn't run a fever at all, his body is very hot. I can sometimes hold my hand a couple of inches above his skin and feel the heat coming off it. Also, the upstairs is at least 10 degrees hotter than downstairs.

 

Most of the time we don't need a/c at all, IMO.

 

RC

[Kay in Cal]

So it looks like we are at one end of the bell curve, and my in-laws are at the other. Guess they must freeze at our house! Thanks for the answers... back to packing.

[E_Edgerton]

We don't have Central Air. I only run the window unit I have at night. I need to sleep in a pretty chilled room. I like being cool. But, during the day we do just fine with the fans and open windows.

[Trivium Academy]

73 here. 74 is too hot, everyone notices if I bump it up to 74 and I can't stand to hear it run so often when it's on 72.

[Mindy]

75 in the daytime with ceiling fans, and 70 at night to sleep, also with ceiling fans.

[sweetbaby]

75 in the daytime with ceiling fans, and 70 at night to sleep, also with ceiling fans.

 

Me too.:001_smile:

[TravelingChris]

Usually 78 but sometimes 76 due to bad humidity. At night, I often turn it off or put it up to 80. We live in coastal Florida and probably use air conditioning 10 out of 12 months. Our level billing is about 309 a month so no one gets it any lower. I can't even imagine what it would be with 72. I was upset to read that as a cost saving measure, the local public schools were planning to up the thermostat to 76. My tax dollars at waste.

[fivetails]

We don't have a/c in the house - I don't know anyone who does. The malls do though... on the days that it gets really hot - we'll get some 30C{86F} days in the summer sometimes - we either go to the beach or go shopping. ;)

[PrairieSong]

though we might bump it down a degree or two sometimes. Gee, I wonder what we would do if there were NO ac...I mean people did survive. We just watched a DVD on the Oregon trail yesterday, about how so many walked on foot the entire way, through heat, cold, rain, snow, rivers, etc. Makes me feel like a wimp.

 

My fil said in the days before AC they would hang a wet dish towel in the window at night, and when the breeze blew through it, it cooled them off a little.

[Vida Winter]

We don't have air conditioning, but it doesn't get terribly hot where we live. Well, a few weeks out of the summer do get pretty uncomfortable. Sometimes we sleep outside in a tent. Hopping in the shower is also a good way to cool off. For whatever we go through I feel worse for our golden retrievers.

[BarbaraL in OK]

My poll response was 88F+, lol. We live in Oklahoma in an 1800 sf house, kids' bedrooms and common living areas downstairs, master bedroom & thermostat at the top of our open stairwell (we have a cathedral ceiling). The temp in the main living area is several degrees cooler than the thermostat at the top of the stairwell, but I'd guess 3-4 degrees difference at most.

 

Daytime: thermostat at 88F+ / as high as it will go, about 30 min after morning showers.

Kids' bedtime: 86F, the point at which they'll fall asleep fairly easily.

Our bedtime: 83F.

 

I became determined to get used to living more in tune with our actual climate, summer and winter several years ago when the winter heating costs skyrocketed. By now, my family is comfortable with these summer indoor temps, especially using a floor fan or ceiling fan; we all dress lightly. Our concrete floors also help, since we go barefoot indoors and the concrete is the slab foundation, at more or less soil temperature.

 

We avoid adding heat and humidity indoors. Showers, dishwasher, and clothes washer use are in the evening and/or first thing in the morning. We hang our clothes outdoors to dry. As little heating up the kitchen as possible (we rely on the microwave, quick stovetop cooking, grilling outdoors, ...).

 

Nice bonus: It's fantastic to be more comfortable outside because we are not living in a chilled indoor environment in our hot summer climate. It's somewhat shocking to go into a chilly restaurant, store, the library, etc. (I take a light sweater!), and yet when it's truly hot outside (105F+), spending an hour at the library is very nice.

[Susan in TX]

82 is quite warm, but in the past we have set ours that high for economy. This year we have been wimps and I can't handle setting it higher than 78. Also, where we set the thermostat depends on how hot and how humid it is outside. If it is 107, we will set it at 80. If it's 85 outside and very humid we will set it as low as we need to to get it running, just to get the humidity out of the house. Earlier in the spring, when we aren't yet acclimated to the hot temperatures, we set it lower.

 

But I think 65 is way too cold. I would be freezing! (And now that I'm acclimated to 90+ temps outside, anything cooler than 78 is too cold). Also, I don't get why you would want to set your A/C at a lower temp than you set the heat in the winter. I've heard of people that do this...they set the A/C at 68 and the heat at 72.

 

Susan in TX

[Mommy22alyns]

At night, we bump it down to about 70. During the day, we can let it get up to about 75. I definitely need it cooler at night. MIL keeps hers at about 76 the whole time, and I just roast there at night.

 

My dad is even worse - he says he moved down South to sweat, and I swear the house is over 85. I have to convince him to fire up the AC before I visit him!

[Sandy in Indy]

When we lived in FL and ran the air conditioning (sometimes 11 months of the year), we'd set it at 74-76. For our tiny 1200sq ft house with 7ft ceilings, we paid $300 a month for electricity--year round. That's part of why we moved back to Indiana!

 

We now have a 4,500 sq ft house and our bill runs $100 without air and around $200 with air (not central air). The thermostat on all of them says 72 but I'm not sure that's very accurate. It's certainly worth the cost to me.

 

I'm at that stage of life where hot is not so hot....