When and what outside temp do you turn on AC?

[Familia]

When the inside thermostat reads 80, on it goes!  We keep our house rather warm in the summer, set at 78 during the day.  But, at night, it is set to 73.  I like it colder when sleeping.

[Scarlett]

33 minutes ago, katilac said:

 

He had it set at 64, though, lol. 

I'd definitely try to open windows and stuff for him when possible, I know I'm not the most patient when I'm hot or uncomfortable. Maybe a rule, though, about a minimum temperature, because 64 is beyond cool imo. And I'm always hot. I'm not as overweight as your son but I am pretty fluffy, and I'm in perimenopause and he's not 😄

If he doesn't have a fan in his room, he needs one (in addition to the ceiling fan if he has one). Maybe two.  I think they're usually called air circulating fans and they cost less than $20. I'm decidedly more comfortable with my fan and can keep the a/c several degrees higher.  

He has a really great set up imo.  A big window on one end, a full screen door on the other, a ceiling fan and an oscillating floor fan. 

I am not quite over weight but I am much hotter natured than dh who is a bit overweight.  Thank you menopause.  

[Scarlett]

3 hours ago, moonflower said:

 

Isn't your DS19 thin, though, and your DSS18 is overweight?  I have a total evidence of 2 people, DH and me, but DH is thin and I am maybe 20 lb over ideal weight, and he runs cold and I run hot.  I always thought this was because I had an insulating layer 🙂

I think if he felt hot, he felt hot.  Probably someone living without air conditioning in south Texas would scoff at you for turning on the air at 80F, but whatever.  An AC cools things off, ime, esp in top-floor rooms, much faster and more reliably than an open window.  I get the reason for opening a window instead and of course this is what adult me would do, but teenager me did not give a lot of thought to energy efficiency or electric bills.  I'd just open his window for him a few hours earlier than he gets home so his area is cool already and he doesn't need to be inclined to run the AC.

Well, I agree if he is hot he is hot.  But he just went straight for AC.   We just can’t be running AC upstairs when windows are open downstairs.  

[BarbecueMom]

We also go more by humidity than temp.  Yesterday was 87, but the indoor temp was 77 and not humid enough to require A/C yet.  It’ll be on by late May no matter what.

I’m a bad judge of comfortable indoor temperatures, though.  It’s 74 in the house right now, and I’m in a sweatshirt, two blankets, a heating pad, and considering getting up to put on a pair of socks.  

[EmseB]

Apparently when it is 92 degrees out in APRIL, that is when we do it. We've lived here less than a year and I am just not ready for this heat yet.

[rebcoola]

I'm holding out as long as possible. Its been getting up into the 80's and its hot from 3-5pm inside especially with a nursing baby on me but its going to get much hotter so I'm trying to acclimate. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by rebcoola

[TravelingChris]

We have a Nest and right now have it set to heat if it drops to 69 and cool when it reaches 75.  We have had very fluctuating weather and yes, heat at night and cool in day has happened in the last week.  We live in a micro clime where the temps do not get as hot as areas that aren't in the woods nor as cold either.  

[TechWife]

We have to regulate the inside environment for allergies, so we turn it on when the pollen starts up. We can't open windows. I am certain we turn ours on long before the neighbors turn theirs on.

[Lady Florida.]

What do you all consider humid? The past few days, maybe a week, we've had humidity around 35-45%. Everyone was in shock to see it that low in late April. Even today it's only 65% which is also pretty low. We're used to humidity of 70% or higher most of the year. In summer it's not uncommon for the humidity to be higher than the temperature. 90 degrees with 95% humidity is a normal summer day.

[Scarlett]

2 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

What do you all consider humid? The past few days, maybe a week, we've had humidity around 35-45%. Everyone was in shock to see it that low in late April. Even today it's only 65% which is also pretty low. We're used to humidity of 70% or higher most of the year. In summer it's not uncommon for the humidity to be higher than the temperature. 90 degrees with 95% humidity is a normal summer day.

Well currently our is 100%  LOL.  I just looked it up  because I wouldn't have a clue.  But it is also only 57 degrees.

[Lady Florida.]

11 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Well currently our is 100%  LOL.  I just looked it up  because I wouldn't have a clue.  But it is also only 57 degrees.

With 57 degrees and 100% humidity I'd be bundled up like I was in the frozen tundra lol. Humidity makes hot feel hotter and cold feel colder.

[Scarlett]

Just now, Lady Florida. said:

With 57 degrees and 100% humidity I'd be bundled up like I was in the frozen tundra lol. Humidity makes hot feel hotter and cold feel colder.

Yes I am at work.  I have a long sleeve shirt on and a hoodie over that.  And I am thiiiiis close to turning on my space heater that I have under my desk.  I can't get warm. Ok, yes I am turning it on.

[maize]

20 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Said young adult has great cross breeze in his room.  He has the entire loft area--about 400 square feet.  We put in a huge roll out window on one end and a new door with old fashioned full screen door on the end.  

Does he have window fans?

[Scarlett]

1 minute ago, maize said:

Does he have window fans?

No.  He has a floor fan that he could stand in front of the window or door though.

[Scarlett]

7 minutes ago, Margaret in CO said:

No AC here, as the bathroom heaters will often kick on in July! You know, for the July freeze, when it drops to 25! The peeper frogs are out, which means the swamps are coming up. So, the ground water is up, which means the boiler has to go off. The house will get colder and colder for about 2 weeks until it finally warms up. We're supposed to get snow on Friday. 

Yikes.  Not sure I could deal with that.  

[Clemsondana]

We set our AC to 80 in the summer - otherwise it would run a lot - and sleep with fans on.  But, my husband and I both grew up in the hot and humid south, playing sports or working outside jobs.  It takes a lot for us to be uncomfortable (and his home office is in the basement, which is cooler).  We had ceiling fans in the bedrooms, and open the windows in the evenings if it gets cool (once it's summer, it often doesn't cool off much).  I spent my grad school years in GA and didn't want to spend $ on AC so I didn't use it at all...I only use it now because I realize that everybody isn't as adapted to it as I am.  But, I require copious blankets in the winter when everybody else is OK.  

[Lady Florida.]

1 hour ago, Margaret in CO said:

Well, we almost never get above 80, so there's that!

Give me above 80 rather than below 30 any day, all year long!

[maize]

I'm thinking if someone wants to run a portable AC to help them sleep I'd leave it be; it is well documented that people generally sleep better in a cool bedroom and I for one have a super hard time sleeping in high humidity. 

We got a whole house fan that helps us cool the house without AC when it isn't too hot; humidity is super low here though.

Edited April 24, 2019 by maize

[Scarlett]

7 minutes ago, maize said:

I'm thinking if someone wants to run a portable AC to help them sleep I'd leave it be; it is well documented that people generally sleep better in a cool bedroom and I for one have a super hard time sleeping in high humidity. 

We got a whole house fan that helps us cool the house without AC when it isn't too hot; humidity is super low here though.

And that is what we do when it is actually hot enough.  It was 64 outside. And the breeze was wonderful.  We have a window in our room on the same side of the house as the window  by his bed.  It was nice and cool.  So cool in fact he had to turn the temp on the AC down to 64 to even get it to come on.

[Bootsie]

I find that I cannot rely on outside temperatures, or the temperature at the thermostat, to determine the comfort level in different parts of my house.  Right now it is 65 degrees outdoors where I live, and that has been the high of the day.  The AC and heater are turned off, but the temperature, as measured by my downstairs thermostat is 72 degrees.  If you move away from the thermostat, some areas are substantially warmer and some are substantially cooler.  Our AC upstairs is set on 75 right now and it has come on several times today.  

 

[ashfern]

Mine is more the humidity. I don't usually keep it very cold. For the summer I have it set to 78. Right now we're doing 75 but our house is on the market so that's to keep buyers happy.