Odd question about central air?

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

We have just moved from upstate NY to down south. We lived about 10 minutes from the Canadian border in the Thousand Island region. We did not have central air. Honestly, we never needed central air. It would have been a total waste of money to have put it into our home while living there. My question is what temperature do most people set their central air to? We don't need it ice cold and we don't want a ridiculous bill either. What is the average temp?

 

[mickeyplanner08]

Well, from having read the "how high was your electric bill" thread, I can tell you that people keep their thermostats all over the place. Ranging from about 66-78 for the most part. We keep ours at 78 during the day and 75 overnight, but we are definitely on the warmer side of many

 

[wdwfanatic316]

In the summwe we kep ours at 76 or 77 and in winter 68 or 67. Hope that helps!

 

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

Since moving in, we had set it to 76. I was really starting to think that must be to warm, even though we are very comfortable. I'm pretty sure DW would shoot me if I put it in the 60's! She freezes!

 

[islandtimect]

We live un CT and keep it at 75 during night and 77 during day. Every ca thermostat must vary, because we had to keep it at 72 during the day in our last house. Ceiling fans help you keep the temp a little lower by moving the air

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We keep ours at 22 degrees celcius....which is 71.6 farenheit by the conversion chart that I just used. So cooler than many here.

But I live just an hour or so down the highway from the Thousand Islands, on the Canadian side of the border, and I cannot imagine a summer without our central air. I know we only ever use it (as a general rule) for the months of June, July and August, but its worth every penny (and an absolute summer necessity in our books!!).

 

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

We keep ours at 22 degrees celcius....which is 71.6 farenheit by the conversion chart that I just used. So cooler than many here.

But I live just an hour or so down the highway from the Thousand Islands, on the Canadian side of the border, and I cannot imagine a summer without our central air. I know we only ever use it (as a general rule) for the months of June, July and August, but its worth every penny (and an absolute summer necessity in our books!!).

We lived near the lake and when you would have the windows opened up, the breeze was amazing. To the point that sometimes it was actually too much.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We lived near the lake and when you would have the windows opened up, the breeze was amazing. To the point that sometimes it was actually too much.

Ah, makes sense. That lake effect can bring a whole different feel to the weather....and a LOT of snow in the winter!!!

Enjoy your new home "down south". That's our dream as well. Hopefully in about 15 years .... maybe sooner if we can swing it!

 

[writersblock42]

I live in south central PA and we do not have central AC (almost all the newer houses within the last 15-20 years do though). I feel like we only need it maybe three weeks out of the year. Other people disagree with me though. I know people in my area that have it on from May to September. We had it on last night just in our bedroom. You might find that you only need it on at night. Upstate NY is pretty cool for the most part especially at night. The trick is to capture the cool air at night and then keep out the warm air during the day. Most people keep it around 72-78

 

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

Ah, makes sense. That lake effect can bring a whole different feel to the weather....and a LOT of snow in the winter!!!

Enjoy your new home "down south". That's our dream as well. Hopefully in about 15 years .... maybe sooner if we can swing it!

Crazy lake effect....YES LOL! We miss the area, but plan to enjoy warm weather. Hope that you also will be able to make it down south eventually too!

 

[Lilliputian]

Thermostats on air conditioners aren't calibrated very well, so 74 at one house may be 78 at another house. You just have to find your own comfort zone. Likewise, with different amounts of insulation, different types of windows, large amounts of windows on certain sides of the house, and other factors can determine whether it's expensive to cool a home or not. In general, if your house doesn't feel too hot without the air conditioning running, then it's insulated well, and you'll be able to pull off a lower temperature without paying too much. If your bills are high, you can look into things like adding attic insulation, getting solar screens for the windows, or other measures to keep the heat out of your house and keep the cooled air from escaping.

 

[LJSquishy]

72 degrees is ideal for me (we don't have central a/c though, just window units) in the summer, and 68 degrees in the winter for heat.

 

[crisi]

Humidity will make a big difference. We have ours set to 78 in the summer - 80 and the humidity continues to hang in the house. But if we weren't in a place that was so humid in the summer - it isn't the heat I mind. On a non-humid day its at 80. Unless its a hot night, when we go to bed we turn ours off and open the windows with fans in them. This is Minnesota and summer can be hot and humid, but generally it cools down at night.

 

[sunkissed4]

I'm originally from upstate NY too, also close to the Canadian border! Welcome to the South! We've loved in Tampa the past 3 years and we keep our AC on 78 in the summer and turn it off most of the winter. Your body will probably need to adjust a bit for 78 to feel comfortable, I remember winters in NY and not having the heat on over 70.

Ceiling fans are a huge help, we have one in living room and bedrooms and keep our electric bill right around $110 in the hot months.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We have both ours set at 74...funny tho, 74 upstairs is much warmer feeling than 74 downstairs. Downstairs it is chilly for me but DH is very hot natured. Upstairs 74 is too hot for me. I am sure something is not calibrated right or more vents are needed up there.

We just built the house and have had the a/c guys come check the upstairs several times. They told me to set the downstairs 2 degrees cooler than the upstairs so warm air from down here wouldn't rise and heat up there. Problem is that 72 downstairs would be freezing!

We will see how winter goes, but at our last place we did 66 for both up and down. It is chilly but I am a cheap-o.

 

[badiggio]

72 degrees is ideal for me (we don't have central a/c though, just window units) in the summer, and 68 degrees in the winter for heat.

I agree. We keep the a/c set for 72 in summer and the heat at 72 in winter.

 

[Eureka]

Our upstairs is much warmer than our downstairs so we have to actually turn the AC down (colder) at night to be comfortable. We have it at 74 during the day (the kids and i are in the house during the day during the summer), then it drops to 72 around 5 pm because my DH likes it a little cooler. Then at 9pm it goes down to 68 and back up to 74 I think at 7am. The programmable thermostat is great.

 

[Narnia_girl]

Our A/C is generally set at 77; we run it nearly constant from May through September, but our son has severe allergies and opening windows is not an option.
Also, our HVAC service man took a sharpie and wrote right on the Humidity control of our unit which way the handle should go in winter and which way in summer to make sure we had right amount of air moisture.

 

[tvguy]

80 in summer here, which is 30 degrees cooler than outside on a 110 degree day. Ceiling fans in most rooms to help keep it cool.

I'm laughing at the Canadian A/C comments. Went to a family reunion in Calgary. My cousin there has a fairly new 4,000 square foot monster house. It hit 90 degrees several days we were there. My cousin from Ottawa was all over him for spending $1.5 million on a fancy custom home and not spending an addition $5,000 for A/C because even her little 1600 square foot 40 year old tract home has central heat and air.

 

[Zandy595]

78° day and night, unless I'm cooking a lot, then I set it to 76°.

In the winter the heat comes on at 70°.