[yasudab]

just curious, during the hot summer months, do you leave air conditioning on when you go and set it for like 80 or 90 degrees during the day or do you leave it off?

[KonaKat]

Leave it on all the time. When you turn it off, everything heats up; the walls, the furniture, the floors. Then all that heat must be extracted before the air starts feeling much cooler. You could turn it up somewhat when gone but when the outside temps reach 110, 115 degrees, most home AC systems can only lower the temperature inside about 30 degrees anyways. Remember you cannot create cold, you can only remove heat.
Preventing some of the heat from ever entering the home helps, such as awnings, heavy curtains, sunscreen type screens, shade from trees, a border of grass around the house instead of those blasted rocks. A mister system on the patio is also nice.

[nwlv]

A good unit will recover from 86 in about 20 minutes. The air coming out of the vent, closest to the intake, should be 25 degrees farenheit cooler than the air at the intake.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by yasudab

just curious, during the hot summer months, do you leave air conditioning on when you go and set it for like 80 or 90 degrees during the day or do you leave it off?

Best investment a Las Vegan can make is to get a digital thermostat and program it to go off when you leave, and come on just before you get home. Also set it higher when you you go to bed, and cool it down before you get up. They are relatively cheap and easy to install.

Keeping the cold air in and heat out is important, but so is allowing your home to breath. Re-breathing the same stale air is unhealthy. Don't go overboard on insulating around doors and windows.

I don't see this on the NV Energy (Nevada Power) website, but as far as I know they are still shutting my a/c down by a remote radio signal during certain times of the day in the summer, and giving me a discount on the bill. I never notice when they do it, even though I'm home. It may get a little warmer inside but it's no big deal.

As you go along you'll discover various energy saving things you can do, but don't stress out over it. The main thing, as always, is don't get excited.

Energy Tips

[PinkString]

I set my thermostat to 86 when im gone or downstairs mainly. At night its set to 84-85 and ceiling fans to circulate the air. I conserve like a miser more and more. NV energy greedy retards are raising the rates yet again late summer so we the sheep can pay for something to be built. Whatever happened to letting us just pay what we use??? I hope their rate request is rejected.

[dynimagelv]

If you are fortunate enuf to live in an older home with a BIGGGG tree on the south side of the house, you dont turn the AC on until the temp is 105 during the day

[Fastrudy]

Remember you cannot create cold

You have never met my Mother-in-law.

[jpk]

Originally Posted by Fastrudy

Remember you cannot create cold

You have never met my Mother-in-law.

Classic! Repped.

[dynimagelv]

Originally Posted by Fastrudy

Remember you cannot create cold

You have never met my Mother-in-law.

OR my Firstxwifewhatzername

[Buzz123]

My wife likes for it to be -15 degrees at all times. She says if she's cold she can put on more clothes, but when it's hot she can only take off so much.