When do you turn on your air conditioner?

[daledale]

I turned on the ac in my apartment for the first time this year today. I'm not one of those people who runs it constantly during the summer. It has to get pretty hot inside for me to switch it on, and it did reach 85 degrees and I couldn't take it anymore.

Do you have rules of when your air conditioner can be turned on and when it has to remain off? Have you had to turn it on yet this year?

[rennigade]

When it gets hot and I am non longer comfortable.

[JoeP]

Apartments can sometimes be rough to cool, since they might not have windows placed in such a way that you get good air flow. This is especially true in high rises, where your exposure to the outside is just one wall. You can try opening windows at night to bring in fresh air, provided you don't live in a high crime area. Then put the AC unit on a timer to start cooling your unit about an hour before you come home from work.

[SavingSteve]

Where I live the electric bill is in tiers. If I'm getting into tier 2 which is billed at a higher rate, I will try to cut back on the air conditioning. But generally I just set it for 70 degrees and it runs almost every day during spring and summer.

[disneysteve]

We turn it on when the temp inside is 72 or more.

[LizfromtheBronx]

We have several wall units in our house, and the upstairs and downstairs can vary wildly (downstairs is semi-basement, so it's always a ton cooler). We've been running the air upstairs for a few weeks because we have pets. We haven't even put the window units in downstairs yet, but will most likely do so this weekend or next. It's been unseasonably cold in NYC this week, so it hasn't been an issue.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

We don't have any rules about it. Not just temperature but humidity affects how comfortable we are. If my spouse is in a period of having daily asthma, we keep the windows closed and run the a.c. if necessary. Fans allow us to use less air conditioning.

Though we do a good job of tolerating lower temps in winter and higher temps in summer, I can strongly notice that as I get older my temperature range of comfort is narrowing.

This is one of those things I thought about when I was much younger-- that spending less on heating and cooling while I was young would be part of how I would save to take care of my greater needs for heating and cooling when I was older. I just did not think that I would begin to become temperature sensitive this soon in my life.

[greenskeeper]

window units here. each one is turned on only when uncomfortable and SOMEONE is in the room.
Empty house/room = A/C is off

[disneysteve]

Empty house/room = A/C is off

This is very dependent on location. We live in a hot, humid environment. If we turned off the AC, we'd have mold growing on the walls and the wallpaper peeling off .

[Spiffster]

I found an attic fan to be a great investment. We hardly use our AC anymore, but it is set to kick on automatically at 74 degrees. We have a dog that we would like to keep alive.

[LizfromtheBronx]

I found an attic fan to be a great investment. We hardly use our AC anymore, but it is set to kick on automatically at 74 degrees. We have a dog that we would like to keep alive.

We have an attic fan too! Helps quite a bit. Our 6 cats also appreciate it, I'm sure.

[Thrif-t]

Well I used to have "rules" but as others have already noted as I become older I don't pay attention to my "rules" its all about my comfort. I do hate to turn the air on so soon in May when it seems like the heat has just been turned off; but if I'm hot it's going on, price be damned, its all about my comfort now.

And yes it's been on quite a few times this year.

[greenskeeper]

This is very dependent on location. We live in a hot, humid environment. If we turned off the AC, we'd have mold growing on the walls and the wallpaper peeling off .

doubtful, unless the humidity is really higher on the other side of the river.

[LittleMissSplendid]

My apartment isn't designed to be energy efficient so running the ac can be very expensive with the cool air leaking out the cracks around the doors/windows or through the single pane windows. I have a downstairs unit and my upstairs neighbor runs theirs constantly once it hits 80 degrees which somehow keeps my place much cooler. However when its triple digits (or my upstairs neighbor isn't home lol) and I have to be home doing something then I'll set it to keep the temp around 78 degrees. I also use my ceiling fans, sip cool drinks, and dress lightly so I can run it as little as possible. If I can leave to go somewhere cooler then I'll just do that.

Generally my place heats up a ton when I am cooking, but I don't think that will be a problem anymore. My new cookware is so efficient everything cooks perfectly and quickly on low heat.