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Old 05-13-2018, 09:04 PM
 
19,777 posts, read 18,064,624 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by loves2read View Post
When schools are in session and businesses are working, I would think 8-3 was peak use
It's not?
ERCOT defines peak usage as 7AM-10PM Monday through Friday. During the summer the hours of highest usage are nearly always 3-7 because of the heat.
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Old 05-14-2018, 05:32 AM
 
14 posts, read 18,049 times
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Uh oh - we live in Pittsburgh and keep our house at 68 in the summer and 70 while not home! We have a 2 story so we need to keep the upstairs cool to sleep too. WE are considering a move to Dallas and no one on here keeps their air that low - why? My husband likes it cold - I don't but like it at that temp when I sleep.
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Old 05-14-2018, 06:49 AM
 
3,754 posts, read 4,235,996 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pghfamily View Post
Uh oh - we live in Pittsburgh and keep our house at 68 in the summer and 70 while not home! We have a 2 story so we need to keep the upstairs cool to sleep too. WE are considering a move to Dallas and no one on here keeps their air that low - why? My husband likes it cold - I don't but like it at that temp when I sleep.

Unless you buy a small, 1 story, super efficient home that is completely surrounded by shade trees... 68 degrees is just not possible. Your AC would run constantly during the summer, all day, and all night.

You could probably get away with 72-74 all the time, but your AC will still run nearly constantly from about 1pm to 7pm I bet.

However, you'll find that once you've lived here a bit, and been out in the heat, that once you get back inside, 77-78 is quite nice.

Our master bedroom has it's own separate AC unit, and we turn that down to 75 at night. We could go lower, to 72 or so with no problem if we wanted. If you're used to sleeping with heavy covers, that'll have to change. We sleep with just a sheet and a very light blanket.
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Old 05-14-2018, 08:29 AM
 
19,777 posts, read 18,064,624 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pghfamily View Post
Uh oh - we live in Pittsburgh and keep our house at 68 in the summer and 70 while not home! We have a 2 story so we need to keep the upstairs cool to sleep too. WE are considering a move to Dallas and no one on here keeps their air that low - why? My husband likes it cold - I don't but like it at that temp when I sleep.
Several things to consider.
1). Temperature readings vary a good bit from unit to unit. Your 68 might actually be 70. My 73 might actually be 70 etc.
2). Around here when it's hot AC units run a lot. That means the air in ones home will be dry. Dry air feels much cooler than more humid air at the same temperature. Ergo if your home at 68 is 10% more humid than mine at 72.........my house will feel cooler.
3). Dry, cool air plus ceiling fans = the perception of very cool air.

Last edited by EDS_; 05-14-2018 at 09:19 AM..
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Old 05-14-2018, 08:43 AM
 
Location: DFW
40,952 posts, read 49,166,535 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pghfamily View Post
Uh oh - we live in Pittsburgh and keep our house at 68 in the summer and 70 while not home!
Go out in the TX heat when it's 95-104 degrees and 75 will seem like a cold wave when you come inside.

Like mentioned above. You'll use your ceiling fans a lot here.

Best place in the whole house to have one is in the Master Bathroom. People think I'm crazy when I suggest they put one in the MB when they build a new home until they have one.
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Old 05-14-2018, 09:21 AM
 
19,777 posts, read 18,064,624 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rakin View Post
Go out in the TX heat when it's 95-104 degrees and 75 will seem like a cold wave when you come inside.

Like mentioned above. You'll use your ceiling fans a lot here.

Best place in the whole house to have one is in the Master Bathroom. People think I'm crazy when I suggest they put one in the MB when they build a new home until they have one.
My little brother is an architect. In TX and New Mexico homes he draws-in ceiling fans in bathrooms and kitchens too. People think it's a crazy idea until they try it.
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Old 05-14-2018, 09:45 AM
 
551 posts, read 1,098,500 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FalconheadWest View Post
It takes more energy to cool the house back down from a higher temp, so it's best to just leave it constant at all times, or just a couple of degrees higher while at work so it's not as much energy to cool it back down when you get home.
This is a very populate theory but it's not true. I used to think that as well but I did some research and there are a lot of articles about this. They all say it cost more to run all day than turn it up/off and have to cool the house back down. Just a few I found quick.

Memorial Day Mythbusters: Turn Off the A/C While You're Away?
https://energyair.com/turning-ac-off-vs-leaving/
https://www.menshealth.com/trending-...hen-you-leave/
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Old 05-14-2018, 01:16 PM
 
Location: DFW/Texas
922 posts, read 1,111,100 times
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My husband has been in the HVAC business- from residential in the very beginning to heavy industrial, the kind that makes your head spin, they're so complicated- for nearly 20 years now and says this: if your house is set at a higher temperature, then EVERYTHING in your house is now at that temperature or heading close to it. Your walls, your furniture, etc- everything now needs to be brought down to the temperature that you set your thermostat to.

It is more efficient to not allow your house to get above a max temperature- say, 80 degrees- and have the system come on while you are gone then to get home to a 90 degree house and then run your system for hours upon hours to get the temperature down. You're not only cooling the air in the house but now you're cooling everything else in the house that traps and maintains temperatures.

My mother-in-law tried to do this last summer. I went to water her plants at her house while she was on vacation and her house was 94 DEGREES. Guess what happened when she got home? She ran the sh^^ out of her unit and it proceeded to break down. Guess who's been telling her cheap a$$ to not allow her house to get that hot for YEARS but then had to go fix her system in the middle of a heatwave? My husband

We keep our house set to 78-80 while we are out of the house and at 73-75 when we are actively using it. I cannot tell you how lucky I consider myself to be to be married to an HVAC expert, especially living in Texas

Oh, and change your filters, people, really. Simple as pie and they really do help your systems.
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Old 05-14-2018, 01:40 PM
 
Location: Mckinney
1,103 posts, read 1,660,143 times
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I do 79 when no ones home.
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Old 05-14-2018, 05:25 PM
 
1,087 posts, read 781,975 times
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73.

I have 3 zones in a two story. This is what I found: when I turn the vents on in upstairs (closets and bathroom), AC becomes a lot more efficient. It appears there's hot air on the very top of interior that can not be cooled down. If I turn the vents on for just a little while, my AC won't be humming as long.
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