What temperature do you set your thermostat when not home? (Houston: 2013, house)

[Surfertx]

This is my first summer in my house and my electric bill is averaging $120 for 21500 sqft built in 2013.

I try setting my thermostat at 79F and humidity at 55% but the a/c still kicks in when I'm not home

[Spartacus713]

You mean 2,150 square feet, right?

If it is 99 outside and you have your thermostat set for 79, your AC is going to not only kick on, it will probably run most of the afternoon and into the evening. It does not maintain a temperature 20 degrees below what is outside without being activated.

Also, most AC's are designed to be able to cool only 20 degrees below the temperature outside, so if it is anything more than that, your A/C will just struggle through and eventually catch back up some hours later.

This is what is typical. Your A/C bill does not sound way high, although you may be able to take steps to reduce it a little bit.

[azinwood]

your electric bill is cheap.

It's hot outside.

79F is still far below the outside temperature and so you will need to cool it despite good insulation.

[ilikeme]

21500 sq ft? That's a huge house with a really cheap bill for that much space.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by surferdude949

This is my first summer in my house and my electric bill is averaging $120 for 21500 sqft built in 2013.

I try setting my thermostat at 79F and humidity at 55% but the a/c still kicks in when I'm not home

You mean 2500 sqft ? $120 is pretty good what are you complaining about ? Rule of thumb is not to set it more than 4 degrees above what you will eventually set it overnight ! So if you lower that to 75f you have it about right. If you sleep with it lower you may want to lower the temp during the day accordingly.

[Surfertx]

yeah it's 2500

I'm not used to pay $120. It's my first summer in Houston as a home owner.

btw what temp should I set if I go away for a few days. Last holiday I turned off my ac and the house was hella humid when I got back home.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

It depends if you have pets... dogs, cats, fish. We have a dog and fish, so if we are not home, we usually set it to 80. The last few days, we've left it on 79, its just too damn hot outside! When we are home, we have it set to about 76, though my kids love to sneak and set it at 72, and then grab blankets.

[marksmu]

The answer is different for everyone based on their insulation as well. I set mine at 77, but I have very good insulation. At 7am, I go from 72 to 77, and my ac wont run again until it starts to cool down for when we get home...I have that at 75 for 4pm. My ac almost never runs at all between 7 and 4 unless humidity creeps up above 60%.

[westhou]

I keep mine on 75. I have a cat at home and I want him to be comfortable even when I'm not home.

[DSL_PWR]

3500 sq ft, 1 AC unit. 74 during day and 72 at night. 45% humidity most of the time.

$130 electric bill.

Raising the thermostat during the day is not a good idea. A few degrees is ok but more than 4 and you are wasting your cooling and electricity. The system will have to work twice as hard during the summer to get the house back down to temp. Easier and more efficient to maintain 75/76 degrees in a home than go up to 80 and then try to cool it back down to 76.