What do you set your A/C thermostat at in your home (Phoenix: renting, townhouse)

[Desertspiritsteve]

When you leave the fan "ON" rather than "AUTO" the fan runs continuously. The humidity levels in the house rise as you can verify with instruments (Hygrometer)? You also get a stinky musty smell off the evaporator coil. The fan wastes electricity, too. I have friends who leave ceiling fans running all the time in unoccupied rooms. I have asked them why they leave them running. They tell me it keeps the room cool. The fans actually heat the room with the heat from the fan motor and waste power. But, oh well.

[blueeyz911]

WOW! Must be NICE! I'm jealous. We have to keep ours at 84 all the time. Maricopa utility bills are so outrageous. Keeping it at 84 still gets us $215-250 bills.

[Xica_da_Silva]

My house is like a sweat lodge during weekdays, I keep it at 87 F (with fan on high) till I go to bed, then down to a chilly 82 F. On weekends, I splurge like a drunken sailor and keep it at 82 F!

I figure when I am old and need more comfort, I'll give in and turn it down low, but I have this weird thing...kind of like a roughing-it mentality? I think there's this fear that if I become too pampered in life, that I won't be able to tolerate the sort of travel that I generally enjoy (places off the beaten path, where electricity and such comforts may not be available). And a strange fear: what if someday I lost my job and became homeless? There's this part of me that needs to know I could survive under the worst of circumstances. No, I'm definitely not suffering or 'surviving' at that level, but somehow it tricks me into thinking that I could. Eh...maybe I'm just nuts! It's the heat...it makes one think all kinds of crazy things!

[moxiefox]

Originally Posted by azjack

74 daytime, 72 for sleeping. 80-plus when I am gone for several hours.

I turned it off when I left for two weeks a couple of summers ago, and it was so hot and stagnant when I was dropped off by the airport shuttle. But it was no big deal to air the house out and it cooled down after a few hours.

I definitely prefer a smaller residence so that I can be as cool as necessary with a manageable electric bill.

- What do you consider a smaller residence in square feet (range)?

- what exactly is an Evap Cooler? Like a swamp cooler?

- Do most home in the valley have a/c or Evap Coolers?

- If a home in the valley has Evap Cooler would it also have A/c?

Thanks! :-)

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by moxiefox

- What do you consider a smaller residence in square feet (range)?

- what exactly is an Evap Cooler? Like a swamp cooler?

- Do most home in the valley have a/c or Evap Coolers?

- If a home in the valley has Evap Cooler would it also have A/c?

Thanks! :-)

Evap is a swamp cooler. They work great, but only if the humidity is low.

[Desertspiritsteve]

The problem is that as you get older, you get cold easier. My house is less than 1000 square feet. It has lots of grass and trees, double pane windows with Roll-A-Shields over all glass doors and windows. I may have 24 inches of blown fiberglass overhead. I had two bills of $160. this summer. Sometimes I forget that this is summer and I'm in Arizona. I'd rather cut back on other things than be hot. My sheltie loves the cold temp.

[LBTRS]

80 while we are out, 78 when we are home during the day. 76 for sleeping at night and we all have ceiling fans over our beds.

[OurNextAdventure]

80 Downstairs, 82 upstairs. Ceiling fans in the rooms that count. At night recently, I open up the windows in the house. When I wake up in the morning it is a nice 76F on the thermostat's. Getting cooler, so soon I will be waking up to it 50 in the house. I can't wait for that day. I love sleeping in the cold. I love camping up North in the winter time. Waking up in the morning, and walking out of the tent to fresh snow on the ground. Paradise!

[mohawkx]

I have 1400 square feet of temperture controlled space. Sun Room and workshop don't count. I live in Cottonwood, Az. Temp gets to 100-102 when Phoenix is 105-110. I keep my Air at 84 all the time. My electric bill has never exceeded 105.00.

[OurNextAdventure]

I AM JEALOUS! My electric bill last month was $303! What sucks is I am in a 2 story house, when I moved back to AZ in July this is the only house I could find to rent.