[LVguy]

Originally Posted by EA

I set my ac to 87. I bought a little oscillating fan, and I stay cool. The bill hit 100 so far. I can deal with that. I was paying a hell of a lot more than that, all year round, where I came from.

me too I leave my temp at 85 to 87, with a fan it really helps. And my bill so far is also 100.

questions my agent told me to leave temp at at least 85 during the day even when no one is in the house, leave it at 85 to prevent house expanding or creaking. What's wrong with expanding what does it do to the house? I am thinking about leave it at 90 when I am not in the house.

I got 2 AC units one for upstairs one for downstairs, upstairs I leave it at 85 to 87, downstairs it's usually cooler with the house's insulation(temp difference between upstairs and downstairs is like 7 degress with AC off) so downstairs I leave it at 90. Neighbor said don't have the temp difference greater than 3 degress or one AC will work much harder and it will break, is that right we seldom use downstairs I just leave it at 90.

Close off vents in the rooms we aint' using agent said don't mess with it, at least leave the vent 15% open. is that right What's wrong with closing the vents in the room we ain't using? he also said leave the doors open it's better

1st time home owner sorry about all the questions!! (how often do you guys have inside the air-duct professionally cleaned? once every few years? I have all the doors closed and I am getting dust dirt thing on my table etc, they accumulate fast! like 1 month and you can see it again)

[Danknee]

Originally Posted by LVguy

me too I leave my temp at 85 to 87, with a fan it really helps. And my bill so far is also 100.

questions my agent told me to leave temp at at least 85 during the day even when no one is in the house, leave it at 85 to prevent house expanding or creaking.

I always leave my AC turned off if nobody is home, it will cost you less in electricity. If you have quality wooden furniture you are worried about, then it may be an issue for you. My furniture is all holding up fine however, many different types of wood.

Originally Posted by LVguy

I got 2 AC units one for upstairs one for downstairs, upstairs I leave it at 85 to 87, downstairs it's usually cooler with the house's insulation(temp difference between upstairs and downstairs is like 7 degress with AC off) so downstairs I leave it at 90. Neighbor said don't have the temp difference greater than 3 degress or one AC will work much harder and it will break, is that right we seldom use downstairs I just leave it at 90.

When you have multiple AC units they are insulated separate from each other so this isn't an issue. I leave my 900 sq foot upstairs turned off all summer long and the other two AC units aren't impacted at all.

Originally Posted by LVguy

Close off vents in the rooms we aint' using agent said don't mess with it, at least leave the vent 15% open. is that right What's wrong with closing the vents in the room we ain't using? he also said leave the doors open it's better

Don't shut the vents at all. Those rooms aren't insulated from each other and the heat seeps right back into the cool rooms. Your AC will run more than if you cooled everything within the insulated zone (as designed).

Originally Posted by LVguy

1st time home owner sorry about all the questions!! (how often do you guys have inside the air-duct professionally cleaned? once every few years? I have all the doors closed and I am getting dust dirt thing on my table etc, they accumulate fast! like 1 month and you can see it again)

I will never have ducts cleaned, it is nearly useless. You will always have dust. Replace your HVAC intake filters every 3 months for heavily used units, less if used infrequently. Welcome to the desert and get comfortable with dusting.

[LVguy]

Danknee thanks so much!

So I got an extra insulation between the floors! no wonder downstairs is always cooler than upstairs by 6 to 8 degrees!

Yeah I heard duct cleaning doesn't really do much, and it might mess up the duct. however inside of the air-ducts it's really dusty like really thick of dust, but it's the same for all the houses I guess?

[tiger08]

Originally Posted by Danknee

I always leave my AC turned off if nobody is home, it will cost you less in electricity. If you have quality wooden furniture you are worried about, then it may be an issue for you. My furniture is all holding up fine however, many different types of wood.

When you have multiple AC units they are insulated separate from each other so this isn't an issue. I leave my 900 sq foot upstairs turned off all summer long and the other two AC units aren't impacted at all.

Don't shut the vents at all. Those rooms aren't insulated from each other and the heat seeps right back into the cool rooms. Your AC will run more than if you cooled everything within the insulated zone (as designed).

I will never have ducts cleaned, it is nearly useless. You will always have dust. Replace your HVAC intake filters every 3 months for heavily used units, less if used infrequently. Welcome to the desert and get comfortable with dusting.

I wouldnt wait 3 months to change filters, especially when I see most people nowadays buying filters that are restrictive right out of the bag.
Filters under heavy summer use need to be changed every month.

[airics]

I can't imagine anything over 80 in my home... Usually 74

[LVguy]

filters I just get the cheapest one but change it every month, sometimes 2 months.

filter quality doesn't really matter right? just change it often.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by tiger08

I wouldnt wait 3 months to change filters, especially when I see most people nowadays buying filters that are restrictive right out of the bag.
Filters under heavy summer use need to be changed every month.

^^^^ +1 ^^^^

Note some new homeowners incorrectly think a more expensive (more restrictive) air filter will reduce the level of dust in the house. It will not. The main purpose of the air filter is to protect the expensive AC unit, not to remove dust & pollen & allergen from the indoor air -- because whenever you open a door or window, more comes in. Even with the doors & windows closed, more comes in.

You can save money on the filter by buying the "good" (not the "better" and definitely not the "best") filter.

Moreover, the "good" filter will result in the AC unit costing less to operate.

[Tek_Freek]

When we had our furnace and AC checked last month (new home) we were told to throw away the filters that were there and buy inexpensive ones. Then change then often. We did and we will.

[qingguy]

Originally Posted by LVguy

me too I leave my temp at 85 to 87, with a fan it really helps. And my bill so far is also 100.

questions my agent told me to leave temp at at least 85 during the day even when no one is in the house, leave it at 85 to prevent house expanding or creaking. What's wrong with expanding what does it do to the house? I am thinking about leave it at 90 when I am not in the house.

All three of my zones are off from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. From 5:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. the main zone is set to 81. From 9:30 p.m. - 8:00 a.m. the two zones (one with Master the other with a bedroom and two guest rooms) are set at 78. For us this seems to be the highest setting we can comfortably tolerate. All rooms have ceiling fans which helps. I home office so during the day it can get a bit warm but I dress accordingly and drink plenty of water.

Regarding expanding or cracking (I think this is what you meant) I do see this, however, I wonder if it's a combination of the heat and lack of humidity. I purchased a portable humidifier for the main portion of the house (2,100 square feet) where the wood flooring is and try and keep it between 25 and 30% humidity and that seems to have helped. That said, since it started hitting 100 I have seen some additional shrinkage (pulling away from the walls) on the flooring and a couple of the joints on my baseboards separating. This surprises me as I think the hottest the inside of my house has reached is probably 88 during the day.

Anyone have any thoughts here?

Originally Posted by LVguy

Close off vents in the rooms we aint' using agent said don't mess with it, at least leave the vent 15% open. is that right What's wrong with closing the vents in the room we ain't using? he also said leave the doors open it's better

I do this as well. In one of my zones I have 1 bedroom and 2 guest rooms (as well as laundry and pantry). I bought a portable thermostat to control the zone and place it in the bedroom that is occupied. When no guests are staying with us I close the vents in the two guest rooms figuring why cool the rooms if no one is using them. Is this logic flawed?

BTW, my bill ending 6/20 is $219 and NV Energy reports similar homes in my are averaged $305. Oh, and I run a pool pump 4 hours a day and a chlorine generator too.

[LVAllen]

Originally Posted by qingguy

I do this as well. In one of my zones I have 1 bedroom and 2 guest rooms (as well as laundry and pantry). I bought a portable thermostat to control the zone and place it in the bedroom that is occupied. When no guests are staying with us I close the vents in the two guest rooms figuring why cool the rooms if no one is using them. Is this logic flawed?

There's no thermal barrier between the unoccupied, hot rooms, and the occupied, cooler room. The heat from the unoccupied rooms is going to increase the temperature in the adjacent spaces (including the occupied room), forcing your a/c to work harder to cool that one single room than it would have if all of the rooms were simultaneously cooled.