Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband and I have become proud home owners. We are going to have to deal with a challenge the next couple of months as we will have two residences in the area to pay electrical bills for. This is not the time of year to have two electric bills to deal with!
We have to pay the electric bill in our apartment until Mid-August. When we move out permanently I'm hoping to turn the A/C and non-essential breakers off the in the apartment. I'm assuming turning off the power to the fridge would be a bad idea? Will having the A/C off cause any damage?
For right now we are preparing the new place with some remodeling, repairs, and cleaning, etc. When we go there we want it to be bearable. There is a programmable thermostat and I wonder if I should have the temperature higher at night with it lower during the day. I wonder if we should generally have it higher during the day and if we go over there to work turn it down. Right now it is set at 80. I'm just worried if we set it higher that the electricity used to cool it down will be extreme and negate the savings of having it higher. I really don't know though. Any suggestions?
There is a noticeable and significant difference between the front and back of the house. The back is cooler and I attribute this to smaller windows in some rooms with shades on the outside of the house and a tree and patio roof helping to shade double-paned windows.
The front of the house is a different story. The east exposure large living room window is single-paned with no shade on the outside but it does have light colored wood blinds. The kitchen window is single-paned, but it shaded by the patio roof and light colored wood blinds. The south exposure sliding glass window has no window treatments what so ever. Eventually we would like to replace the sliding door with better insulated and secure french doors. We also would look at replacing the living room window first followed by the kitchen. But in the meantime we need to keep the house cooler. Any suggestions?
We are looking at buying curtains for the sliding glass door. I've read that light curtains reflect the heat and that blackout curtains help with light. But light colored black out curtains work less well to block light. I don't know what the best curtains (or other treatments if significantly better than curtains) to use on the sliding door. The sliding glass door is not visible by neighbors so we could use less attractive, but more effective alternatives until we move in. Any recommendations for permanent or temporary solutions?
I thought about using shaded security film on the living room window and sliding door, but it was more expensive than I was hoping especially if we are going to eventually replace them.
Thank you in advance for your help. I'm a pro at keeping the winter at bay, but keeping the heat out not so much!
Having the AC off won't cause damage to the apartment. Honestly if you clean the refridgerator immaculate, just kill the breaker. As the months pass, you will want to get back in and dust/mop before turning in your keys, do yourself a favor at that point. Go there the day before and get the ac going.
It is not uncommon here for property management companies and apartment complexes to leave the A/C off in vacant units. I see it more often than not and I do a lot of work for property management companies.
I'll address your new homes stuff in the next post.
For right now we are preparing the new place with some remodeling, repairs, and cleaning, etc. When we go there we want it to be bearable. There is a programmable thermostat and I wonder if I should have the temperature higher at night with it lower during the day. I wonder if we should generally have it higher during the day and if we go over there to work turn it down. Right now it is set at 80. I'm just worried if we set it higher that the electricity used to cool it down will be extreme and negate the savings of having it higher. I really don't know though. Any suggestions? I've done the test on my own at home here many times by checking previous days usages on SRPs website. I have found that programming it to get quite high during the day and cranking down to comfortable in the afternoon anticipating my arrival saves me a great deal of money generally. I've found with this 115 degree stuff though, my poor A/C is having a real hard time cooling down to 70 from 80 so I'm just keeping it held at 72 until we dip below 110 again.
There is a noticeable and significant difference between the front and back of the house. The back is cooler and I attribute this to smaller windows in some rooms with shades on the outside of the house and a tree and patio roof helping to shade double-paned windows.
The front of the house is a different story. The east exposure large living room window is single-paned with no shade on the outside but it does have light colored wood blinds. The kitchen window is single-paned, but it shaded by the patio roof and light colored wood blinds. The south exposure sliding glass window has no window treatments what so ever. Eventually we would like to replace the sliding door with better insulated and secure french doors. We also would look at replacing the living room window first followed by the kitchen. But in the meantime we need to keep the house cooler. Any suggestions?
We are looking at buying curtains for the sliding glass door. I've read that light curtains reflect the heat and that blackout curtains help with light. But light colored black out curtains work less well to block light. I don't know what the best curtains (or other treatments if significantly better than curtains) to use on the sliding door. The sliding glass door is not visible by neighbors so we could use less attractive, but more effective alternatives until we move in. Any recommendations for permanent or temporary solutions?
I thought about using shaded security film on the living room window and sliding door, but it was more expensive than I was hoping especially if we are going to eventually replace them.
Thank you in advance for your help. I'm a pro at keeping the winter at bay, but keeping the heat out not so much! Black out curtains do help quite a bit. Also distance the air has to travel from the unit matters to, I have found. My spare bedroom/ guest room/ office (all one room lol) is closest to the intake. That room is always freezing. My master bedroom on the opposite side of my place at the end of the intake. It is much harder to cool so I installed blackout curtains and a portable a/c. Now it's cold too . I highly recommend a supplemental a/c whether that be a window unit or portable in the warmer rooms if black out curtains don't help enough. I ordered a portable swamp cooler for my patio/smokers lounge and can't wait for it to arrive. I know they work awesome for a patio, are cheaper than portable a/c and are very cheap to run I'm just not sure how well they would work for supplemental cooling along with central a/c in a room.
Some of the "keeping cold out" advice works for keeping heat out as well. Check all your insulation - on doors, windows, sliding glass doors, etc. Make sure you have double screens - that will help with the heat, especially on south facing windows. Lowes and Home Depot can help with that. I highly recommend sun blocking window treatments, but they don't have to be film. Get some curtains. Anna's Linens is inexpensive with a pretty good selection. (They get their products from the same place as Bed Bath and Beyond, but they don't have the advertising budget or markup. Just a little tip.) You may want to get a few of those S.A.D. lights to sprinkle through the house, as it can get a bit depressing in the summer with all the shades drawn and blocked light.
I also saw a decrease in my electric bills when I installed those vents with fans on the roof. That allows the attic heat to escape. Another thing -- My garage is attached and I noticed this winter how nice it was to feel the heat from the car engine when I pulled into the garage. So in the summer, I back the car in and leave the garage door slightly open to let heat escape to the outside. I'm adding some vent fans to the side of the garage that faces west. Hopefully that will keep garage heat out of the house in the summer.
Note that what we call swamp coolers are only effective in low humidity. They add a little humidity to the air and blow air across the wet vents. If the humidity is high (as during the monsoon) you will just essentially have a fan going.
IMHO it's a whole bunch of little things that help you save. One degree here and there does make a difference in the bills.
In your new home, remember to turn on fans when you are in the room. They do no good as far as cooling when you aren't in the room. If you don't have ceiling fans, that may be something you want to add.
As for your question about your old apartment. I would be cautious about turning the AC off. No matter what kind of insulation, it gets wicked hot in our houses without some air moving around. Try turning up the temp to 90. You save a lot of money for every degree. Turn off your water heater. Clear out the refrigerator and block the doors open so it won't mildew inside. Then turn that off. It sounds like you are renting that apartment. Your apartment complex might be upset if you turn off breakers and the AC. It depends on what's inside the unit and where the unit is located. I would check with the owners/managers. They may have a recommended procedure.
APS has a page with more recommendations here: aps - cooling
You seem knowledgable about swamp coolers so I have a question if you don't mind?
In my head anyway I'm thinking they could be great for supplemental cooling (Mobile swamp coolers I mean) along with a/c. Would they blow cool inside since a/c creates a dry environment or, would that be nullified by the swamp coolers own humidity? Not to thread jack. The idea came up in my last post and I do not know LOL
It's fine to unplug the fridge. Just clean it and then prop the door(s) open.
For the new house, do whatever you can to minimize the amount of sun shining directly through any glass. Sunblock screens installed on the outside are effective. Replace any bad weatherstripping.
For a temporary solution to your patio door, which you said is not visible by neighbors, you can put up a big piece if cardboard, or plywood, or almost anything that will block the sun.
You seem knowledgable about swamp coolers so I have a question if you don't mind?
In my head anyway I'm thinking they could be great for supplemental cooling (Mobile swamp coolers I mean) along with a/c. Would they blow cool inside since a/c creates a dry environment or, would that be nullified by the swamp coolers own humidity? Not to thread jack. The idea came up in my last post and I do not know LOL
My swamp cooler is portable and I use it all over the house, wherever it seems to need it. I got this one at Home Depot. It's not pretty, but I don't really care. My dogs love it and so do I. The thing is that if you don't have a way to hook up a hose, you'll have to haul water to it. No big deal, really. I get water delivered, so I pour one of those 5 gallon bottles into the thing and that will last hours. The benefit of using filtered water is that you don't get lime buildup on anything. I've had mine now for 7 years, so it's paid for itself. I've only had to replace the filter pads once. I don't turn my AC on until I have to. My house isn't huge, and this gets some cool air flowing.
It has two speeds, so if the noise is too much, you can crank it down a notch. It's also good for supplemental cooling when the humidity is low enough. Oh, and when I've done garage sales or had parties in the summer, this goes right outside and keeps things a tad cooler.
It's fine to unplug the fridge. Just clean it and then prop the door(s) open.
fwiw, I personally wouldn't unplug a fridge unless is was totally, completely *spotless* inside, *and* you could jam the door open, *and* you have several (open) containers of baking soda inside. If the door somehow closes before every drop of moisture inside has a chance to evaporate, it'll go "funkalicious" inside, and on a ten-point stank-scale, it'll hit twelve.
If you empty a fridge & do a mild cleaning, you can turn the fridge-temp up, but not completely off & not risk a making a stink. I'd still hit the dolla-store & get a box of baking soda as well..
Fridges don't use hardly any power if they're not being opened all the time - that's why they tell you not to open them during a power outage.
You'll save more money by shutting off the water heater & setting the a/c at 85-90..
You seem knowledgable about swamp coolers so I have a question if you don't mind?
In my head anyway I'm thinking they could be great for supplemental cooling (Mobile swamp coolers I mean) along with a/c. Would they blow cool inside since a/c creates a dry environment or, would that be nullified by the swamp coolers own humidity? Not to thread jack. The idea came up in my last post and I do not know LOL
I've got one of those large Artic Cove portable evap coolers. I run both at the same time. The a/c will take the humidity out while the cooler adds it. Lol. I will say, the portable cooler on spot cools. It WILL NOT cool a room down, and when it gets especially humid, the cooler works less efficiently. However, still nice to spot cool small areas though.
We added a large patio overhang on the back of our house which is all large view windows and sliders. We also just installed several sail shades on the sides of the house. It helps. But when the air is 113, not much you can do to curb the heat. We set our thermostat to 83 during the day and in the evening.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I highly recommend a supplemental a/c whether that be a window unit or portable in the warmer rooms if black out curtains don't help enough. I ordered a portable swamp cooler for my patio/smokers lounge and can't wait for it to arrive. I know they work awesome for a patio, are cheaper than portable a/c and are very cheap to run I'm just not sure how well they would work for supplemental cooling along with central a/c in a room. 
