A/C Usage Throughout the Year (Phoenix: how much, house, heat pump)

[ka3la]

When considering a move to Phoenix, I was curious about AC usage. Is it a utility that you use all 12 months of the year or can you live without it in the winter?

It's a cost we have to consider - in NY we rarely use AC in the summer (maybe a week out of the season) and then we use heat November-April.

Thanks for any information it's always appreciated

[locolife]

how much you use it depends on where you set your thermostat. Unlike NY you won’t need much heating here so be sure to adjust for that as well. We generally use our A/C May-Oct but the peak months are June-September which the a/c runs 24x7, right now we’re opening the windows at night as temps are perfect for sleeping and day time we’ll kick it on if needed.

You can use SRP’s tool to help estimate costs too-

https://www.srpnet.com/prices/home/calculator.aspx

[Pink Jazz]

We typically turn ours on in mid-March, and on average turn it off some time in November.

Note that typical set point temperatures that most people here set their AC is generally 78-80 on average, vs. 72-74 which is more typical for NY homes which would otherwise lead to expensive electric bills in our climate.

[drjonsnow]

turn the a/c off in November and it does not come back on until April,

[lewdog_5]

Off November until March (mid month usually) here. Single story house.

We know many people in two story homes who run their AC all but December-January though. At least for a few hours in the night to cool that second story to allow for more comfortable sleeping quarters.

[wase4711]

Obviously, usage is based on what YOU want your comfort level to be; for us, coming from the Midwest where the humidity makes it uncomfortable any time its over 75 degrees, since about oct 1, even when its warm out, 85+ degrees, the humidity is so incredibly low here, sometimes as low as 3%, that you may not need the ac on...especially what your used to in NY, when its 80 degrees out, and the humidity might be 40-70%, its uncomfortable..Plus, we just had a variable speed variable compressor ac system installed, so even if we have the ac on this time of year, the compressor is only running about 10-30%, so we're not using lots of electricity..

[Bird Street]

I rarely use often Dec thru Feb. The rest of the year it cools to 72 degrees. My unit is a simple single stage Trane heat pump. Next time I will look into the multiple stage Trane heat pump. I don't like humidity. I'd be interested in a zoned system.

[ka3la]

Thank you all so much for the replies! Very helpful

[gbpakrfan]

No a/c in our house for a couple of weeks now. Windows open and perfect sleeping weather.

[BIG CATS]

Youre basically gonna have a 4 month window w/o having to use a/c, unless you like your place toasty. In the winter we turn the heat on at night, especially when the temps dip into the 30s/40s.