While I'm at home during the day, if it's not too hot, will a ceiling fan help cut electricity costs vs running AC.
And for another question, if I'm gone at work for about 8 hours. I usually leave the AC off while I'm gone. Is this good or bad for the house? Or should I set it at a higher temp while I'm gone?
I live in GA so it's been hot recently. But I'm trying to cut back on the electric bill to save.
I live in GA, US. Is it more beneficial to leave the AC off and keep ceiling fan on or set AC to higher temp?
byu/ijustbehere24 inFrugal
Posted by ijustbehere24
15 Comments
really good blinds that keep the sun ray out of the house.
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Your AC also helps reduce the humidity. If your home gets too damp you can get mold growth at about 16% moisture, and it starts to flourish around 20%. (This is in/on walls)
Couple of things- you don’t say if you’re in a single, or inna multiple story home. If you’re in the latter, see if you can close a door to the downstairs. Cold air falls, and you’re cooling off the first story easier than your upper stories.
Try setting your thermostat to 80/81F while you’re gone if you’re comfortable living with 79/80F. If your home gets turn the thermostat up/off- your HVAC needs to run longer and harder to cool the air when you choose to turn it off. At this point, the ceiling or floor fans will help circulate the air, and make it feel a bit cooler.
You have to run the AC in Georgia or you will start having issues with the humidity making it feel hotter then it is and eventually mold. So set it to higher temp and you can use the ceiling fan to assist with airflow if needed, but otherwise there’s pretty limited benefit to running a ceiling fan when you’re not in the room. Fans cool people, not rooms.
you will spend more power in cooling the house back down if you turn it off vs setting it a few degrees higher while away.
as other are saying. humidity is a thing to worry about as well
Yes, fans are significantly cheaper to run than AC. Use them only when you’re in the room. Fans don’t cool the room, they allow people to cool off due to air movement. In fact, they add a tiny bit to the heat due to friction/electricity.
Yes, leave the AC off while you’re not home and turn it on when you get back. A smart thermostat can set schedules so it’s on automatically when you get back. Be cognizant of hourly pricing if you have that type of bill since 4-7pm is usually the most expensive electricity. Comments about mold growth are accurate, but you can ignore them if you’ll be using AC for part of the day.
Leave ac on, mold will be a problem. Use blinds too, black out curtains
Mold growth in the AC evaporator and duct work would be the problem. The next time you turn it on, you will be blowing all that mold everywhere
If you think about it, your house is being hit with sun through out the day. Your house will absorb that energy to a point then radiate later. Your air-conditioner will remove that energy throughout the day or later. (Pay me now or pay me later.) If you truly wanted to save energy, then run your air-conditioning at a warmer temperature or not at all to let the heat energy dissipate in the night. One advantage to delaying to run your air-conditioning at night is your air-conditioning will run longer versus with periodic starts and stops (ie cycling). Longer runs can be better for longer term health of your system. It also runs when it is not as hot outside or have sunlight on the condensing unit so it will use less power. In areas with time of use billing, you could spend less on electricity at night. How much less, I couldn’t tell you. Is all that juice worth the squeeze? Probably not. Also, humidity is another consideration. Certainly invest in a humidistat if your area has humidity problems. No point in paying $$$ in mold remediation to save a few $s on electricity.
The ceiling fan is for the comfort of moving air on you. It serves no benefit when you are not in the room. It consumes power and adds a small amount of heat to the room.
Honestly, the best thing is keep your energy use in check is to run it closer to 78°F, keep air filters clean, don’t use fancy allergen filters, wash down the condensing unit at the start of summer, and run the air-conditioning when you are home (unless humidity control is important, then set it at a temperature so it will run periodically). Please watch some videos before you do spray down the condensing unit for the first time and please pull the disconnect before spraying down the unit.
The fan has no effect on ambient temperature
It depends on the house and the environment.
If the outside is cooler than your house at night, I open a window at one end of the house and put a high velocity fan blowing out while opening a window at the other end.
Then I’m the morning I close everything down and try to keep it cool for as long as possible.
If the house gets very hot in the daytime I would turn the AC up to low 80s.
My house, the master bed and bath are on the west side so I close the doors before I leave or by 2 in the afternoon. Ensures the living area stays cooler. I open the doors at sun down and just cool it once.
You need the air conditioner to filter your air and help control humidity. If you don’t run the AC you will get mold. My AC broke and instead of fixing it I used fans and opened the window. I ended up with a layer of mold on everything. The shoes is my closet were molded. The high humidity also wreaked havoc on my appliance. Electricity and water don’t mix.
Make sure you’re filters are replaced at a reasonable time. Make sure to have your AC coils cleaned and wipe off any leaves or debris that may stick to the outside of your unit. These can make your unit over work. Same goes for window AC cleaning the inside and washing the coils and regular filter cleaning makes it run longer and more efficiently. Also keeps your air fresh.
I have a small house and I am in the southeast. I set my a/c at 83/84 when I leave for work and turn it down to 77/78 when i come home and with a few fans throughout the house when I get home. it works well and no issues with mold. Off on the weekends I will let it run at 76/77 and I’m quite comfortable. I do have good insulation in the attic.
Air conditioning keeps humidity in check. I would raise the temp on the AC so it will turn on every hour or so for a few minutes to ensure your humidity is staying in a comfortable range.