My girlfriend and I live together in a small duplex. It’s two bedrooms and one bath. Nothing huge but good for us. She’s from CT originally and she wants to turn off the A/C for a while and just open up the windows and let it be what it is. We live in NC and it’s been warmer during the day, like nice but still gonna sweat some, and cooler at night, like shorts and a hoodie kind of weather. And this is something I’ve never really done before because we’ve always just let our air run all the time. I know turning your air on and off can waste money depending on how hard it has to work to get it back down to temperature. So I wanted to know if we left it off for a week or two if it would save us money or would the need for us to run our fans to compensate take away from it?
Does turning off A/C for a week help save money
byu/Mysterious_Art3578 inFrugal
Posted by Mysterious_Art3578
26 Comments
Open the windows at night, close them in the morning.
Not running the AC saves money.
Whether that’s for a week, or for 6 hours during the day.
it really depends on the temp outside. if it gets down to low 70s at night and you set AC at 75, you really don’t need to turn on the AC but of course, another factor humidity is in play, it will get sticky if it is really humid.
How is this even a question?
Of course not running the gigantic appliance for half the month will save you money.
Careful with that in humid weather. The A/C help dissipate the moisture.
How humid is it currently? Turning off the AC will save money in the short term, but if it is still pretty humid, you’re going to lose that money when you have to start tossing moldy stuff.
Aside from not running your AC, having blackout curtains closed during the day helps a bit with keeping the sun and heat out. If it’s cool at night and you can open the windows, that will help as well. Close them during the day when it’s warmer.
Fans are always cheaper than A/C. And not running A/C for a few days (or even just at night) and then turning it back on is still more efficient than always running it
Of course it can save money. Not sure what kind of layout your home but here are some quick tips:
Unless you have good steady breeze, a fan induced draft is usually your best bet to cool the home off. Fan’s are better at blowing air out, then pulling it in. If you want to cool off your bedroom to sleep, open a window in your bedroom, open a window on the far side of the home and point your fan out that second window. Run the fan full blast (AC fans don’t save much energy at low settings anyway), and back it up a couple feet from the window. The reasons for backing it up are kinda weird but you get way more airflow that way (see this video for detail if you like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L2ef1CP-yw). Anyway by exhausting out the far side of the house you should pull just about all of the old warm air from your home overnight and have a cool home in the morning. Shut the windows in the morning and coast.
The other folks pointing out your humidity can rise are right too. AC often is providing the dehumidifcation in your home, if it is consistently over ~60%RH that can encourage fungal growth. Consider picking up a cheap Thermapro or similar thermometer that tells you how humid the house is getting. I’m not familiar with NC weather (Wisconsin here). In my experience it isn’t an issue.
I would atleast keep the fan on, you need movement. I would turn the AC on to cool things and for the sake of combatting the humidity (you dont want mold!)
Yes it probably saves 20% of your bill. Could be $60 if your bill is $300.
I haven’t used mine in a few weeks outside of a couple of days it got up into the 80s. It’s been getting down to the 50s at night, so i just keep the windows open at night and close them once it starts to warm up outside.
It will definitely make a difference. How much depends on just how warm it is there.
Yes, you’ll save money. Fans cost pennies compared to A/C. Just manage humidity and comfort. Also, get your windows open at night so you can have some cool air
Your appliances are the biggest expense on the electric bill, especially anything that changes the temperature. The difference should be sizeable. Fans don’t even come close
No. Our AC has been out for a week and this is our 3rd night in a hotel room. The new compressor will be installed tomorrow
. Let’s hope this one lasts longer than 10 months.
Turning off the AC saves more money than worrying about it going off and on. Hard to explain but your AC is doing basically the same amount of work to get from (ambient temperature) to (chosen temperature) regardless of if it’s constantly running or needs to “catch up.” AC is expensive to use so if the temperatures start to moderate themselves as seasons change and you can stand going without AC, maximizing how much cool air comes in at night from the windows, you will indeed save money.
Ac is actually surprisingly power efficient for what it does (unless it’s REALLY hot outside)
That said, of course not using electricity costs less than using some.
Yes turning off the ac for any amount of time reduces energy use. Running a fan uses less energy than ac.
And it’s is absolutely and completely false that turning off and on your ac takes more energy. It’s a myth. It does not take more energy to catch up than you would use to maintain. Or in other terms keeping the ac running all day takes more energy than catch up cooling.
Things to consider
1. Will humidity be an issue, could lead to mold
2. Do you have time of day rates, even though it’s less energy, the cost could be higher if you turn it on during high rates.
Where I live, it would ruin your house if you turn off the AC for a day because of the humidity.
Yes. Not using electricity saves you money by not paying for electricity not used.
We turned our thermostat to 85 degrees while we were out of town this summer and our electric bill was $45/month. Had we been home it would have been closer to $180/month, so yes, turning off your AC for a week will definitely save you money.
Of course it will.
I also simply couldn’t deal with my AC running constantly. It gets so stuffy and you don’t realize the constant hum until it goes away and is actually quiet.
I’m with your GF – I find AC noisy and like the cooler fresh air at night after a hot day. Fans don’t use nearly as much power as AC, and if you turn on the AC when the house is still cool in the morning, it won’t work as hard to keep the house cool.
Your girlfriend is right. Running a fan uses like 5% or less of the energy an AC uses.
Not using your AC for half the month could cut your energy bill by over a third.
Moreover, that idea that an AC has to work sooo much harder if you turn it on and off is just wrong. It uses much more energy to keep your place at a constant temperature 24/7 as your insulation isn’t perfect and heat is always sneaking in.
I live in ct, haven’t had the ac on during the day for weeks. Sleeping with windows open is the best.
If I stop using a ton of electricity for a week, will I save money?
YES
Fan in window at night is like air conditioning when it starts getting cooler. Blow cold air in.