Air conditioning help, which is more efficient?

Question

so i get a great cross breeze and only need to cool my place once a day (since i've found out that, like a car, the most energy goes into starting up the a/c (right?)

which would be better money-wise?

1. run the ac for 20 minutes at about 75

2. run the ac for 7-12 minutes at a very low temp (60-70)

any opinions would be helpful, thanks!

Answer 1

Idealy, the best temperature to be set is between 72 and 74

for each 1 degree (more or less) costs 2.5%

regarding your methodology, i suggest a third option: set the temperature to a good set and kee it running..

the options youve mentioned are not really helpful. since the losses in a normal house are really annoying.. you will loose all the cooled air in few minutes..

Answer 2

also dont forget option 3

plant a tree on the south of your home.. or several.. and forget about air conditioning altogether..

Answer 3

Set your thermostat to 75F.  You are doing more cooling by getting your house all the way down to 60F rather than bringing it down to 75F.   The amount of heat that you are removing from your house is less at 75F, so you are genuinely using less energy.

Also, many A/C systems are either ON or OFF.  And they just run full blast until the temperature of your home reaches a setpoint, then they turn off until the temperature rises a bit, then they turn back on again.   The lower the inside A/C, the harder the unit needs to work to get to the setpoint - so your system will be running very inefficiently.

Stick to 75F.