My Air Conditioner and my Electric Bill?

Question

My house has no shade cover. Up until about noon-1:00 p.m. it could be pretty nice with just open windows but after then the heat starts building. At about 3:00 it could be 10 degrees or more in the house than it is outside.

My question is this. Is it more economical to keep the AC on all day or to wait until I really need it at noon and then put it on?

All day will keep the house at a steady temp but when I really need it will have to drop the house temp 3 - 5 degrees for starters.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The best thing you can do is to put a shade, plywood or anything at least 12" above your unit to let it cool better and yes, turn it on only an hour before you really need it.

Turn it off whenever you can stand to and run a small fan directly on yourself as much as possible inatead of the air conditioner.

Also, don't overcool, if you need a blanket or sheet, it is too cool and the compressor is eating more electric.

Running a ceiling fan is also a good way of not having to overwork your air conditioner.

Answer 2

I want to help but i don't know how large your unit is or how old.

I recently had to buy two new units and have to say the new ones are really designed like the space shuttle they work great dropped my electric bill and it was worth buying the Maytag from Home Depot and the Friedrich (spelling in doubt from P.C. Richards in N.Y.S. the technology on this is beyond belief even the G.E.'s i bought in 2005 helped cut down my bill.

If only they made cars as good as the newer A/C's and refrigerators.

my bill dropped with each one just my one new refrigerator from Sears has cut my bill by 40.00 a month.

The A/C's have cut it even more for the heating season and the florescent lights have cut us to the bone i live in a home with 5 A/C's and a new refrig and my bill has gone down in spite of the high electric rates and we have the highest rates in the nation, per kilo watt.