To save energy, should I turn off my window AC unit when I go to work?

Question

My opinion is that it costs more energy to re-cool a room after a day of excessive heat, so I want to leave the AC on low even when I am not at home. But my landlady comes into my room and shuts it off when I'm not there "to conserve energy." Thus when I come home from work, my room is sweltering and it takes hours to cool it down.

Who is right? Keep in mind we're talking about a window air conditioner, not central air.

Answer 1

Yes, shut it off, use black out shades to keep the sun out of the house, and before you turn your A/C on, use your exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom to remove some of the hot air in the house.  Close off rooms you will not be using and that do not need to be cooled (like the bathroom).  This will decrease the amount of power used to cool your house.

Sorry, your landlord is correct.

Answer 2

You should not turn it off. It will run harder and longer trying to get the room to the temp you select when you get home. What is recommended is that you turn it on evergy saver and 80. When you get home and put to to 76 it doesn't have that far to go. Check the manual.

Answer 3

The question has long been settled.  Turning it off saves money.  The more your place heats up because it is off the more money you will be saving.  I'll gather some links to back this up.  It is a myth that it will take more to cool it back down than leaving it on.

Your landlady is wrong to enter your room but right in that it saves energy.  Who is paying the electric bill?

"In the summer, you can follow the same strategy with central air conditioning, too, by keeping your house warmer than normal when you are away, and lowering the thermostat setting to 78°F (26°C) only when you are at home and need cooling. Although thermostats can be adjusted manually, programmable thermostats will avoid any discomfort by returning temperatures to normal as you wake or return home."

Although they are speaking of furnaces and heat, the same principles apply here "A common misconception associated with thermostats is that a furnace works harder than normal to warm the space back to a comfortable temperature after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings. This misconception has been dispelled by years of research and numerous studies. The fuel required to reheat a building to a comfortable temperature is roughly equal to the fuel saved as the building drops to the lower temperature. You save fuel between the time that the temperature stabilizes at the lower level and the next time heat is needed. So, the longer your house remains at the lower temperature, the more energy you save."

Answer 4

That room should be kept closed & AC kept at temperature setting of say 24 DegCelcius not too cool

If it is kept at the corner of a hall then it's a problem ...

Answer 5

Yeah, you need to switch off if you want to save energy...Just compare the both situation.

Answer 6

First off tell your landlady to stay out of your room.

It's your darn room and money and if you want to use more of your money to use more electricity then that's your choice.

Unless, you some how got your land lady to pay for utilities, then it's her money and she has every right to shut it off.  

I'm not sure if it more energy efficient to run  an AC on low for longer hours than it is to run it on high for less hours.

I do know that truckers will leave their engine running when they stop for a meal or something like that. They do this because it take more gas to start and warm the engine back up than turning it off would save. This premise make work for your argument.

Remember, who's ever paying the bill is the one who calls the shots.

Answer 7

you should not own a AC unit. It`s made from oil

Answer 8

I shut off our A/C window units one day before going to work. Btw we live in texas, and my husband freaked out on me. He said keep these running so we don't have to use more energy to cool the place down again. So I leave them alone and my bill is about the same as in the winter, when we use gas to heat. So i guess if your paying leave them on.

Answer 9

Off course you save energy when you shutt off the A/C irrespective of its type.

Answer 10

once everything warms it harder to cool it...just turn it to hi 70s or 80 until u get back then crank it!

Answer 11

Either buy one with a time, or install a timer switch on the plug so that you can set the timer for the ac to come on just before you return, and then you can come home to a slightly cooler house, but don't have to run the thing all day. We live in Texas as well and always turn ours off when we leave, and only use them during the hottest part of the day, otherwise we leave windows and doors open and run the fans constantly. Maybe you need a ceiling fan, they only cost about 3 to 10 cents a day to run, and your room will cool faster.

Answer 12

I suggest ust turning it up where it does come on some during the day,you don't want to come home and wait hours for it to cool a 80 degree home after working.

cheers

http://www.promomaker.blogspot.com/

Answer 13

You are right in that it takes more energy to re cool things

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The floors walls furniture everything in the home will warm up to what ever temperature the room is

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And to make things  cool again takes a little more work and energy especially if you have

a 2 story home and

a finished basement makes it even more costly to make cool in the home again

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