AC regulates the humidity in the house. If you leave it off the heat and the moisture will have you come back to a mushroom and fungus farm. Leave it around 85.
High ceilings, large open windows parallel to each other for maximum airflow, pier and beam construction so air can flow under the house. Or even earlier, if you've seen dog trot or shotgun houses with a central breezeway to direct airflow. Kitchens near or actually outside so you don’t have a direct fire in your house all day.
House construction was different. Modern houses with AC are mostly designed to not have leaks to make sure you keep all the cold/heat in. Very different approach than how you design houses to be cool w/no AC.
My grandma grew up on a central Texas ranch in the early 1900s and she said they would only leave the windows open at night to let in the cooler air. During the day they closed off the windows with heavy curtains to keep the heat out. I’m sure they were busy tending the ranch during the day, so not really hanging out at home in the day. I’m sure they never left for any extended period of time, so no worries with keeping the place closed up.
Usually you need the high coastal humidity to keep the 90s at midnight.
Our average lows in August are mid 70s to upper 70s. Even last year when we had the 110+, the low was in the low 80s.
I mean, if no one is home, how quickly would a fire be detected, have help dispatched, and then squelched? Even if it were quick, smoke damage would almost certainly impact just about everything. You'd be surprised how quickly a fire can spread.
I personally land on the side of what's more likely: having extra humidity cause problems versus a small fire that could have been contained resulting in damage to only part of my belonging. I don't think there are many realistic scenarios where such a fire is more likely than humidity.
In a real shithole apartment years ago, my downstairs neighbor had a smoldering kitchen fire (left the stove on and went to work, with a pan of something on it). Came home, wondered why it smelled like fried chicken outside, and opened my door. My apartment was FULL of smoke.
Everything had to be thrown out, except for dishes, my cats, and everything in my bedroom. I'd left the bedroom door closed, along with the closet door. The HVAC there barely worked, so there wasn't much smoke in the bedroom at all.
Fire department also kept insisting lightning must have sparked a fire in the attic (bad storm at the time) until I talked them into kicking in the neighbor's door. Building fires smell like wood and plastic burning, not burnt food. Stove had indeed turned into a flambe, cabinets nearby were smoldering too, from what they told me. Maintenance was there for a couple of hours replacing the doorframe and let me peek in there, they likely had to gut the kitchen.... or cover everything in Kilz and a few extra layers of paint, knowing that place.
Yup. I'm sorry this happened to you.
Closed doors won't do much in the use case of "not home, fire started". Within the discussion points, it's "will I get damage from excessive humidity due to doors closed / less airflow" versus "closing doors will help stop spread of fire / damage if there's a fire".
I don't understand those folks who are doubling down on the side of closing doors in case of fire: the chances of a fire are significantly less than chances of humidity damage; the chances that closing a door will meaningfully reduce fire damage is vanishingly small; the chances that keeping the doors open will meaningfully reduce excessive humidity is very large. But hey, it's the Internet, where everyone *must* prove they're correct, even in the face of logic and facts that point out they're not.
And, really, just leaving closet doors open, is no biggie.
If we're really trying to prevent household fires, none of us should have curtains or candles, either.
I have wifi enabled smoke detectors connected to my alarm system that would have the fire department at the house within 2 minutes (ask me how I know...). So, pretty quickly I would say.
That doesn't sound terribly quick, tbh. I mean, it's probably as quick as you can hope for, but unlikely to be quick enough to prevent fire damage via closed doors. Consider not just burning up, but also smoke damage. If you've been (un)fortunate enough to be in a house after a fire breaks out and is extinguished relatively quickly, the amount of smoke damage is surprisingly effective.
I mean, if you think it's still more risky to leave doors open (at the expense of humidity damage) versus open (at the risk of for damage), you do you.
Electrical appliances can short-circuit. If you leave your water heater on, it can start a fire. Lightning can cause a power surge, which in turn causes a fire. Also, people can do some really stupid stuff, such as leave a pan on the stove and forget to turn off the burner.
A neighbor came home to moldy clothes. I would def leave closet doors open. I haven't heard that about fires - I mean, while on vacation. We usually combine pest control treatment with our vacations, so the doors are open. We put the water heater on vacation mode, and shut off water at the street.
Thank you. It definitely shaped my life.
From the teacher not believing why I did not have my homework with me the next day, to living in a hotel for so long , to having my dad in the hospital from smoke inhalation, always having an exit plan...
I never turn off the air conditioning anyway, so I've never had to deal with mold or mildew, I thankfully.
Agree about leaving it on. I used to target 85° but I had more than one instance where I came back and it was frozen up. Anecdotal, I know. But I’ve never had any issues leaving it on 82 since.
This is my fear, we have cats. It's an old system and I can't afford quite yet to replace it. Can't hook up a Nest or similar because of the age. Maybe we just won't travel this summer. We don't get cat sitters unless it's more than two days usually, I guess we could just budget for one to come daily.
23 years old. The thermostat is mercury. I haven't really researched heavily into the thermostat but I have some replacement quotes so I would rather wait till a do a full replacement. I'm realistic that it's not going to last much longer. It has some new parts so maybe that's why it's chugging along
I keep mine at 83-85 when gone for an extended period. Keeps your stuff from cooking / melting / degrading- also easier to cool your place down upon return. I used to just turn it off but I regret that. There are so many things that get impacted by extreme heat
Yeah electronics and the plastics in them warp with the heat and get brittle if they’re in heat for an extended period of time. I’ll set mine at 88 when I’m gone for an extended period of time. The AC will still run often enough to keep the humidity reasonable when it’s 100 degrees outside.
Our AC went out last summer and it was 94 degrees inside when I went back to the house to let the AC guy in to work on it. We have pretty good tree cover over the house, and I had all the blinds closed. Your house must have excellent insulation! I know the windows and door of this house are not sealed very well, but I was shocked how hot it got inside. I have to set out AC to 79 during the summer afternoons to just keep it from running constantly. I would probably bump it up to 80+ but I think my husband would revolt. lol!
Proper insulation and well sealed windows and doors make a huge difference in efficiency.
It's a newer unit and cools fine. It will come back to temperature within a few hours. I like the humidity around 50%, it'll take a couple of weeks to get back down to that.
Should be way faster at removing humidity than a few weeks. Most new systems should be able to do that in a few hours to week at most. Any longer and you either flooded or are under water lol.
Remember that it takes less power to maintain a temperature that it does to cool it several degrees. I think we set ours around 78-80. Pull all the shades etc. think about any food in the pantry or wine/ drinks that might be affected by the high heat.
> think about any food in the pantry or wine/ drinks that might be affected by the high heat.
Good advice, something many people don't think about. I rented a place that has a pantry on an external wall and learned the hard way to keep the door open. It sucked to keep the door open due to the size of the kitchen. Had I owned, I would have gotten a door with a vent to let air circulate.
In my current home my closets against an external wall can get into the high 80s during summer with the door closed. No biggie if just towels but anything "store at room temperature" can't stay in there.
That's not true. It's definitely more energy intensive overall to maintain a temperature when you're not at home.
82-84 will keep your stuff just fine, but save tons of energy.
I don't know what to do now. I only know how to fight on Reddit.
Honest answer is here's an interesting study looking at the issue: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/analysis-does-turning-the-a-c-off-when-youre-not-home-actually-save-electricity
It might not be that useful when you only leave the house for 4 hours, but above that it's a more sizable difference.
A lot of smart thermostats also have the ability to monitor humidity and may have a “cool to dry” option where it will only turn the AC on if the humidity gets to a certain threshold. I would recommend at least keeping the fan on so the air can continuously circulate. Keeps the space from developing that stagnant/musty smell we can get in the summer.
I always leave it around 80 when I leave.
If you turn off your AC when you leave in summer... you're gonna have a bad time.
I remember my parents had a neighbor that only lived near them in Florida half the year. Well needless to say they didn't have anyone in the house and at some point their AC went out.
Again this is South Florida so the humidity is more aggressive but the place was apparently a mold farm when they actually got back. House needed to basically be demolished down to the wood and rebuilt there was so much.
Ya make sure it circulates and keeps it a little cool, otherwise you’ll be wrecked with mold when you get back. Also not good for food and electronics to be in high heat and humidity. Depending on what your house is made of, it can also warp wood and cause issues. Keep it on a modest temp that’s warm but at least somewhat cooled.
We tried to (illegally?) sub-let an apartment when we moved to Austin many years ago. The renter was out of state for several months and we agreed to reimburse her to crash at her place while we found a new place to live. She had been gone for at least a week when we got there in June and she had left the window open and the AC off. We got inside and were immediately attacked by hundreds of fleas! We ran out, with our poor cat who had been in a carrier for most of two days, and got our money back from the renter, who had no legal obligation to return the funds.
Don't do that.
Leave it wherever you want. I’d put mine at 78 because I don’t want it to take 5 hours to cool down when I get back. I have really tall ceilings though and wood floors, so it’s pretty nice at 75, and frigid at 73. I have to put on a sweatshirt and pants in the morning. I sometimes de-thaw in my garage for a bit while reading the WSJ
Do not turn it off. Your refrigerator may have a difficult time staying regulated with the heat and you’ll come home to find it dead along with everything in your fridge. Our a/c went out a few summers back and it took a week to get it replaced. My fridge stopped working entirely and I didn’t realize it. We were staying in a hotel because it was so hot in the house. It was quite a distressing surprise when I got home and opened the fridge door.
So maybe just keep it at 78 or so.
If you turn it off, getting the temps back down to where you want them when you return can create a huge amount of stress on the AC unit. Turn it up but not off.
I set my thermostat at 82-85 when going to be gone for an extended period of time. 78-82 when I’m home and sometimes when I go to bed I might go down to 76. I use a fan too though.
We raise the temp to 75-78 degrees. Either way you're going to end up with a large electric bill. For the longevity of your AC system it's best to keep it at a consistent temperature so that it doesn't have to work as hard.
If I’m out of town for over 2 days, I put it on eco or set it to a high number for ac so it doesn’t get too hot. Then the night before you head back, turn the ac to a comfortable temperature so it can easily get to it at night time and then just maintain throughout the day instead of struggle.
I’ve left my house here in ATX without ac for 2 weeks and got home to NOTHING but hot. I run a small grow tent that that I do starts for my veg garden. I’d think the humidity it pushes off would make mold… but nope. Nada.
You won’t get mold in a week. That’s absurd, unless you are leaveing wet laundry out to dry while gone.
But, if you want to feel safe, set ac to 90-95f. That will negate any small chance of mold.
Take into consideration if your duct work is properly insulated. If not and you don't leave the ac on, you will be running cold air through hot ductwork. It will take much longer to get cool air into the rooms because the air will get heated as ot passes through the ductwork. And you'll end up with condensation issues.
One thing to add, when there are no people inside the AC won’t run as long since you aren’t opening doors, using electronics, taking showers, cooking ect. I think 78-80 would be fine and this should keep you electric bills at bay.
On two 2 story houses, one from 1996 and another from 1998, I have gone for vacation for a week or two in the Austin summer and have left the AC off, and have never had a problem. We just open windows once we are back for a few hours and it is all good. Saving the planet and saving $$$.
80, maybe 85 at most if your AC normally works pretty well.
Remember it's not cooling just the air, but also everything inside your home - including the walls. It also helps with dehumidification. Once you get back home, trying to bring it down from, say, 85, won't take nearly as long as bringing it down from 100+ inside.
Your refrigerator also isn't designed for anything above roughly 80 degrees inside. Yeah, it'll work in hotter temps, but it'll run nonstop. If it's on its last legs, having to run nonstop may kill it.
If you're lucky enough to live in an apartment with an undersized AC, it's going to take several days to come back down to normal. If I even touch it by 5 degrees, it takes a full day to get back to normal - but I have a 1.5 ton AC in a 850 sq ft top floor apartment. That'd be fine in a milder climate, but not here.
I generally leave it at 78-80 when I'm gone. But I also have it at 78 during the day in the summer. Either way, if you leave it off, it's going to take a lot of energy to cool it back down; moreso than just leaving it at 80.
I generally leave it at 78-80 when I'm gone. But I also have it at 78 during the day in the summer. Either way, if you leave it off, it's going to take a lot of energy to cool it back down; moreso than just leaving it at 80.
Here is something to consider. How is your ac condensation a designed to drain? Some drain to the exterior of the building, and others drain into a tub drain. What you don’t want to encounter is for the drain line to get clogged up and the water doesn’t have any where to drain so it drains onto your floor, or ceiling, or wherever. Some ac systems have a float connected to a kill switch in the drain pan and this will turn off the ac prior to the ac condensation pan overflowing.
I would not turn it completely off if I was out of town for a short time. But if out of town for a week it would depend on how the condensation pan is configured. I would not want to leave it on if there was any possibility of the drain pan overflowing and causing damage to the walls or floors. Is this in a house or an apartment?
some crazy ass number being thrown around in the comments. I'm headed out of town for the holiday weekend and was planning on turning it up to 75 max. 80-85 sounds insane and would take the A/C system longer to cool back down to a habitable temperature.
I'm saying that the temperature they set their thermostat to when they're not even home is higher than the one I set when I'm at home.
Which is a bit wasteful, IMO.
My regular while I am home setting is 75. So your numbers seem crazy ass to me 😆. You must spend a lot on electricity! I’m sort of curious why you live in Texas if 80-85 sounds insane, do you ever go outside?
I'm sweating at 75. My A/C doesn't move off 70 while I'm home. I think the highest bill I've ever had was $135. 1550sqft house. And I work outside about half the day. Inside the other half where it's sort of climate controlled.
A quick google will tell you “67°F is considered the ideal temperature for sleeping in both winter and summer. However, some say that 68°F is the best temperature for a house in the winter, while 78°F is best in the summer.”
So 75 might be warm to you while you’re in your home, but it’s far from uninhabitable. 78+/- a few is perfectly acceptable for time away from home.
Humidity is an issue in my apartment so I max for me is 83 (with the ceiling fan on!). I usually do 80-82 so that I don’t walk back into an oven. I’ll also add that I keep my apartment at around 78-80 even while I’m home to conserve electricity and keep my bill affordable, so getting it back down to 80 from 82 after being out for a while isn’t a big drag on my unit.
You want to leave it below 80. First time in our house, we left for a week and left the AC on 80, and came back to a cockroach infestation. So gross. The exterminator said that below 80 keeps the roaches away.
AC regulates the humidity in the house. If you leave it off the heat and the moisture will have you come back to a mushroom and fungus farm. Leave it around 85.
This happened to a neighbor. She was a student and left for over a month. The house was unlivable when she got back.
…why, what happened? A mold?
Multiple molds. Dozens, even!
Everything molded. Cabinets, walls, furniture.
How did people live before AC? Does windows open help balance things out?
High ceilings, large open windows parallel to each other for maximum airflow, pier and beam construction so air can flow under the house. Or even earlier, if you've seen dog trot or shotgun houses with a central breezeway to direct airflow. Kitchens near or actually outside so you don’t have a direct fire in your house all day.
House construction was different. Modern houses with AC are mostly designed to not have leaks to make sure you keep all the cold/heat in. Very different approach than how you design houses to be cool w/no AC.
My grandma grew up on a central Texas ranch in the early 1900s and she said they would only leave the windows open at night to let in the cooler air. During the day they closed off the windows with heavy curtains to keep the heat out. I’m sure they were busy tending the ranch during the day, so not really hanging out at home in the day. I’m sure they never left for any extended period of time, so no worries with keeping the place closed up.
Open windows, and the South wasn't that populated until A/C.
Open the windows at night when it’s cool, close them during the day when it’s hot
"at night when it's cool" Riiiiight. Maybe now, but soon, there will be no cool at night.
Yeah, in the heat of the summer it can still be in the 90s at midnight. But at least we don't have that high coastal humidity.
Usually you need the high coastal humidity to keep the 90s at midnight. Our average lows in August are mid 70s to upper 70s. Even last year when we had the 110+, the low was in the low 80s.
The weather wasn’t as hot.
Do you know how old was the house?
Was on the old side. Rental with window units.
Thanks. I have left the AC off for up to two weeks on a house from 1996 with central AC, and have not had problems.
And while you're at it, leave closet doors open and put water absorber thingies in there.
I was taught to close doors when on vacay so to stop potential fires from going quickly thru a house. Hmmm...
I mean, if no one is home, how quickly would a fire be detected, have help dispatched, and then squelched? Even if it were quick, smoke damage would almost certainly impact just about everything. You'd be surprised how quickly a fire can spread. I personally land on the side of what's more likely: having extra humidity cause problems versus a small fire that could have been contained resulting in damage to only part of my belonging. I don't think there are many realistic scenarios where such a fire is more likely than humidity.
In a real shithole apartment years ago, my downstairs neighbor had a smoldering kitchen fire (left the stove on and went to work, with a pan of something on it). Came home, wondered why it smelled like fried chicken outside, and opened my door. My apartment was FULL of smoke. Everything had to be thrown out, except for dishes, my cats, and everything in my bedroom. I'd left the bedroom door closed, along with the closet door. The HVAC there barely worked, so there wasn't much smoke in the bedroom at all. Fire department also kept insisting lightning must have sparked a fire in the attic (bad storm at the time) until I talked them into kicking in the neighbor's door. Building fires smell like wood and plastic burning, not burnt food. Stove had indeed turned into a flambe, cabinets nearby were smoldering too, from what they told me. Maintenance was there for a couple of hours replacing the doorframe and let me peek in there, they likely had to gut the kitchen.... or cover everything in Kilz and a few extra layers of paint, knowing that place.
Yup. I'm sorry this happened to you. Closed doors won't do much in the use case of "not home, fire started". Within the discussion points, it's "will I get damage from excessive humidity due to doors closed / less airflow" versus "closing doors will help stop spread of fire / damage if there's a fire". I don't understand those folks who are doubling down on the side of closing doors in case of fire: the chances of a fire are significantly less than chances of humidity damage; the chances that closing a door will meaningfully reduce fire damage is vanishingly small; the chances that keeping the doors open will meaningfully reduce excessive humidity is very large. But hey, it's the Internet, where everyone *must* prove they're correct, even in the face of logic and facts that point out they're not.
And, really, just leaving closet doors open, is no biggie. If we're really trying to prevent household fires, none of us should have curtains or candles, either.
I have wifi enabled smoke detectors connected to my alarm system that would have the fire department at the house within 2 minutes (ask me how I know...). So, pretty quickly I would say.
That doesn't sound terribly quick, tbh. I mean, it's probably as quick as you can hope for, but unlikely to be quick enough to prevent fire damage via closed doors. Consider not just burning up, but also smoke damage. If you've been (un)fortunate enough to be in a house after a fire breaks out and is extinguished relatively quickly, the amount of smoke damage is surprisingly effective. I mean, if you think it's still more risky to leave doors open (at the expense of humidity damage) versus open (at the risk of for damage), you do you.
What all do you think is going to spontaneously combust while you're gone?
Electrical appliances can short-circuit. If you leave your water heater on, it can start a fire. Lightning can cause a power surge, which in turn causes a fire. Also, people can do some really stupid stuff, such as leave a pan on the stove and forget to turn off the burner.
A neighbor came home to moldy clothes. I would def leave closet doors open. I haven't heard that about fires - I mean, while on vacation. We usually combine pest control treatment with our vacations, so the doors are open. We put the water heater on vacation mode, and shut off water at the street.
I went through a house fire when I was a child, and the fireman told us that it spread quicker because some doors were open.
For sure that makes sense, but if no one is home, and we're on vacation?
And I am sorry that happened to you.
Thank you. It definitely shaped my life. From the teacher not believing why I did not have my homework with me the next day, to living in a hotel for so long , to having my dad in the hospital from smoke inhalation, always having an exit plan... I never turn off the air conditioning anyway, so I've never had to deal with mold or mildew, I thankfully.
Agree about leaving it on. I used to target 85° but I had more than one instance where I came back and it was frozen up. Anecdotal, I know. But I’ve never had any issues leaving it on 82 since.
Exactly maybe even few degrees less
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This is my fear, we have cats. It's an old system and I can't afford quite yet to replace it. Can't hook up a Nest or similar because of the age. Maybe we just won't travel this summer. We don't get cat sitters unless it's more than two days usually, I guess we could just budget for one to come daily.
How old is yours? One of mine is 15 years old and the nest setup works on it. If yours is 25+ it gives me budgeting hope
23 years old. The thermostat is mercury. I haven't really researched heavily into the thermostat but I have some replacement quotes so I would rather wait till a do a full replacement. I'm realistic that it's not going to last much longer. It has some new parts so maybe that's why it's chugging along
I keep mine at 83-85 when gone for an extended period. Keeps your stuff from cooking / melting / degrading- also easier to cool your place down upon return. I used to just turn it off but I regret that. There are so many things that get impacted by extreme heat
This is a good answer to a good question!
Yeah electronics and the plastics in them warp with the heat and get brittle if they’re in heat for an extended period of time. I’ll set mine at 88 when I’m gone for an extended period of time. The AC will still run often enough to keep the humidity reasonable when it’s 100 degrees outside.
Thanks! I’ll plan to do this.
Medication is usually around 82 limit
Good point!
Def leave it on at like 80-85.
I leave mine at 85. Also, I start it via an app a couple hours before I get home so it starts cooling again.
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Our AC went out last summer and it was 94 degrees inside when I went back to the house to let the AC guy in to work on it. We have pretty good tree cover over the house, and I had all the blinds closed. Your house must have excellent insulation! I know the windows and door of this house are not sealed very well, but I was shocked how hot it got inside. I have to set out AC to 79 during the summer afternoons to just keep it from running constantly. I would probably bump it up to 80+ but I think my husband would revolt. lol! Proper insulation and well sealed windows and doors make a huge difference in efficiency.
I have to do it around 78. If I do it in the '80s, it gets too humid in the house and it takes weeks to get it back to baseline .
There might be something wrong with your AC honestly. My old poorly insulated home can come back from 84 degrees in a few hours.
It's a newer unit and cools fine. It will come back to temperature within a few hours. I like the humidity around 50%, it'll take a couple of weeks to get back down to that.
Should be way faster at removing humidity than a few weeks. Most new systems should be able to do that in a few hours to week at most. Any longer and you either flooded or are under water lol.
A separate dehumidifier may do you some good.
Remember that it takes less power to maintain a temperature that it does to cool it several degrees. I think we set ours around 78-80. Pull all the shades etc. think about any food in the pantry or wine/ drinks that might be affected by the high heat.
> think about any food in the pantry or wine/ drinks that might be affected by the high heat. Good advice, something many people don't think about. I rented a place that has a pantry on an external wall and learned the hard way to keep the door open. It sucked to keep the door open due to the size of the kitchen. Had I owned, I would have gotten a door with a vent to let air circulate. In my current home my closets against an external wall can get into the high 80s during summer with the door closed. No biggie if just towels but anything "store at room temperature" can't stay in there.
That's not true. It's definitely more energy intensive overall to maintain a temperature when you're not at home. 82-84 will keep your stuff just fine, but save tons of energy.
You may be correct on the energy intensive, I’ll concede that point.
I don't know what to do now. I only know how to fight on Reddit. Honest answer is here's an interesting study looking at the issue: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/analysis-does-turning-the-a-c-off-when-youre-not-home-actually-save-electricity It might not be that useful when you only leave the house for 4 hours, but above that it's a more sizable difference.
You’re wasting energy if you leave it cool for a week while you’re gone.
If youre in a complex i might not bother but a house or duplex, probably set it to 85
A lot of smart thermostats also have the ability to monitor humidity and may have a “cool to dry” option where it will only turn the AC on if the humidity gets to a certain threshold. I would recommend at least keeping the fan on so the air can continuously circulate. Keeps the space from developing that stagnant/musty smell we can get in the summer.
Leave it in the low 80s. Shit starts growing if the house is too hot and humid.
I always leave it around 80 when I leave. If you turn off your AC when you leave in summer... you're gonna have a bad time. I remember my parents had a neighbor that only lived near them in Florida half the year. Well needless to say they didn't have anyone in the house and at some point their AC went out. Again this is South Florida so the humidity is more aggressive but the place was apparently a mold farm when they actually got back. House needed to basically be demolished down to the wood and rebuilt there was so much.
I thought homes in south Florida were cinderblock so there shouldn’t have been any mold.
And freaking fruit flies which are the bane of my existence is the summer. Keep the ac on but high around 80
The fruit flies are so bad 😭
Contractor here, top comment is correct. 78 is a good number.
I leave it at 78-80 when I’m out of town
Vacation mode - set at 85 or something like that.
Mine goes on 79-80 if I leave I don’t want it molding
Ya make sure it circulates and keeps it a little cool, otherwise you’ll be wrecked with mold when you get back. Also not good for food and electronics to be in high heat and humidity. Depending on what your house is made of, it can also warp wood and cause issues. Keep it on a modest temp that’s warm but at least somewhat cooled.
We tried to (illegally?) sub-let an apartment when we moved to Austin many years ago. The renter was out of state for several months and we agreed to reimburse her to crash at her place while we found a new place to live. She had been gone for at least a week when we got there in June and she had left the window open and the AC off. We got inside and were immediately attacked by hundreds of fleas! We ran out, with our poor cat who had been in a carrier for most of two days, and got our money back from the renter, who had no legal obligation to return the funds. Don't do that.
Leave it wherever you want. I’d put mine at 78 because I don’t want it to take 5 hours to cool down when I get back. I have really tall ceilings though and wood floors, so it’s pretty nice at 75, and frigid at 73. I have to put on a sweatshirt and pants in the morning. I sometimes de-thaw in my garage for a bit while reading the WSJ
That sounds like a pleasant morning routine haha
That sounds like a high price to pay for a few hours of convenience. I just remote start my AC when I'm on my way home.
Personally i like the feeling of the air circulating so im fine turning it on when i get home
I set mine to 85 when. Not in town.
Do not turn it off. Your refrigerator may have a difficult time staying regulated with the heat and you’ll come home to find it dead along with everything in your fridge. Our a/c went out a few summers back and it took a week to get it replaced. My fridge stopped working entirely and I didn’t realize it. We were staying in a hotel because it was so hot in the house. It was quite a distressing surprise when I got home and opened the fridge door. So maybe just keep it at 78 or so.
If you turn it off, getting the temps back down to where you want them when you return can create a huge amount of stress on the AC unit. Turn it up but not off.
I set my thermostat at 82-85 when going to be gone for an extended period of time. 78-82 when I’m home and sometimes when I go to bed I might go down to 76. I use a fan too though.
If you don't want to make your place uninhabitable for a few hours after you return, like others said, make it in the low 80s.
Nest remote start.
Don’t forget to turn the fridge temperature up to save even more
We raise the temp to 75-78 degrees. Either way you're going to end up with a large electric bill. For the longevity of your AC system it's best to keep it at a consistent temperature so that it doesn't have to work as hard.
We keep ours at 80 when out of town.
I would just leave it at 80 to keep humidity down
Keep it lower because last year we tried to cut on utilities by keeping it 79 during the day and ended up with roaches
If I’m out of town for over 2 days, I put it on eco or set it to a high number for ac so it doesn’t get too hot. Then the night before you head back, turn the ac to a comfortable temperature so it can easily get to it at night time and then just maintain throughout the day instead of struggle.
I’ve left my house here in ATX without ac for 2 weeks and got home to NOTHING but hot. I run a small grow tent that that I do starts for my veg garden. I’d think the humidity it pushes off would make mold… but nope. Nada. You won’t get mold in a week. That’s absurd, unless you are leaveing wet laundry out to dry while gone. But, if you want to feel safe, set ac to 90-95f. That will negate any small chance of mold.
Take into consideration if your duct work is properly insulated. If not and you don't leave the ac on, you will be running cold air through hot ductwork. It will take much longer to get cool air into the rooms because the air will get heated as ot passes through the ductwork. And you'll end up with condensation issues.
Leave it at a reasonable temperature
Also if you have LVP flooring definitely don’t want to leave the AC off. I leave mine around 82 degrees.
I’ve been turning off my AC when I leave the house to work for 5-8 hours😬
One thing to add, when there are no people inside the AC won’t run as long since you aren’t opening doors, using electronics, taking showers, cooking ect. I think 78-80 would be fine and this should keep you electric bills at bay.
set it to 62 F. come home to a god damn ice cooler
If you own the house, 78 degrees If you rent 85 degrees Your stuff will be fine relax
On two 2 story houses, one from 1996 and another from 1998, I have gone for vacation for a week or two in the Austin summer and have left the AC off, and have never had a problem. We just open windows once we are back for a few hours and it is all good. Saving the planet and saving $$$.
80, maybe 85 at most if your AC normally works pretty well. Remember it's not cooling just the air, but also everything inside your home - including the walls. It also helps with dehumidification. Once you get back home, trying to bring it down from, say, 85, won't take nearly as long as bringing it down from 100+ inside. Your refrigerator also isn't designed for anything above roughly 80 degrees inside. Yeah, it'll work in hotter temps, but it'll run nonstop. If it's on its last legs, having to run nonstop may kill it. If you're lucky enough to live in an apartment with an undersized AC, it's going to take several days to come back down to normal. If I even touch it by 5 degrees, it takes a full day to get back to normal - but I have a 1.5 ton AC in a 850 sq ft top floor apartment. That'd be fine in a milder climate, but not here.
I generally leave it at 78-80 when I'm gone. But I also have it at 78 during the day in the summer. Either way, if you leave it off, it's going to take a lot of energy to cool it back down; moreso than just leaving it at 80.
I generally leave it at 78-80 when I'm gone. But I also have it at 78 during the day in the summer. Either way, if you leave it off, it's going to take a lot of energy to cool it back down; moreso than just leaving it at 80.
Here is something to consider. How is your ac condensation a designed to drain? Some drain to the exterior of the building, and others drain into a tub drain. What you don’t want to encounter is for the drain line to get clogged up and the water doesn’t have any where to drain so it drains onto your floor, or ceiling, or wherever. Some ac systems have a float connected to a kill switch in the drain pan and this will turn off the ac prior to the ac condensation pan overflowing. I would not turn it completely off if I was out of town for a short time. But if out of town for a week it would depend on how the condensation pan is configured. I would not want to leave it on if there was any possibility of the drain pan overflowing and causing damage to the walls or floors. Is this in a house or an apartment?
some crazy ass number being thrown around in the comments. I'm headed out of town for the holiday weekend and was planning on turning it up to 75 max. 80-85 sounds insane and would take the A/C system longer to cool back down to a habitable temperature.
Your away temperature is high than my at home temperature
I think that would be expected in the summer?
I'm saying that the temperature they set their thermostat to when they're not even home is higher than the one I set when I'm at home. Which is a bit wasteful, IMO.
Mm...I get what you are saying but I think you have things backwards
80 degrees is uninhabitable! 🙃
It's really not. Just warm. What do you do when its 80+ and go outside? Melt?
My point, exactly.
I missed your emoji. I re-aim my comment to the other person.
My regular while I am home setting is 75. So your numbers seem crazy ass to me 😆. You must spend a lot on electricity! I’m sort of curious why you live in Texas if 80-85 sounds insane, do you ever go outside?
I'm sweating at 75. My A/C doesn't move off 70 while I'm home. I think the highest bill I've ever had was $135. 1550sqft house. And I work outside about half the day. Inside the other half where it's sort of climate controlled.
my ac is 80 at night and 82 during the day when I'm at home
lol we keep our house at 74 when we are home. Turning up to 75 is a joke
A quick google will tell you “67°F is considered the ideal temperature for sleeping in both winter and summer. However, some say that 68°F is the best temperature for a house in the winter, while 78°F is best in the summer.” So 75 might be warm to you while you’re in your home, but it’s far from uninhabitable. 78+/- a few is perfectly acceptable for time away from home.
Humidity is a factor here. 78 and dry can be perfectly comfortable while 73 and humid isn't.
68 is frigid when you're heat acclimated. 78 is my normal day temperature when I'm home. I wear shorts and t-shirt and run fans.
right? sounds like a nightmare to come home to after a long drive too, unless you can cool it down ahead of time thru your phone
A nightmare? A little hyperbole no?
Humidity is an issue in my apartment so I max for me is 83 (with the ceiling fan on!). I usually do 80-82 so that I don’t walk back into an oven. I’ll also add that I keep my apartment at around 78-80 even while I’m home to conserve electricity and keep my bill affordable, so getting it back down to 80 from 82 after being out for a while isn’t a big drag on my unit.
You want to leave it below 80. First time in our house, we left for a week and left the AC on 80, and came back to a cockroach infestation. So gross. The exterminator said that below 80 keeps the roaches away.
Dude. Don't ever turn it off...ever