What ac temperature saves the most money

Air conditioning offers a refreshing escape from the summer heat, but settling on a temperature to maintain in your home may require a delicate balance between your family's comfort preferences and your financial bottom line. Simply put – the lower you set your thermostat in the summer, the higher your energy bills will be. However, if you work through some of the variables you can shoot for a temperature that keeps you comfortable and saves you money.

The Best Temperature Settings When You're at Home

To stay comfortable and save money this summer, the U.S. Department of Energy recommends setting your thermostat to 78F (26C) when you are home. Setting your air conditioner to this level will allow you to stay cool and avoid an unusually high electricity bill. If you still find yourself looking for relief, you can invest in a dehumidifier and follow our tips below to trap cool air in your home.

To stay comfortable and save money this summer, the U.S. Department of Energy recommends setting your thermostat to 78F (26C) when you are home.

The Best Temperature Settings When You're Away

Keeping your house warmer while you are away can help you save even more money this summer. Turning your thermostat up seven to 10 degrees F (two to three degrees C) higher while you are away at work, or any time you're out of the house for more than two hours, can help you save as much as 10 percent on cooling costs. So, to save money and energy while you're away in the summer, set your thermostat to 88F (31C). The higher interior temperature actually slows the flow of heat into your home, so it won't take as much energy to cool things back down as you think when you return home.

Tips to Maximize Cooling Efforts in Your Home

Although 78F might still sound uncomfortably high, you can help your air conditioner provide better cooling for less energy by preventing warm air from getting into your home and cool air from escaping. Follow these simple tips to keep your home cool and comfortable all summer long:

• Hang up window treatments that block sunlight and prevent heat from entering through your windows.
• Install fresh or replace old weatherstripping and caulk around doors and windows to keep your home sealed.
• Limit use of appliances that generate heat, like the oven and stove, until after 8pm. In the summer, try to grill outside as much as possible.
• Install ceiling fans to increase cooling efficiency.
• Replace cooling units with energy-efficient models.

Finding the Right Temperature for Your Family

Try an experiment where you secretly set your thermostat to 81F for a few hours and see how your family reacts. Over the next few days, drop the temperature 2F until you reach 71F. Then you can set your thermostat to what you find to be the average of your family's comfortable range. According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the preferred temperature range for occupants dressed in summer clothes is 73F to 79F.

Nighttime is another opportunity for conservation. When you go to sleep, your core body temperature lowers and heat radiates from your extremities. A National Institute of Health study found the best sleep happens as the body reaches "thermoneutrality" when environmental temperatures are at 86F (nude and uncovered) or 60 to 66F (wearing pajamas and covered by one sheet). This suggests one tactic to help enjoy a good night's sleep during the summer is to raise your thermostat to a warmer setting, say 80F, while using lighter bedding and sleepwear. You can also help yourself drift off by using a ceiling fan to gently waft a breeze down onto your bed.

But even if you decide it's worth the dollars to keep your home a few degrees frostier, at least you can make an informed choice about how you spend your money. The really good news is you can take other steps to try to squeeze out those savings without making yourself miserable for the summer.

Keep an Eye on the Humidity

High humidity can turn a garden-variety hot day into something much more challenging to endure because your body's sweat glands don't work as efficiently when there's a lot of moisture in the air. Sweat works to maintain body temperature by evaporating from your skin and carrying away body heat. When the air is dry, your sweat dissipates readily and you feel more comfortable. However, as humidity rises, the increased water vapor in the air makes it more and more difficult for your sweat to evaporate, leaving you even hotter even while you're drenched in moisture.

As an example, an 80F day feels like 80F when the relative humidity is 40 percent, but an 80F day with 90 percent humidity has a "heat index" of 86F, which means you need to take extra steps to cool down. Fortunately, air conditioners are extremely good at reducing the relative humidity, especially if your home is air sealed and has vapor barriers in the basement or crawlspaces. If you're counting on your AC to tackle the humidity, make sure your unit isn't too big for your home, because the system will only need to run for a short time to cool the house, and won't be on long enough to dehumidify. The EPA recommends an ideal humidity level of 30 to 50 percent during the summer to prevent mold and pests, which will also keep you more comfortable during the heat of summer. A dehumidifier can help you achieve lower humidity if you want to save your air conditioner some of the burden.

What's more, you can supplement your air conditioner with personal fans and ceiling fans, which blow air across your body to aid evaporation. While fans don't actually lower the temperature of a room, they make it feel cooler by taking a bite out of the humidity.

The Importance of a Programmable Thermostat

Although raising your thermostat's temperature while away can mean serious savings, few people remember to change the temperature settings every time they enter and leave the house. Fortunately, a smart or programmable thermostat can take on that job for you, ensuring that you live in a comfortable setting without missing out on any opportunity for savings. Programmable thermostats allow you to set different temperatures based on factors like the time of day, when you're home and when the house is empty, and then forget about it.

You can set your AC to begin cooling down your home 30 minutes before you arrive, ensuring your interior is at a comfortable temperature when you step inside. Smart thermostats also allow you to control the temperature via your smartphone or tablet, and they can observe when you enter or leave the house and automatically adjust the settings accordingly. They can even help control humidity levels, as many programmable thermostats will display the relative humidity at the push of a button.

Have you followed our recommended thermostat settings and other energy savings tips but still see an abnormally high bill? Read our guide on why your electricity bill may increase in the summer.

Staying comfortable while keeping utility costs reasonable in the summer is tricky, but it's not impossible. Sign up for an electricity plan with Direct Energy and you'll get the tools you need to track your usage and stay energy-efficient.

Lowering your energy bill can be accomplished easily by improving the energy efficiency of your home.

We explore the energy consumed by typical home systems, appliances and electronics.

Don't overlook the outside of your home when it comes to lowering your energy bill.

Temperatures are definitely getting hotter.  But staying cool this summer doesn’t necessarily mean you have to pay a fortune to keep the air-conditioning running day and night. Here are some helpful tips that will keep you comfortable and cut your cooling bill.

Tip 1: Set the Dial Higher

If you have central air, set your thermostat above 78 degrees (all temperatures cited here are in degrees Fahrenheit). You’ll save 5 to 8 percent on cooling costs with each degree above that mark. For a typical household, setting the thermostat at 80 degrees saves 10 to 15 percent; raising it to 85 degrees will save 35 to 55 percent.

When you leave home for more than one hour, set the thermostat up a few degrees. Reset it upon your return, and the room will cool down in only 15 minutes. The system will use less energy during the cool-down period than if you had left it running at a lower setting while you were out.

Tip 2: Get a Programmable Thermostat

A programmable thermostat lets you preset temperatures for different times of the day, so air-conditioning is working only when you are home. The least expensive thermostat models let you set four cycles that, unless manually overridden, repeat every day. Higher-priced models allow you to create settings for each weekday and for each weekend day.

Tip 3: Use A Fan In Tandem With Your Air Conditioning

A fan, which costs two to five cents per hour to operate, can make a room feel 4 to 6 degrees cooler. Also, a fan works well in tandem with an air conditioner because the dehumidifying action of the air conditioner provides drier air that the fan can then move around.

In frequently used rooms, install a ceiling fan (set it to spin counterclockwise in summer). You’ll save the most money by running the fan only when you’re in the room.

If nighttime temperatures drop into the 70s where you live, you might want to purchase a whole-house fan. When run at night with the windows open, the fan will pull cool air into the house as it vents hot air out through the attic. Whole-house fans, which draw only as much power as a couple of lightbulbs, are usually outfitted with a variable-speed switch and/or timer.

Tip 4: Practice “Kansas Cool”

“Kansas cool” is a morning and evening routine that takes advantage of cool outdoor temperatures at night and keeps the heat at bay as much as possible during daylight hours. It’s very simple to do: At night when the temperature drops, open windows and bring in cool air with window fans or a whole-house fan. As soon as the sun comes up or the air starts to heat up, shut the windows and shades and keep doors closed.

Tip 5: Shades for you home

As much as 20 percent of summer heat enters your home as sunlight shining through windows. To cut “solar gain,” add curtains or blinds to rooms that get direct sun and draw them in daylight hours. With the shades drawn, a well-insulated house will gain only 1 degree per hour when outdoor temperatures are above 85 degrees.

Pay special attention to west-facing rooms late in the day. Shades and blinds to consider include roller shades (the least expensive option), venetian-type micro-blinds, reflective curtains and insulated curtains (the most expensive, at $100 per window). Two exterior options are to install awnings or plant shade trees.

Other Thoughts

Any appliance that generates heat adds to your cooling load. An oven baking cookies can easily raise the room temperature 10 degrees, which in turn jacks up overall cooling costs 2 to 5 percent. Save cooking (especially baking) for cooler hours, or cook outdoors on your grill. It is also a good idea to run the dishwasher and clothes dryer at night.

Incandescent bulbs don’t contribute as much heat as unshaded windows, but they do add heat to a house and can raise the perceived temperature, sending you to the thermostat to seek relief. To reduce this hot-light effect and save lighting costs year-round, replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. They use about 75 percent less energy and emit 90 percent less heat.

We know that it may not be practical for you to implement all of the energy saving tips listed above, but even if you could utilize some of them, you should see a decrease in your Summer energy bill.

Your Comfort is OUR Concern!

Jerry Callabresi