By Vernon Trollinger, July 11, 2013, Energy Efficiency, Save Money The simple answer is “Set it to what ever temperature that makes your family comfortable.” But comfort can be a complicated (and entrenched) behavior. My father-in-law told me a story about his cousin who always set their air conditioner to 65°F in the summer, so she could wear a sweater. In the winter, she set her heat to 80°F and then go around in short sleeves. Let’s shoot for an answer that keeps you comfortable and saves you money. There’s lots of truth in the old saying, “It’s not the heat, but the humidity.” When it’s hot, it’s the relative humidity making people really feel uncomfortable, because your body’s sweat glands don’t work as efficiently as they can. Sweat works to help maintain body temperature by evaporating from your body and carrying away some of your body heat (called “latent heat“). In fact, in order to regulate body temperature, human skin sweats automatically at 98.6° Fahrenheit (37° C).

To understand the effects of humidity better: When the air is dry, your sweat evaporates readily and you feel comfortable. An 80°F day feels like 80°F when the relative humidity is 40%. However, as humidity rises, more water vapor is in the air which makes its more and more difficult for your sweat to evaporate. So when it’s steamy hot and humid, it feels much hotter and you sweat in buckets. An 80°F day with 90% humidity has a “heat index” of 86°F. So, the first thing you want to do is reduce the relative humidity in your house. Fortunately, air conditioners are extremely good at this, especially if you have air sealed your home and have vapor barriers in your basement or crawlspaces. EPA recommends the “ideal” humidity level of 60% during summer and 25 to 40% in the winter. Many programmable thermostats will display the relative humidity at the push of a button. Meanwhile, personal fans and ceiling fans feel great, because they blow air across your body, and moving air is very good at evaporation.

Thus, fans don’t lower the temperature of a room, but they make it feel cooler. One common humidity problem is your air conditioner might be too big for the home. cost of car air conditioner replacementThe system will run for a short time and cool the house, but will not run long enough to dehumidify. hvac heat pump problemsIf this is the case in your home, you will need to discuss it with a contractor.types of ac units for home How high can you set the thermostat on your central air and still be comfortable? Some people like it cool; others want it warm. Some people also get fixated on a setting, say 72°F. Yet, they find themselves being very comfortable in a room where it is 78°F without their knowing it. Like we said earlier – comfort is complicated.

Also, our normal circadian rhythm fluctuates body temperatures during the day so the comfort-goal posts keep getting moved. So, how do you find a sweet spot? Try this experiment on your family. When everyone is home, secretly set your thermostat to 81°F for few hours. See how your family reacts. Over the next few days for the same period of time, drop the temperature 2°F until you reach 71°F. Chances are that your family will be generally comfortable between 73°F and 79°F when they are active. Not surprisingly, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) finds “The preferred temperature range for occupants dressed in summer clothes (0.35 to 0.6 clo) is 73° to 79°F (22.5° to 26°C).” Choose the average of what you discover to be your family’s comfortable range and set your thermostat to that. For convenience, we’ll say it’s 78°F. When everyone’s away for the day, there’s no real need to cool your home — but you still want to keep the humidity low so you will want to run your AC, just not as often.

By raising the temperature by 10°F (86°F) when you are away, you can save money off your electric bill. Will your AC use more energy to bring the temperature back down? The higher interior temperature actually slows the flow of heat into your home. With a programmable thermostat, you can set your AC to begin cooling down your home 30 minutes before you arrive. At night 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 86°F (nude and uncovered) or 60 to 66°F (wearing pajamas and covered by one sheet). This suggests the key to getting a good night’s sleep during the summer is to raise your thermostat setting to a somewhat warm setting, say 80°F for example. Then use the appropriate amount of bedding and pajamas for late June to feel comfortable. You can also help yourself drift off by using a ceiling fan to gently waft a breeze down onto you.

To help you wake up, you can program your thermostat to return to the waking temperature a half hour before you get up. How much can you save by making these adjustments to your thermostat? Each degree that you are able to raise the thermostat saves you 3 to 5% on your air conditioning costs. So if normally have your thermostat pegged at 74°F and you are paying $150, just raising it a mere 4 degrees to 78°F could reduce your bill by $25. By adjusting your thermostat to your family’s schedule, or using a programmable thermostat, you can save even more. Isn’t that a comforting thought?Updated The principals behind all true air conditioners are generally similar. Whether its a full size home AC, a split AC, or a window AC, they still rely on compressing refrigerants and transferring heat from one heat exchanger to another. /ac...In a window AC this all takes place in on self contained unit with the hot and cold heat exchangers both inside the same unit. In mini split and whole home ACs these two heat exchangers are separate.

One is placed indoors while the other is outside the house to transfer indoor heat to the outside air.Below is a cutaway of the basic setup of a split or "min-split" AC system as there sometimes called. The chief difference from a whole home AC and a mini-split is that a split system uses self contained heat exchangers and blowers that circulate cold air throughout the desired room or rooms. /split...Split ACs are typically more effective than window air conditioners because of the inherent difference in insulation. A window AC allows some heat from outdoors to enter through the unit and open window frame. This can be reduced with insulating window sealing but the design of a window air conditioner is inherently less insulated.Of course the efficiency of any air conditioner varies depending on the internal components. Make sure to check the EER (energy efficiency ratio) of any unit you intend to use as it tells you how much power is used to cool your space. A higher EER means that the unit uses less energy to cool.

Most split systems are designed for more serious cooling applications and typically have an output of over 18,000 BTUs. Some split systems can deliver as much as 40,000 BTUs of cooling. In contrast, most window air conditioners range from about 8,000 to 20,000 BTUs.Another key consideration is cost. A typical split system will cost at least $1,000 (and can easily cost $2k-$3k or more) while window air conditioners usually cost somewhere in the ballpark of $300 to $800 depending on output and features.Written It depends on what you mean by "better"A window air conditioner will be less expensive.A window air conditioner will be louder.A split system will distribute air better, if the distribution ductwork is correctly designed and installed.A window air conditioner will be visible in the conditioned space, a split will not, unless it's a mini-split with a wall-mounted fan/coil.A window air conditioner will be easier to install, but you'll lose the use of that window.All of the above aside, if both systems are correctly sized for the load, they will both maintain space temperature at the setpoint, so they're tied in that respect.

Written A split air conditioner consists of an indoor air unit and an outdoor  compressor, which help to exchange air while converting warm air to  cold air. A split air conditioner is superior to traditional window or  portable units, and can often compete closely with a central air  conditioner unit. The unit can usually be installed fairly easily, and  works as a permanent climate control solution. Some units also offer the  added benefit of heat, allowing for heating during winter months.Using small pipes to connect the outdoor unit to the indoor unit, the  split air conditioner can be placed in almost any room in your home.  For larger homes, a multi-zone system can be installed, allowing for  multiple indoor units, with a single outdoor compressor. This helps the  outdoor aesthetics of your home, while providing you with the most  efficient cooling and heating solution.Read more: Page on AirconditioneroutletWritten There are many advantages and benefits of the mini split air conditioning systems.

They also vary significantly from the regular window ACs as well. Themini split air conditioner is a system that makes no use of the duct that is otherwise required by all the air conditioners for their functioning. This is the reason why the mini split air conditioners are also known as the ductless split systems.The mini split air conditioners have two main units. One of them is placed at the exterior of the building and is known as the condenser or the compressor. The other one is the smaller and the more compact one which is placed within the home. It distributes the cool air in the room and is known as the evaporator or the fan.There are many benefits of using such ductless split systems. They are extremely suitable for all kinds of offices or homes. The best thing about such ACs is the fact that they do not require any additional ducts or pipe works for installation. Another great advantage of these mini split air conditioner New Orleans is that they are noiseless and thus the ambiance inside the room is a more pleasant one.