Home » Cooling

Can i set my thermostat very low in summer?

10 April 2011 2,264 views 2 Comments
Tags: , ,

Like so many other home energy question, this is one without an easy answer.

Before I jump to answer the question with a resounding “Yes, feel free to set your thermostat low in the summer”, there is one critical question I have to know – do you have central air, or does the thermostat control a “climate control” system that has an air conditioner unit with it?

If your thermostat just controls a furnace, when the weather gets warmer, you can just turn off the furnace altogether (there should be a power switch near the furnace or at the thermostat) – making the temperature setting completely irrelevant. No matter what you set it to, it won’t turn on because the furnace is off.

So I think this question is probably geared more towards systems or homes with air conditioning. Setting a thermostat low, meaning a lower temperature reading, means the air conditioner is required to run to maintain that temperature. The longer the a/c runs, the more energy it uses. More energy = more money. Probably not something you want.

Of course, the preference is yours what you decide to keep the temperature at. I would recommend, depending on your situation, no lower than 68 – 70 degrees.

You Might Also Enjoy...

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

2 Comments »

  • Jim (Thermal Leak Detector) said:

    You’re right when you say you can set the temperature to whatever you want, but you’re going to pay for it! A good rule of thumb I like to follow is that for every degree you lower your thermostat, you can see a roughly 4% increase on your summer air conditioning bill. On a $200 bill you’re looking at ~$8 / per degree… the question a homeowner needs to ask him or herself is if it’s worth it.

  • Can i set my thermostat very low in summer? | Home Energy Savings Ideas said:

    […] Free Home Energy Saving Tips This entry was posted in energy news and tagged electric boiler, electric furnace, gas […]

Leave your response!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar.