What Temp Is Your Thermostat Set?

[logixx]

@launderess

Yes, I was just recently watching a documentary about the heat wave in Europe that killed tens of thousands of people back in 2003. Part of the issue also mentioned in the documentary was that our brick buildings can only shield us from the heat for so long... if it's not cooling off during the night, we're stuck in our brick ovens.

People in humid Florida or scorching Nevada certainly have their own idea of "hot". To us it's usually daytime temps of above 85F and nighttime temps of above 68F when you hear meteorologists on TV speak of "it's going to be a hot and and a hot night". Without air conditioning, it's no fun trying to sleep in an almost 78F bedroom.

Funny you mention government intervention. Just today, the town I live in posted about 4-hour seminars on the topic of heat protection that'll be held in the town hall. Well, it's also about energy conservation, so ACs are probably not high on the list.

On the topic of energy: my monthly bill is 37€ at 38 Cents/kWh based on a consumption of roughly 74 kWh per month in 2024.

 

[appnut]

We keep t-stat at 77 during the day and 75 at night between 9 pm and 6:00 or 7:00 am. Humidity level is target at 50%. Heat pump is a 2015 or 2017 Trane Heat Pump with an 18 SEER, Has a multi-stage, 2-speed condenser outside and variable speed air handler. We have yet had a day of 100F which is unusual. It's actually been slightly cooler than normal. Temperature is kept slightly cooler than previous years as I'm not the only soul living here now.

 

[parunner58]

This is the display from my outdoor weather station at 2:20pm. A little toasty today.

 

[circlew]

Though it's been hot several days this summer, there have been much hotter. The last time it reached 100 or more in Cincinnati was in July 2012. The decade with the most years reaching 100 or higher was the 1930s, when there were five years it did so. That was during a time that very few had air conditioned homes, and only a few public buildings, such as theaters, restaurants, and department stores had cooling.

 

[mattl]

I have not used my central AC for close to a decade, but this year the heat/humidity got to me. I'm on a three tier electric plan so no AC from 2-7 rate is 18 cents a kw/hr. I keep it at 80 from 7-11 PM and 7 AM till 2 PM, rate 11 c kw/hr. from 11 PM to 7 AM I cool to 78 when the rate is 8 c kw/hr. House stay comfortable for me.

 

[kevin313]

Ours is at 73 degrees at all times. A couple of fans (ceiling, box) seem to help maintain the cool.

 

[Marky_Mark]

Ours is set to 23 ℃ / 74 ℉ during the day and then 20 ℃ / 68 ℉ for sleeping.

The small apartment in Madrid has a 2.3-ton (8 kW) central forced-air system that cools and heats (heat pump). It's variable speed and just coasts along silently on low speed even in the height of summer. The apartment also has underfloor heating, fed by a gas boiler, which is nice but very slow to respond. The forced air heating is much more efficient and cheaper to run compared to the gas underfloor heating. But the underfloor heating is zoned and the A/C is not, so we use the underfloor heating in winter to heat the living area only, as the last thing I want to do is heat the bedroom as I like sleeping in a cold room.

In Palm Springs we have 3 central forced air systems. One in the casita (heat pump) and two in the house (both gas-fired for heating).
The system for the bedrooms is 4 ton (14 kW) and keeps up in summer. The casita keeps up in summer too. The living area system is a 5 ton (18 kW) and only just about keeps up in summer. They are 25 years old and we are managing to keep them going! We'll need to bite the bullet and replace them at some point.

Fortunately, it's very common to have A/C in Spain and of course in Palm Springs, where you couldn't live without it. Newer homes in Spain are built with central A/C and older homes often have central A/C retro fitted (like our apartment, built 125 years ago) or they have mini splits installed. You see more and more mini splits in Palm Springs too, especially in garages and bedrooms, where people just want to cool one bedroom at night. Unfortunately it's still uncommon to see A/C in homes in the UK and Ireland, despite being common in commercial/public buildings. Our apartment building in Dublin was new and yet had no A/C in the apartments, despite all the commercial areas in our multi-use building being air conditioned. We struggled with two noisy and inefficient portable air conditioners. Hopefully this will change as people move away from gas boilers. Perhaps heat pump systems via forced air will become more common as people start to demand cooling as well as heating. You don't need much A/C in the UK and it would therefore be cheap to run and would make a massive difference to sleeping during the summer and general comfort.

 

[hvtech42]

The temperature you're comfortable at depends heavily on humidity levels and air movement.

On a hot day, I'm totally comfortable with my AC set to 77-78 and ceiling fans going. The biggest challenge I have is on cooler days (low 70s/high 80s outside) with high humidity where the AC isn't running as much - then I need to set it lower to remove humidity.

Oversized air conditioners are a massive problem that leads to comfort issues. Too many people think bigger is better. Well, it isn't. An AC that's too big will cycle on/off, even on hot days, which greatly reduces humidity removal. If you need to set your AC to the low 70s or 60s to be comfortable most of the summer, that's a red flag to me that it's oversized. My 2200 square foot house does just fine with a 2 ton unit.