Running an AC is a surefire way to beat the heat, to the point that many homeowners never turn it off. But should you, too? Is nonstop air conditioning a necessity or a luxury? Answering this question, at a time when the warm season is becoming longer and more intense and sustainability is on everyone’s lips, is challenging.
Every choice has consequences. Understanding what happens when you run your AC 24/7, especially if you live in a region where extreme heat and humidity are a fact of life, is worth exploring to make practical decisions.
What Happens When You Keep Your AC on All Day
Blasting your cooling equipment night and day helps keep your house’s indoor climate pleasant, regardless of how oppressive the weather gets. However, telling your AC to maintain a specific temperature all day is inefficient and costly.
Your Energy Consumption Spikes in Some Hours
Realize that there’s a limit to how hot your property gets. The cap depends on its capacity to store heat and the difference between indoor and outdoor air temperatures. The rate at which your house heats up slows as it approaches its limit and stops when its interior temperature is just as high as the outside.
In other words, your house’s cooling load varies throughout the day. Since heat gravitates toward cooler things, colder rooms heat up more easily. In the hottest hours, when indoor temperatures rise faster, your AC needs to use more energy to reach and maintain the temperature you set on the thermostat.
If your house is occupied around this time, blasting your cooling unit is justifiable. If it’s empty, maintaining your preferred comfort level is wasteful.
Your AC Underperforms More Quickly
An air conditioner running at full capacity on end is prone to accelerated wear. It’s subject to high mechanical stress, requiring more frequent repairs to replace damaged components.
Nonstop AC operation can lead to drainage issues due to increased debris buildup and high condensation production. It also aggravates underlying mechanical problems, such as a frozen evaporator coil, which can occur when it you’re running the AC continuously, speeding filter clogging. Running your AC for long periods at low thermostat settings can reduce the heat load enough for condensation to also freeze on the coil.
Your unit’s air filter can get dirty more quickly due to heavy system use. You may need to wash or change it sooner than 30 to 90 days to ensure proper airflow.
What Happens When You Turn Your AC off When You’re Out
Switching off your air conditioner before leaving the house cuts your electric bill. Your cooling unit gets to rest until you return, which should prolong the lifespan of its mechanical parts. The dangers with this strategy, though, are moisture damage and discomfort.
Humidity Level Rises Unchecked
If you have a humid climate, expect mugginess inside the house. Wet outdoor air can enter your space through cracks around the house. Water vapor can pass through surfaces, especially porous ones.
Without air conditioning and proper ventilation, you can have unmitigated moisture issues. They can result in damp conditions, which mold and mildew love. These contaminants can produce musty odors and cause health problems.
Prolonged exposure to high humidity levels spells disaster for building materials, including wood, metal, insulation, drywall, plaster, concrete and paint. What you save on electricity by turning off your AC may hurt your pocket through premature renovation.
Extreme Heat Takes a While to Offset
Going home to a place baked by the sun, without air conditioning, is like entering a furnace. Granted, your house should be less sweltering than it was during the day’s peak outside air temperatures, but its indoor climate would feel more like a desert and less like an oasis.
Even if you power on your AC when you return, your equipment needs time to cool your space comfortably. Reducing air temperatures to lower levels may still use less energy than running your unit constantly. Still, your electric consumption will likely spike around this time.
Waiting for your air conditioner to remove unwanted heat and humidity can be uncomfortable if you just want to relax. The bigger your space and the less efficient your unit, the longer the cooling cycles are.
How to Conserve Energy While Regulating Your Space’s Indoor Climate
Keeping your AC on all day to remove excess heat and moderate indoor humidity in your house without wasting energy is possible if you’re mindful. Follow these tips to balance comfort and energy efficiency.
Minimize Heat Transfer Around the House
Regulating your indoor climate doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Your air conditioner is just one of many factors that determine your home’s energy needs for space cooling.
To help your AC run more efficiently, regardless of age, aim to have an airtight house. You can achieve it by identifying and addressing your property’s pockets of heat loss, which a credentialed energy auditor can determine for you.
Furthermore, invest in adequate insulation. Value installation quality as much as material and thickness to eliminate gaps, voids and compression. High-performance windows, like those with protective coatings, improved frames and other advanced technologies, help thermally enclose your house to reduce the amount of outdoor heat going inside.
Upgrade Your Aging Cooling Unit
Older models are inefficient because they have worn-out components and outdated technologies.
If you have a noninverter, zoned heating, ventilation and air conditioning system with smart functionality, switch to a more advanced product. Inverter technology adjusts the compression motor speed variably to match cooling demand. Zoning divides your house into different areas you can cool separately. Smart features include remote access, voice control, automation and energy monitoring to manage your AC usage more effectively.
If you don’t have a budget for an upgrade yet, buy a programmable thermostat instead. This device lets you set different temperature settings throughout the day. Setting it back 7° to 10° Fahrenheit from your normal setting for eight hours, especially when you’re not around, can save you up to 10% a year on cooling and heating.
Beat the Heat With Service Experts
Service Experts understands the importance of a well-functioning air conditioner for staying safe, healthy and comfortable during the hot season. We offer a broad range of AC services to ensure you have a reliable HVAC system that cools your space and conserves energy in the warmer months. If you want to learn more about our installation and repair solutions, service guarantees and maintenance plans, contact our nearest location to discuss your needs.
