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AC Unit question

Over the last several weeks, I have spend a lot of money of LED lighting. It's even more efficient the CFL, and getting affordable. Less heat generated by lights to remove with AC.

Also, keep things like the computer, TV, etc. turned off when not in use. Gamers with computers sporting 1000 watt power supplies sure make things warm.
 
mtm1963 said:
given the info you have sited, something seems to be wrong. is your unit preforming to standard and is it the size of unit your house needs based on its square footage? is your house the same size as your neighbors?
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Yes, according to people who've inspected it, it is performing to standard. And yes, the house is the same size as the others. Last year, I went so far as to poll the neighbors to get their square footage, and their electric bill, compared to mine. Everyone who had the same size house as I do, with the same bedrooms, with the same family size, and were home the same amount of time, as a rule, had half the power bill I did.

I've had Georgia Power out here 3 times, I have had independent electricians out here, I have had 2 different HVAC companies out here -- no one can find anything wrong. I'm sure there's something wrong, and even Georgia Power admitted that there was something wrong. They just can't find it. :(
 
KevinKohler said:
Your neighbors are lying to you.
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Georgia Power is not. They were stunned, because they looked through the bills of everyone else in my neighborhood and said, "Yes, you are actually paying double, sometimes triple, what others in your neighborhood pay."
 
the_recruit said:
Your AC will eat more energy keeping your stat at 70 than keeping your stat at 78 without a doubt. Is that what you're asking?
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Yes. :lol: Thank you. I've heard so many different things. Every time I go into my bedroom, I hear my AC unit kick on, and I remembered someone from GA Power telling me that it was better to leave it running all day, than to have it kicking on and off. I just don't know if I believe that, because their job is to make me use as much power as humanly possible.


Fans are great but keep in mind that fans don't cool your house. They make your body cooler because the increased flow of 70 degree air draws more heat off your 98.6 degree body. But if nobody's in the room to feel that airflow, don't keep the fan running. The motor generates heat and actually works to heat your house, not cool it.
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But - the fan is working to keep me comfortable. Right now, my thermostat is on 75. Normally, that would make me uncomfortable because of the humidity level. But with the fan going, I'm not uncomfortable at all. In fact, several times I've felt downright cold. So would that not be OK? As long as I am comfortable, I don't care how hot my house gets. All I am worried about is whether or not we are comfortable in the house. Each room has oscillating fans and a ceiling fan.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
If that means double the electrical bills of what others in your 2 year old neighborhood pay then you have a problem that needs to be fixed. Check for AC system duct leaks, blocked attic vents or a lack of of insulation
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Did all that the first summer we lived here, in 2012. Brand new house, energy efficient EVERYTHING, and a $400 utility bill. Once, it was $440. For one month. We had everything checked, several times since then, and everthing seems to be in working order, and up to code.
 
Superfly said:
Did all that the first summer we lived here, in 2012. Brand new house, energy efficient EVERYTHING, and a $400 utility bill. Once, it was $440. For one month. We had everything checked, several times since then, and everthing seems to be in working order, and up to code.
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Get window AC units.
 
Superfly said:
Wouldn't they be worse on my power bill? Besides, I could only use two. My HOA won't allow window units, so I could only use them in the 2 windows in my house that face my fenced in back yard.
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Move. I would never live anywhere with a HOA.
 
Superfly said:
Wouldn't they be worse on my power bill? Besides, I could only use two. My HOA won't allow window units, so I could only use them in the 2 windows in my house that face my fenced in back yard.
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Window units are much better than portable units.

Screw your HOA
 
Superfly said:
What do you mean portable units? I don't have anything portable.
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Portable A/C on rollers. But....you have to vent it, so it has a duct coming out of it that you can vent out a sliding window (they have adapters), or through a vent hole you drill in the wall (I have that).

I had a window A/C in one of the rooms of my house, trashed it when I put in double paned windows.

FRYS.com | SOLEUS
 
beefheart said:
Portable A/C on rollers. But....you have to vent it, so it has a duct coming out of it that you can vent out a sliding window (they have adapters), or through a vent hole you drill in the wall (I have that).

I had a window A/C in one of the rooms of my house, trashed it when I put in double paned windows.

FRYS.com*|*SOLEUS
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I have double paned windows. Does that mean I can't use a window unit? And honestly, do I need one? The house is cool, or at least we are, and if we are, then to me, the house is. :lol:
 
Superfly said:
I have double paned windows. Does that mean I can't use a window unit? And honestly, do I need one? The house is cool, or at least we are, and if we are, then to me, the house is. :lol:
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You would last only an hour here in Phoenix...LOL

Double paned windows keep the house warm in winter, cool in summer. I had a one paned window facing west, on a hot day in over 110 degrees, the heat that entered the house from that was amazing! My big front picture window is single paned, but I have thick curtains I draw in the summer to cut the heat. You only need A/C if you feel hot!

Too bad you can't use an Evaporative cooler back east, they work incredibly well here in very low humidity. Water is pumped up from a reservoir, over a pad (fiberglass or multi chambered thick treated cardboard), as it works its way down through the media, the fan in the unit draws air in, which interacts with the water as it moves down, blowing out a cool, wet air. But, you need an open window to draw air in, and an open window to channel the humidity out. It works great here, until late July when the dew point goes up. Extremely low cost of electricity.
 
beefheart said:
Despite living in a place where we have multi day stretches where the high is over 110, I try not to use much A/C.

If I set it to 80, I'm cold!

I have a large portable evaporative "Swamp" cooler that really makes it feel cold, and lots of ceiling fans. The secret is air movement.
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Swamp coolers work great here in the Colorado mountains as well, where the relative humidity tends to hover around 20%, but Superfly is on the east coast where RH can easily be near 100%. Nothing much evaporates there.
In those conditions evaporative coolers are pretty much just fans.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
If it's humid in your area: then the humidity carries the heat. You can reduce your electric bill during the summer by buying a dehumidifier which will dry your houseair out - maybe removing a few pints of water from the air per day.

If you live in an arid climate then using a swamp cooler - which injects cooled water mist into the air - will help cool it.

It seems counter intuitive - but it's atmospheric and blah blah.

Either way: I think that keeping your house in the 70's is too cool as that pushes any AC unit to the max.

I keep my house at 80 - 85. This way it runs at max effort only when it's excessively hot (120 out with high humidity). Also - physically - your body will become accustomed to staying 'warmer' and you'll have less issues when you go outside (a 20 degree change isn't as shocking to your system as a 30 - 40 degree change).

We have a few window AC units and during the hottest part of the summer our bill might climb just over 250. (In contrast: during the winter our bill is around 300 at the peak - and 150 or so is a neutral average when we use neither heat nor air.
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A dehumidifier is really just an air conditioner that's not in the window so it can't dump the heat. A dehumidifier will actually raise the temperature in the room.
A swamp cooler evaporates water in a dry climate and as the water changes states it pulls the heat out of the air. A mister is completely different but both will humidify the air. The east coast doesn't need that.
 
Superfly said:
To everyone trying to help:

I live in a high humidity area, where the humidity averages 90% or higher.

If I let my bill go just to stay comfortable, I am paying $400 a month. :(

I don't know if I have issues with my electrical in my house, but I pay double in my house what everyone else pays in their house, and their thermostats are usually set lower than mine. I tried to keep mine at 78 (before we bought the fans, mind you) and we suffocated the entire summer and STILL paid $400 a month, when our neighbors had theirs set at 72 and paid $200.

Luther, my house is 2 years old, and yeah we change the filters out regularly.




Shut up. This is not political.
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I'll bet you have a lot of south facing windows. Solar gain can easily undo the effects of the best air conditioner.
Look into windows with a solar screen or films that can be applied to reflect the suns energy.
About Window Films
It's possible you could half your cooling bill by applying film to only a few of the worst windows.
 
Lord of Planar said:
When you shop for one, don't confuse capacity with how much they are rated to collect water. The ones I've seen are rated at liters per day, and based of 86 F and 80% humidity. My small ones are 650mL and 350 mL. They are solid state (peltier) but you probably need several of them, one per room, or a larger pump type.

Who knows. Maybe two of the 350 ml would be good enough to make a notable difference.

I have these and one of their larger ones, link in image:



Best Dehumidifier
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That machine will heat the room it is put in.
 
Lord of Planar said:
This is true to a point, and yes, a dehumidifier actually warms the air as it puts the water molecules in a lower heat energy state. This heat is extracted into the air plus electricity used to do this adds to the warmth. However, you will save energy by not needing to cool the air to a lower temperature.
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Read Blaylock's post. He knows what he is talking about.
Adding another air conditioner that is not in the widow,( a dehumidifier ) will make the air less humid AND HOTTER.
 
Buck Ewer said:
Swamp coolers work great here in the Colorado mountains as well, where the relative humidity tends to hover around 20%, but Superfly is on the east coast where RH can easily be near 100%. Nothing much evaporates there.
In those conditions evaporative coolers are pretty much just fans.
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Yep, once the monsoon hits here..same thing!
 
Bob Blaylock said:
But a dehumidifier does cool the air to a lower temperature, exactly an an air conditioner does. The only difference is that instead of dumping the heat outside, it dumps it right back into the same air that it just cooled.

So you're still using the same energy to cool the same air, by the same amount; only to heat that air right back up to the temperature it was before (plus a bit extra because of the energy used to power the appliance).

A dehumidifier makes sense if the air is at the temperature where you want it, but you want it to be less humid. But if you also want the air to be cooler, then it's just a waste of energy. A normal air conditioner will remove as much moisture from the air, AND cool it, while using the same amount of energy that a dehumidifier will use just to remove the moisture but leave the air slightly warmer.
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Dehumidifiers are best suited to basement appartments where the air is already cool from the walls and you need to extract the water from the air so it will not condense on the cooler walls and floor and make everything damp and musty.
 
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