“Wow,” my wife said. “It’s a good thing you didn’t talk about the AC.”
“It’s a good thing,” I said.
Okay, my wife is crazy with the AC! Granted, it’s been the hottest summer on record in the Northeast, with temperatures hovering again this week in the uppers 90s. That doesn’t mean it should go down to the low 70s indoors. But those are the icy conditions I’ve come home to on several occasions this summer. A few times it’s even been in the 60s! I’m a strict 78 degree F guy myself, which Consumer Reports has called an ideal temperature for combining comfort and efficiency. In an informal poll on this blog, 665 (31 percent) of you agreed, saying you set your AC between 76 and 78 degrees. My wife’s not alone, however, with 348 respondents (16 percent) voting for a 71 to 73 degree setting.
Comfort is a subjective thing. So my wife and I don’t argue too much over the AC. Instead, we engage in a surreptitious thermostat war, each one setting the unit to his or her preferred setting when the other exits the room. I’ve thought about leaving copies of our electric bill in random places, like under her pillow. But that seems a little cruel. Then again, all is fair in love and war.—Daniel DiClerico
A related thermostat behavior: people who treat the thermostat like the accelerator pedal on a car. "If I set it lower, it will get cool faster." Unlike the gas pedal, the thermostat is a special on/off switch. Lower or higher does NOT equal slower or faster.
Get a nice pedestal fan and point it at your wife. It will make 78 feel like 72 in no time. And, precisely how much time does hubby spend at the stove?? You might change your tune a bit if you have to do some cooking on hot summer days. Men often complain about the electric bill, but compared to the cable (ESPN HD) TV bill and gas for the manly gas guzzling SUV/truck it's about a wash.
Two words: Hot flashes.
Interesting she wants it colder than you do. Most women complain about freezing! Down here in Tx we have the wicked combination of high heat & humidity. The AC has to be able to handle both sensible & latent heat loads. Cooling alone won't cut it. Dehumidification is just as important. (Ex: Outside Rh is 76%. Inside it's 37%)Because of my low indoor humidity, I'm able to set my thermostat on 80 and it's comfortable. I do have ceiling fans and I don't like to be hot. I'm amazed at the number of houses I go into that feel damp and warmer than mine.
Further, it's not all just about SEER ratings either. Proper installation and balancing is critical to optimum performance. It's rather appalling at how poorly many systems are installed. I have a vertical upflow unit in a closet and the plenum box was never sealed properly by the contractor. Result? The fan was pulling warm, humid air down between the stud cavities from the attic downstream of the filter! This also dirtied the evap coil and the squirrel cage blower. When I corrected this problem, the humidity really dropped in the house. You rarely hear of this common fault being addressed. This isn't rocket science. It's common sense.
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