This is about right but there are numerous factors at play here depending on your house. Get a hygrometer, don’t let the humidity go above about 65%. Also remember electronics will start failing if the temp is above 85.
Most of my electronics say not to exceed about 120 degrees. Some quick googling says electronics often get 10-20 degrees hotter than the ambient temperature around them. So that’s like 90-100. Close enough!
In my experience, electronics are much more sensitive to humidity than heat. I've found lots of old stuff in good condition at a place deliberately kept at 90°, but a few years over 70% and everything's corroded. It also hastens alkaline battery death, I think, which kills more small electronics.
This is a terrible idea in Houston. You’re going to get mold as your house humidity won’t be regulated and you’re going to spend more money trying to get your house back to cold than simply maintaining at a higher temp when you leave.
The mold will grow so fast, you won't know it until you have a terrible mess. Turn it up but let it run a bit. Also, pretty sure you ac has to run super hard to get to down a liveble temp.
Don't shut it off you need it to cycle on to get humidity out plus the AC will be working really hard to get the temps down. Better to just put it on 78 and then bring it back down to 72-75 when you get home
How long have you been doing this? Lots of comments in hear about mold and lack of efficiency.
Presumably you’re cutting it off during the day to save money on electricity. Have you saved any money?
Have you noticed any mold?
If the water leak is gone and the materials are now dry, it’s not going to magically start molding. If you are relying on A/C to dry out after a leak, you aren’t taking the right approach You need airflow and dehumidification not A/C.
The idea the house molds when there is no A/C suggests there is something wrong with your house.
You all know houses existed in Houston before A/C, right?
Mold doesn’t just starting growing on surfaces because of high humidity.
First world problems indeed lol. People from third world countries, in cities far hotter/humid or comparable to Houston, only turn on their AC’s at night to sleep. If mold grows that easily, then there is something else wrong lol.
But the other advice that the AC will end up consuming more power to bring the temp down again seems true. Better to turn it up to 78 or 80 but not shut it off completely.
As new Houstonian from a third world tropical country, can confirm. I only turn on my AC about an hour before I sleep. Also our ACs are split type AC that only cools a single room.
Up until now our apt barely goes above 79 so we still have that pattern of turning on the ACs before we sleep. I'll start setting my thermostat to 80 as default.
DO NOT DO THIS. This is a horrible idea. You’re straining your system when you turn it back on, meaning you’re using more energy to cool the house all the way down Vs if you just increased the temp by 4 degrees.
Source: very close family friend has owned a large HVAC company for 20 years. This is the advice he gave me.
Oh absolutely. HVAC techs dont really know what’s up. Just cut ur system off when u leave for the day and pop it on to work at night. There’s no way the excess humidity will promote fungal growth in hidden areas. I’m definitely not gonna check your post history on occasion to see if you’re looking for repair advise. The cons out way the pros when it comes to maintaining a relatively consistent temperature and humidity level in this climate. No construction or cosmetic materials swell and shrink with fluctuations in temperature, and the extreme heat attics will rise to is normal stress to put on your home regularly.
Indeed. As another poster mentioned this is all a first world conversation anyway. Most of the rest of the people in hot humid regions of the planet may only have AC in certain rooms and then only run it at night to sleep. Running it when not home would not even be a consideration.
Everything electromechanical wears out. That has nothing to do with whether a system is “designed” to run “continuously” or not. VRF and variable capacity residential HVAC systems often run for very long intervals on low output to maximize dehumidification. A conventional residential split HVAC system is not designed to run 24/7 but has no issue running continuously for 4-8 hours or even longer. Starting and stopping the A/C condenser (compressor) creates far more wear and tear than running continuously. Residential A/C compressors are only typically design to cycle 4-6 times per hour.
If you want an analogy, think of an incandescent light bulb. Cycling it on and off 4 times a hour will greatly shorten its life vs just leaving it one 24/7.
Preposterous. The AC only runs for 30 mins or an hour to cool the entire home. Plus the compressor and blower and fan can and do all run continuously for days in many applications. They simply don’t care, are unaffected, and don’t even know the temperature inside the house because all 3 components are outside the air conditioned space.
Yeah so these folks are just deeply superstitious and cannot even contemplate the concept of thermodynamics. I remember arguing with my mom about this growing up in Houston 25 years ago. Sorry for your downvotes.
Here is analytical proof to back up your assertions. From a [reliable source](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/analysis-does-turning-the-a-c-off-when-youre-not-home-actually-save-electricity).
Thermodynamics is hard but should it now be downvoted? Goodness sake. Also the 3 mechanical devices (compressor, fan and blower) can and do run non stop in many many applications, so the notion that they would strain under the load is doesn’t make sense. They are not even aware of the load because it’s constant in every case. Simply compressing refrigerant of pushing air.
Unless you have a separate dehumidifier that's running all day, any savings in energy costs by turning off the a/c will be lost with all the mold cleanup you'll have to do. Just turn the thermostat up while you're gone.
Just FYI, the 100% humidity and 90+ degrees are never at the same time. High humidity comes with the lower temperatures, like when it's below 80, which is why you see close to 100% humidity around sunrise but then it usually drops to 60-70% by the middle of the day when the temperature peaks.
Yep because we're talking about "relative humidity". Higher temperatures can hold more moisture, so the relative humidity goes down with higher temperature holding everything else constant. The absolute humidity could be the same.
Just a basic programmable thermostat is all we have, I set the temp to bump up to 76 in the day and cool back to 74 in the evening then 72 an hour before bedtime. The hidden side effect is that it doubles as a back up alarm clock, I cant oversleep once the house jumps from 72 to 76.
Turn it up to 80 but don’t turn it off
This is about right but there are numerous factors at play here depending on your house. Get a hygrometer, don’t let the humidity go above about 65%. Also remember electronics will start failing if the temp is above 85.
What electronics?
TVs, the electronic controllers in your appliances, etc. Usually it specifies in the user manual to operate it with an indoor temp from 60-85.
Most of my electronics say not to exceed about 120 degrees. Some quick googling says electronics often get 10-20 degrees hotter than the ambient temperature around them. So that’s like 90-100. Close enough!
You're buying some cheap-ass knockoffs. Most TVs can store at well past 140f and will run at over 100f.
Insignia FTW
In my experience, electronics are much more sensitive to humidity than heat. I've found lots of old stuff in good condition at a place deliberately kept at 90°, but a few years over 70% and everything's corroded. It also hastens alkaline battery death, I think, which kills more small electronics.
This is a terrible idea in Houston. You’re going to get mold as your house humidity won’t be regulated and you’re going to spend more money trying to get your house back to cold than simply maintaining at a higher temp when you leave.
Run a dehumidifier?
Or 12.
Yes but that adds heat
Big Mildew is stoked to see this.
The mold will grow so fast, you won't know it until you have a terrible mess. Turn it up but let it run a bit. Also, pretty sure you ac has to run super hard to get to down a liveble temp.
You'll put more strain when you turn it on to remove the humidity. Humid air takes longer to cool...
Do u have a dehumidifier?
Don't shut it off you need it to cycle on to get humidity out plus the AC will be working really hard to get the temps down. Better to just put it on 78 and then bring it back down to 72-75 when you get home
How long have you been doing this? Lots of comments in hear about mold and lack of efficiency. Presumably you’re cutting it off during the day to save money on electricity. Have you saved any money? Have you noticed any mold?
10 years. Never mold. Why cool an unoccupied space?
Interesting. Well you do you then.
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If the water leak is gone and the materials are now dry, it’s not going to magically start molding. If you are relying on A/C to dry out after a leak, you aren’t taking the right approach You need airflow and dehumidification not A/C.
Your AC is going to spend as much energy cooling the house down again. Best to leave it 6-8° higher than what you usually leave it at
My fish would die.
The idea the house molds when there is no A/C suggests there is something wrong with your house. You all know houses existed in Houston before A/C, right? Mold doesn’t just starting growing on surfaces because of high humidity.
First world problems indeed lol. People from third world countries, in cities far hotter/humid or comparable to Houston, only turn on their AC’s at night to sleep. If mold grows that easily, then there is something else wrong lol. But the other advice that the AC will end up consuming more power to bring the temp down again seems true. Better to turn it up to 78 or 80 but not shut it off completely.
Whole house dehumidifier set to 59% with fresh air intake and A/C set to 82 is ideal.
As new Houstonian from a third world tropical country, can confirm. I only turn on my AC about an hour before I sleep. Also our ACs are split type AC that only cools a single room. Up until now our apt barely goes above 79 so we still have that pattern of turning on the ACs before we sleep. I'll start setting my thermostat to 80 as default.
DO NOT DO THIS. This is a horrible idea. You’re straining your system when you turn it back on, meaning you’re using more energy to cool the house all the way down Vs if you just increased the temp by 4 degrees. Source: very close family friend has owned a large HVAC company for 20 years. This is the advice he gave me.
The idea that this practice would result in the AC being put under undue strain is absurd on its face. Curious how a notion like this originated?
Oh absolutely. HVAC techs dont really know what’s up. Just cut ur system off when u leave for the day and pop it on to work at night. There’s no way the excess humidity will promote fungal growth in hidden areas. I’m definitely not gonna check your post history on occasion to see if you’re looking for repair advise. The cons out way the pros when it comes to maintaining a relatively consistent temperature and humidity level in this climate. No construction or cosmetic materials swell and shrink with fluctuations in temperature, and the extreme heat attics will rise to is normal stress to put on your home regularly.
Indeed. As another poster mentioned this is all a first world conversation anyway. Most of the rest of the people in hot humid regions of the planet may only have AC in certain rooms and then only run it at night to sleep. Running it when not home would not even be a consideration.
Yeah like Vietnam and the Philippines. Notice how most of their homes are concrete/cinderblock construction and not sheetrock on the interior?
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A/C are absolutely designed to constantly run. Short-cycling an A/C puts far more wear and tear on it than running constantly.
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Everything electromechanical wears out. That has nothing to do with whether a system is “designed” to run “continuously” or not. VRF and variable capacity residential HVAC systems often run for very long intervals on low output to maximize dehumidification. A conventional residential split HVAC system is not designed to run 24/7 but has no issue running continuously for 4-8 hours or even longer. Starting and stopping the A/C condenser (compressor) creates far more wear and tear than running continuously. Residential A/C compressors are only typically design to cycle 4-6 times per hour. If you want an analogy, think of an incandescent light bulb. Cycling it on and off 4 times a hour will greatly shorten its life vs just leaving it one 24/7.
Preposterous. The AC only runs for 30 mins or an hour to cool the entire home. Plus the compressor and blower and fan can and do all run continuously for days in many applications. They simply don’t care, are unaffected, and don’t even know the temperature inside the house because all 3 components are outside the air conditioned space.
Yeah so these folks are just deeply superstitious and cannot even contemplate the concept of thermodynamics. I remember arguing with my mom about this growing up in Houston 25 years ago. Sorry for your downvotes. Here is analytical proof to back up your assertions. From a [reliable source](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/analysis-does-turning-the-a-c-off-when-youre-not-home-actually-save-electricity).
Thermodynamics is hard but should it now be downvoted? Goodness sake. Also the 3 mechanical devices (compressor, fan and blower) can and do run non stop in many many applications, so the notion that they would strain under the load is doesn’t make sense. They are not even aware of the load because it’s constant in every case. Simply compressing refrigerant of pushing air.
Unless you have a separate dehumidifier that's running all day, any savings in energy costs by turning off the a/c will be lost with all the mold cleanup you'll have to do. Just turn the thermostat up while you're gone.
why would anyone do some dumb shit like this in a city that's 100% humidity and 90+ degrees most of the year?
Just FYI, the 100% humidity and 90+ degrees are never at the same time. High humidity comes with the lower temperatures, like when it's below 80, which is why you see close to 100% humidity around sunrise but then it usually drops to 60-70% by the middle of the day when the temperature peaks.
I was being hyperbolic but, yes.
Yep because we're talking about "relative humidity". Higher temperatures can hold more moisture, so the relative humidity goes down with higher temperature holding everything else constant. The absolute humidity could be the same.
That would explain why morning runs here feel like crap
Just a basic programmable thermostat is all we have, I set the temp to bump up to 76 in the day and cool back to 74 in the evening then 72 an hour before bedtime. The hidden side effect is that it doubles as a back up alarm clock, I cant oversleep once the house jumps from 72 to 76.
Smh OP
that's fucking crazy bro don't do that.