Do you turn your air off when you leave home?

I hardly ever turn my air conditioner on, so yes, it is turned off when I'm not home. My building is one of those retro old Miami buildings with glass jalousie doors and jalousie windows, so it's not well insulated and I only use the air conditioner in the bedroom where there's a solid door without glass in it. When I try to use the air in the living room, it leaks out and I basically end up cooling the whole neighborhood.

 

Yes, I always turn it off. It doesn't take long until the air cools down the room, so the electricity costs for the hours when I don't need it are not worth it. I prefer just to wait for about 5 mins until the room is cool enough.

 

Yeas and no. I put it on energy saver and make sure it only comes on when it really needs to. My parents though are a whole different thing. They will literally leave it full blast all the time. They waste so much power they even leave the windows open for the cats but still lets it go on about 65 degrees. That's insanity to me.

 

I don't even have it, so there's my answer.

But I do have it at my workplace, and I try to conserve as much as possible. I guess I'd do the same if I had one at home.

 

I do because electricity costs a lot here and especially for running air conditioners which use up a lot of electricity. I also do it to minimize the usage of my air conditioner and that way I'm hoping that I can prolong it's life span since I assume that the more I use it the more I risk it to break down earlier than I would hope for.

 

Yes, I do. I don't see any reason to waste all that electricity and money to keep the house cool when I'm not even there.

And when I work from home, I still keep the air turned down during the day.

 

I turn everything off when I leave home. It is comforting to know that I am saving resources this way. I do not see a reason to leave the air on if I am not there to enjoy it. Usually, I will disconnect nearby appliances and charges before I run out the door. I suppose it is a good habit, but if you prefer to come home to a cool home, I would suggest you find creative alternative. Buying appropriate blinds to block sunlight will help.

 

I actually turn off everything when I leave my house. I unplug everything out of sheer paranoia. But my electricity bills don't go higher than my usual so I think I'm on the right path. The only thing I leave plugged in is my fridge.

 

We only use the AC in the late afternoons or early evenings when it is the hottest and we are tired and tired of being hot. If you have to use AC all day it probably is a good idea to at least keep it on a little when you are out so the place doesn't get TOO hot, but if you are gone most of the day it probably is wasting energy to keep it cool for so many extra hours. Also it depends on how cool you need it. I don't need it much below 80 to feel good in the hottest part of the summer, so that saves a lot too.

 

I use to leave it on when I left the house because I use to spoil my house dog. But after recent electric rate hikes, I started leaving the fans on for him.

 

I leave it on, but turn the thermostat up a few degrees. I have a room mate and one of us is almost always home, so turning it totally off isn't a good option most of the time. I live in Florida and the temperature and humidity can be extreme. We don't ever let it get too hot or humid because it can take hours to cool it back down again and that really puts a strain on our older a/c and heat pump unit. Fortunately, the winters are mild enough that we spend very little on heat, so that offsets the yearly energy expenditures, a bit.

 

The A/C uses more electricity than any other appliance. I don't know how much it uses when on energy saver but I would assume still quite a bit. IF it cools your apartment that quickly there is no reason to leave it on when you step out. I myself turn it off and I live in a very hot country. I just come home and deal with the heat for about 10 minutes before the affect of the A/C hits me. I do leave the ceiling fan(s) on in my house quite a bit though.

 

I try to do it as much as I possibly can. On some days its just so hot that coming inside to a searing house is not worth saving the few cents due to the extreme weather in my area. I guess it depeds on where you live and if your A/C is new, mine needs repair so keeping it on is my best option to remain cool.

 

Most of the time we do, I feel like it's just sorting of adding up unnecessary costs when we're not even there using it at the time. We'll close our blinds, too, and very rarely is it an uncomfortable temperature when we get home, even if we've been gone for most of the day.

 

My building is brick, so it is well insulated too. But when I tried to turn off the air it was really hot in here. Not only was it an inconvenience for me to cool the place down, I have a cat that I had to worry would get too hot. I have since kept the air on the lowest setting, which on most summer days means it kicks on about three times an hour. It probably saves some money, but not a whole lot.

 

I would definitely say yes, turning off my air is a necessity. Basically because my home still has a lot of venting problems, so I can't just expect the unit to just cool every room in the house. Some will get more air than others everytime. Not to mention the cracks within the window panels. You definitely have to make sure that to minimize cost, minimizing leaks would also be factored in there.

 

I usually don't use air conditioning, but on very hot seasons I use a timer so it's only on when needed. I set it to turn off when I leave and turn on an hour before I get home, that way the house is always cool while I'm there.