How Hot Before You Put Aircon On?

After years of poo-poohing aircon as a luxury that we didn't need (because I'm basically a tightarse except when it comes to clothes), we have bitten the bullet and had it installed today! Woohoo - I couldn't face another summer of faffing around with fans and not being able to cook because it was too darned hot.

It was supposed to be 29 today but I think now it's been adjusted to 26 and it's not really uncomfortable enough for me to justify putting it on.

I did actually joke to DP that with this unpredictable Melbourne weather we may actually need to use the heating part before the air.

Just wondering what outside temperature has you reaching for the aircon remote?

I know every house is different and we are lucky that this is quite a cool house generally, but just curious.

i wont have it on if i dont need it.
If it is 33-34 degrees and no breeze i will retreat to the bedroom.

But mostly for the kids as they get sooo hot and sweaty and the rashes break my heart.

I dont have it on at night - the windows open and no clothes is enough for me lol.

The kids overnight if it is a hot night i will have on 26 degrees but if not the fan and window will do

I think for me it is normally around 30... but having said that, our new house has a wall unit that when I put it on yesterday arvo cooled one room and none of the others! So if we have any of those lovely Melbourne days coming that will be 40+ I might be putting it on in the morning before it gets hot outside...

I try not to use it at all. I only used ours three times last summer.

However Anth has been home a lot over the Xmas period and despite it only being 25-26 degrees will put it on. I dont really take note of the outside temp i just pay attention to my need really.
sorry im not much help.

I could live without it... DP is a big fat sook and would have it on night and day! But I refuse to have it on! I bet when he gets home he puts it on.
It is quite hot here today.... 35o but I quite like the heat :)

Around 30 is when I put it on - although if it's anymore than 25 at night I will usually have it on when we go to bed - and I get up at about 3am to turn it off.

I like the heat during the day - it's night time heat in bed I can't deal with!!

When we had an air-con (before we moved) it was a split system, and I would turn it on in the morning when it was forecast for 30 or over.

They actually work better and more efficiently if they keep the temp low rather than having to cool the house once it gets too warm. At least the split systems do anyway.

I would like to say that we hardly every use ours, but I am useless in the heat and get very distressed when hot as does my DD, so when she or I get dizzy or very cranky we pop it on. normally the outside temp is about 26-28 when that happens and we turn it off as soon as we get the afternoon breezes through.

Good luck working it out!

only when i find the fan isnt cutting it! i prefer not to use them (only got them in a few weeks ago cos heat plus pg ms didn't go together at ALL) - but having found that today i got hot around lunch and am having to use aircon, i will probably put it on a bit earlier tomorrow - getting overhot BEFORE putting it on defeats the purpose IMO....

judge for yourself - if you can keep the house shut up and air movin, it's probably not a necessity - but if you find you're getting uncomfy, go for it - no point suffering!

If it's over 21 it's on here!
Can't stand the heat and since the birth of Hayden I've been hot all the time! Normally I'm the one turning it off here!!
We've got refrigerated ducting and I'm sooo loving it, but think I'll be dreading the power bill it's always higher this time of year!
Snoopea

extremely hot, cause we dont own one LOL.

It has to be really hot for me to put the ac on. It was 31 degrees in our bedroom today, so I decided for ds's sake I should turn it on. I really don't like it tbh- it gives me sore ears and a sore throat, and makes my skin really dry.

Dh would run it 24/7 if I let him- he must have been an eskimo in a past life :rolleyes: He's not happy unless I'm shivering.

:

---

Dh would run it 24/7 if I let him- he must have been an eskimo in a past life :rolleyes: He's not happy unless I'm shivering.

---

Mine is the same! Only he does it with the heater too. In winter he will turn the heater up to 25 or something ridiculous, but in summer he'll set the air con at 19. Go figure.

It doesnt have to reach a certain temp - if anyone feels uncomfortable then it goes on. I don't know what the temp is meant to be in melb today but I have my aircon on at the moment at 22degrees. It was stuffy in the house

When we had air con back in the 80's when I was at home as a kid I think we turned it on in the mid 30's.

It's a pretty touchy subject with me LOL I LOATHE the heat but I also am a "tight-arse" budget-wise and environmentally conscious person. So ATM we don't have it... we make do with a fan. Fortunately we live on a hill which seems to catch the slighest breeze and live in a house that can be kept comfortable (if the kids can be stopped from going in-out-in-out all day).

I really suffer in the heat but I think I'm happy enough just to "adapt" to the weather. I don't want my kids to become to reliant on a/c either... so I help them keep cool in other ways. We have ducted heating and my teen DD is bad enough as she 'abuses' that let alone a/c.

But to answer your Q if we did have a/c it would only go on if it was forecast to be a hotter than low/mid 30's day. I would still close up the house, draw the curtains etc to help the a/c rather than work against it by letting the sun shine in etc.

As soon as any of us feels uncomfortable. I can't handle the heat, ds can't either.

THREE-ZERO and the aircon goes on.

However if it's going to be a 45 degree day I often close the house, pull the blinds down and start it up in a vain attempt to keep the house cool.

:

---

It doesnt have to reach a certain temp - if anyone feels uncomfortable then it goes on. I don't know what the temp is meant to be in melb today but I have my aircon on at the moment at 22degrees. It was stuffy in the house

---

Same!

I hate the heat though so out of DP and me I am normally the first to say lets put the air on. i also find that keeping the blinds closed, windows shut and bathroom/laundry doors shut it keeps the house cooler.

If it is really hot and the ac isn't cutting it then we go to the movies! I love the ac at the movies!!!!

I forgot to say Fiona that our electricity bill is about half the price in Summer even when using the air as the reverse cycle heating seems to cost alot more in Winter.

When it's about 30degrees here. We live in a top floor unit and we get full sun all day and we have big double glass doors on both sides of the house so it's full sun, from sun up to sun set, and it gets really hot up here. I can feel the heat increase as I come up the stairs! When the sun goes down I usually turn it off and open the big double glass doors to catch the breeze. Cuase we are up the top, we can catch even the slightest breezes.

Me - over about 32 degrees. DH - humid days over about 27 degrees. I have it set to 27 or 28 degrees, DH sets it to 24 & I have to put a cardiagan on! Except on the hottest nights if DH has the a/c on in the bedroom I sleep in DS's room - I'd rather be warm sleeping rather than cold especially at the moment as I have a cold and the cold a/c makes my sinuses hurt. I'm a tight @rse too so I'd rather not have it on - I turn it on more for DS than me.

we have evap it is so much nicer IMO as you dont get really really cold - it just takes the edge off and better on the cash side of things too, although on a really hot/dry/still day it can suck!

I would be happy with a cieling fan but DH wont let me buy one

We use our air-con not so much for the heat, but the humidity. I prefer not to use airconditioning (mostly on principle), but don't handle excessive and constant heat and humidity very well. Our flat doesn't have very good air-flow either, so if there is a breeze we don't get it. All the fans do is move hot, wet air around.

We have a dehumidifying setting on our aircon which is much more efficient than the normal cool setting, and I have it set at its highest temperature; 26 degrees, so it runs at optimum efficiency. I only have it on in the living space, and open up the bedrooms before we go to bed to cool them off a bit. I usually turn it off when Euan is asleep during the day or if I find that it is getting too cool, and we don't have it on overnight. And we get around the flat in next to no clothes (undies only usually) which also helps.

Well, I'm sitting here with a cardigan on and DP has cracked the sads because I won't let him put the AC on. He's like a kid with a brand new toy!

:rofl: fion- men and their toys!! My dh had a bit of a huff last night because I made him turn ours off- it was almost cooler outside than in, for pity's sake...

Thats blokes for you!

I don't go on the temp.. if I am hot and sticky I turn it on.. some days I try hold off for a while but generally it is on in time for lunch and midday rest. I then turn it off when I am cooking dinner and we use ot overnight cus a certain little Princess seems to get hot overnight and sleeps bad.. worth it putting it on if she sleeps even if we all feel a little cold lol..