Stumble it!
July 19, 2006
Please Dispel This Urban Legend
With temperatures hovering in the high 90’s, it’s time to address a belief commonly yet erroneously held by hot-blooded hairy men in the south:
When the air conditioning is adjusted during the day between two
temperatures that differ by only a few degrees, the system must work
twice as hard to cool the house to the lower temperature than it would
have if the house had stayed at the lower temperature for the preceding
twelve hours, and therefore no money is saved by raising the
temperature a couple of degrees during the day.
Let me put a human face on this scientific conundrum. I am a skinny, cold-natured woman who is in and out of the house during the day. I am comfortable at 77 degrees. No shivers, no sweat.
Bill leaves the house by 5:30 or 6:00 most mornings and returns around 6:30 pm. In exchange for my wearing sexy pajamas to bed at night, he turns the thermostat up to 77 when he leaves in the morning so that the house is not completely frigid when I wake up.
At night, however, when it is time to turn the thermostat from a perfect 77 to his preferred 74 (or lower! Like we live in Alaska! It’s not healthy!) he insists on delivering a lecture about the virtues of a cooler house. In response, I pull the electric bill from my bedside table and wave it about in a hysterical manner, shouting, “Honey, have you seen how much we’re paying for electricity? You’re going to be riding your bike to work if we don’t watch our utilities!”
It is then that Bill counters with the urban myth stated above; namely, that I am not saving any money at all by keeping the house at 77 during the day because the air conditioner has to work SO HARD to cool the house another few degrees. The fact that I am more comfortable at 77 degrees does not factor into the equation; his sole point is that my raising the temperature only raises my comfort level and does not save energy or money.
Any smarties out there want to weigh in on this one, especially if you are on my side??
