When Do You Turn on Your Air Conditioning?

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

04 Jun 2008 03:27 PM

As I sit here battling a nasty respiratory infection, I am strangely thinking about air conditioning. Tomorrow, the weather person promises, will be 84 degrees and very humid. This is a little strange, since it was only a few weeks ago when the temperature outside was 40 degrees and the heat was turned on.

My husband is busy taking care of the kids and dinner, and wondering when he should install our window units, which windows to install them in and where to start first. We may put in central air some day, which should make the whole process a bit easier. With central air, there may be less debate about the whens, and certainly about the wheres. But I wonder if the ability to adjust the thermostat instead of engaging in all of the manual labor will make a difference as to when we actually turn it on.

Do you agonize about turning on the air conditioning? I know that many people do. Some people won't turn it on before a certain date, such as Memorial Day or the month of July. Others look to the temperature outside and don't care a whit about the date at all. Still others take a look at the relative humidity of the outdoors and only turn on the air conditioning when the air seems as thick as pea soup. Others never turn on air conditioning at all and choose to use fans when it is hot or sleep with the windows open.

I once knew an older Italian lady who judged the need for air conditioning by her butter. It was a complicated system by which she took out a sticks of butter from the freezer. Depending on how soon the butter sweated, she might declare it was time for air conditioning. If I did this, I would probably forget about the butter until it melted into a soft yellow pool. Then again, butter doesn't last long in this house. For us, we generally go by humidity. When do you turn on your air conditioning?

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don't miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

Related Articles:

Save on Home Cooling

Save on Home Cooling 2

Three Ways for Frugal Summer Cooking

Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger