Best AC Temperature for Summer?
🌎 Great energy-saving tips on achieving that perfect balance between a comfortable temperature and energy consumption.
If you’re like us, you don’t like sweltering in the summer heat.
You want to feel comfortable in your home without breaking the bank by having your AC on constantly trying to turn your house into the Arctic.
While it’s only you that can decide what’s the best ac temperature for summer indoors, Energy Star and the Department of Energy state that the best AC temperature for summer is 78°F (or 25°C for our metric friends north of the border).
If this temperature seems too high for your personal comfort level, keep reading about how best to cool your home, so it’s comfortable both during the day and at night for sleeping.
Table of Contents
⭐ What’s the Best AC Temperature for Energy Saving?
When you’re not home during the day, you can save money by setting your AC to a higher temperature. We recommend 7° to 10°F (13 – 18°C) higher.
The Department of Energy estimates that keeping your set temperature at 85°F (29.5°C) for those eight hours during the day in peak cooling times can save approximately 5% to 15% on your energy bills.
Generally, most people don’t want to be home for long periods at 85°F (29.5°C) (unless you work from home), so having a programmable thermostat is perfect so you can preset your home to the right temperature right before you get home from work, gym, shopping, day drinking or whatever you do during the day.
You can dress more lightly and run a ceiling fan or box fan to get that cooling effect quicker to create a windchill effect.
A windchill effect works by moving air across your skin and transferring the heat away from your body.
This effect can make you feel 4°F (2.2°C) cooler than with no airflow.
This turns what feels like a 78°F (25.5°C) home into a 74°F (23°C) oasis.
Another tip for maintaining that perfect summer air conditioner temperature inside is to fit your home with the right curtains, shades, curtains, or blinds on all of your windows.
By utilizing the right blinds and keeping the sunshine from warming up your rooms, you’ll be able to cool your home down faster and more efficiently.
Sealing your home correctly can also save you money.
You can use weather strips on your doors and windows to keep in that lovely cool air you just paid for in your home.
What’s comfortable during the day differs from what’s comfortable at night.
Deciding on what temperature works best for you in summer can depend on whether you work from home, have small children, and how cool your home can get at night without the assistance of an air conditioner.
While you will save money keeping your air conditioner at a constant temperature of 85°F (29.5°C) during the day, this high temperature is not ideal for most people sleeping or working from home.
Your brain ceases regulating your body temperature during REM sleep (aka Thermoregulation), hence the need for a cooler environment while you sleep.
⭐ Best AC Temperature for Sleeping in Summer
Setting your thermostat in summer to the right air conditioner temperature is a little more complicated.
If you’re able to sleep well in a warmer room, Energy Star recommends that you use a higher temperature setting of about 4°F (2.2°C) higher than your typical daytime temperature setting.
Though if you are like me, most people prefer to sleep in a cooler room, which means a lower thermostat setting than the daytime temp.
The best temperature in summer for sleeping is between 60° and 68°F (15.5° and 20°C).
Opening your windows while you sleep is a great way to naturally cool your home if you live in a geographical area that cools down overnight.
Either way, it’s a great idea to close your windows in the morning when the suns up before it gets too hot to trap in all that cold air you paid for to give your air conditioning a head start.
Running your ceiling fans in bedrooms helps circulate the cool air in your room while you sleep, keeping the rest of your home at a consistent temperature.
⭐ What is the Average Air Conditioning Temperature
The average air conditioning temperature depends on various factors.
These include your geographic location, season, acceptable comfort levels, and energy cost in your area.
Anywhere between 72° to 78°F (22.2° to 25.5°C) is typically standard for North America.
The general rule is most people in this region prefer air conditioning temperatures between 70° and 76°F during the summer months.
⭐ Setting your Air Conditioner with a Programmable Thermostat and Zone Control
Installing a programmable thermostat and zone control is the best way to maintain a cooler home in summer and lower your energy bills.
This can help prevent coming home to a hothouse.
Automatic thermostat settings take away the pain of forgetting to turn it on every day.
For example, you can set your air conditioner to automatically cool your home down from its set daytime temperature 30 minutes before you arrive home, ensuring a comfortable temperature without burning your hard-earned cash on unneeded energy consumption.
Multi-zone control helps keep your bedrooms cool at night without wasting energy cooling your entire home.
A programmable thermostat isn’t the only thing you need to think about when keeping your home cool in summer.
In addition, you need to pay attention to the correct maintenance of your climate control system to ensure it’s in peak working order.
One of the easiest maintenance tasks you can carry out is changing your air filter.
⭐ Thermostat Not Reaching Set Temperature
If you notice that your home is not reaching the right temperature regardless of the season and you have set the right temp on your thermostat, it’s time to start thinking about troubleshooting your problem.
In the world of HVAC, minor issues generally lead to more significant problems when left unattended.
For example, turning your thermostat lower if it can’t maintain the ideal temperature isn’t a fix.
Instead, you could be condemning your AC to work longer, which puts more strain on expensive components that will give out at some point.
For example, an air conditioner compressor can cost more than half of a new AC depending on which AC unit is installed in your home.
Here’s a quick checklist of troubleshooting steps to follow before calling the experts.
✅ Check your Thermostat
Thermostat placement can significantly impact its ability to control your home’s temperature.
For example, is it sitting flush against the wall, or is it on an angle?
Is it near a window or in direct sunlight during the day?
Is it located in a room with a higher or lower temperature than the rest of the house?
Is it near heat-generating appliances that cause hot air near the panel?
These factors can exaggerate your thermostat’s ability to read the temperature.
Unfortunately, this means it won’t be able to react appropriately to the setting you need.
Dust and other debris can gather in and around the thermostat.
Take off the cover and check for cleanliness.
Remove any dust or other particles and check that all the wires are secure and plugged in tight.
Check all screw connections are tight and the batteries have sufficient juice.
✅ Check Air Filters
When was the last time you checked your air filters?
Running your climate control system more consistently means you need to be more aware of how often your air filters need changing.
Something as simple as a clogged filter can cause many problems if not replaced regularly.
You would be surprised how often we get a call that’s easily fixed with a filter replacement.
✅ Check Your Outdoor AC Unit
Check your outside condenser for cleanliness and correct spacing.
Your air conditioning condenser requires airflow, which can be reduced by a lack of outdoor maintenance.
For example, letting the weeds take over can block the airflow your condenser needs to release the heat it picked up inside your home.
Check out your AC fan while you are there to ensure it’s working correctly.
✅ The Age of Your AC
Generally, an AC until last between 10 to 15 years.
Various factors such as the energy efficiency ratio and its location can influence the performance of air conditioners, but if it’s nearing this number, it’s best to get the professionals to check it out.
Maybe it’s time to check out more energy-efficient models for a replacement.
⭐ Time to Call in the Professionals?
While simple tasks like changing your air filters and hiring a local HVAC company to service your climate control system regularly can make a difference in energy usage, ensuring you have set your thermostat to the right temperature can significantly affect how you pay for energy costs.
Knowing the ideal indoor temperature for summer will definitely help keep you and your family comfortable.
Are you still having problems with your AC? Give the experts at Phyxter Home Services a call and get the best temperature for your home.
Our air conditioning services are the best in the industry!
Check us out and see if there’s a Phyxter HVAC services technician in your area.
Looking to enhance your comfort this summer? Check out our other air conditioning articles.
