Best air conditioner settings?

[JoAnn L.]

At what temperature do you keep your air conditioner? We just got a new wall unit. During the months of July, August and September it gets pretty humid here. I just read something that said to set the fan speed on high, except on very humid days. When humidity is high, set the fan speed on low. The low speed will make for a more comfortable room by removing moisture from the air.

 

[Marcus]

Don't forget June and late May. It gets pretty humid then too. I'd advise you not to use fan, as it gets really hot during the summer. I suggest low to high cool, which puts on the AC.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Miss JoAnn....

The article you were reading interest me. Since an air condtioner is, in simple terms, just a big de-humidifier I am of the opinion that the fan speed setting does nothing to "remove moister from the air." Rather it only moves the air in a room to more evenly distribute it. As you know hot air rises and cold air falls. If you have the ability to direct the flow of air being produced by the fan, direct it in an upwards postion. Air is cooled by moisture being removed from the it, not the speed in which it (air) moves.

 

[Andy M.]

Suggesting settings for an AC unit isn't practical under these conditions.

We don't know the size of the room, the capacity or location of the AC unit, the amount and type of furniture in the room, the amount of insulation in the walls and roof and the temperature outside.

An air conditioner does two things, cool the air and dehumidify it. Actually, cooling the air reduces its ability to hold moisture, which condenses and is discarded leaving you with cold and dry air.

The function of the fan is to circulate the air in the room to make temperatures uniform throughout all parts of the room. A higher speed fan setting will circulate the air faster, cooling all parts of the room faster up to the capacity of the AC unit.

Most AC units have an automatic temperature setting so it will work as necessary to maintain the temperature you set.

 

[JoAnn L.]

Miss JoAnn....

The article you were reading interest me. Since an air condtioner is, in simple terms, just a big de-humidifier I am of the opinion that the fan speed setting does nothing to "remove moister from the air." Rather it only moves the air in a room to more evenly distribute it. As you know hot air rises and cold air falls. If you have the ability to direct the flow of air being produced by the fan, direct it in an upwards postion. Air is cooled by moisture being removed from the it, not the speed in which it (air) moves.

Uncle Bob, this is the web site that I got the info. from;

Tips for Lowering Your Room Air Conditioner`s Energy Usage

I have never had a wall unit before. It is just for one room. It is a 8000 BTU model Kenmore from Sears.
We had to put it on the southwest side of the house, (they don't recommend that) but we had no choice. Thanks for you help. JoAnn

 

[amber]

I am not sure JoAnn, we just set ours to the lowest possible setting that uses the least amount of power, and just go from there. The higher our setting, the more it cools but also uses more power. We have our ac in this computer room which is fairly small, so it doesnt take much to cool this room down. Not sure what size room you have to keep cool. Just play around with the settings. Of course the settings will change given your weather each day, humidity levels as well.

 

[Katie H]

From our experience, our house isn't air-conditioned. That is, except for the small unit in the kitchen and the one in our bedroom.

We keep the one in our bedroom ON all the time in a moderate setting. This seems to work quite well. Pretty well, since we live in an area that is quite high in humidity.

In our kitchen, we keep it at full "tilt" and have had no problems with how it cools/dehumiidifies. In all fairness, we also depend on the kitchen unit to cool our breakfast room and a part of the dining room, so it has a lot of work to do.

We also have ceiling fans that assist the air-conditioners.

 

[JoAnn L.]

Suggesting settings for an AC unit isn't practical under these conditions.

We don't know the size of the room, the capacity or location of the AC unit, the amount and type of furniture in the room, the amount of insulation in the walls and roof and the temperature outside.

An air conditioner does two things, cool the air and dehumidify it. Actually, cooling the air reduces its ability to hold moisture, which condenses and is discarded leaving you with cold and dry air.

The function of the fan is to circulate the air in the room to make temperatures uniform throughout all parts of the room. A higher speed fan setting will circulate the air faster, cooling all parts of the room faster up to the capacity of the AC unit.

Most AC units have an automatic temperature setting so it will work as necessary to maintain the temperature you set.

The size or the bedroom is 14'x17' and it is on the southwest side of the house. We live in the upper midwest along the Mississippi river.

 

[Andy M.]

Jo ann, does your AC have a thermostat where you can just set a temperature? If so, let the AC figure out how to best cool the room. Also, the instruction manual will offer relevant suggestions.

 

[JoAnn L.]

Jo ann, does your AC have a thermostat where you can just set a temperature? If so, let the AC figure out how to best cool the room. Also, the instruction manual will offer relevant suggestions.

Andy, it has a remote control, that has a power button, a up and down button for setting the temp., a fan speed, timer and mode buttons. It looks like I have some more reading to do. It is a Energy Saver model.

 

[Andy M.]

Try setting it to a comfortable temperature and letting it run overnight to give it time to cool the room and all its furnishings down to the target temperature. Then you can decide if you want it a little cooler or can deal with it a little warmer.

 

[JoAnn L.]

Thanks everyone, I don't know what I did before DC. You are the best.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Miss Joann...

Thanks for the link to your reading material. Your quote was exactly what the "tip sheet" stated. Again it makes no sense to me as a A/C only does two things, which are, cool the air by removing moisture (dehumidify) and a fan that circulates the air in the room. To your original question as to temperature setting, that is a personal preference. I have two large (5 ton) central units, one for upstairs and one for down stairs. Generally they are both set at 75*... sometimes cooler. Anyway, I would suggest you find what is a comfortable setting for you and go with that. In the end that is all that matters. One thing I have found however, that will help you determine your setting is the power bill that comes every month!! Everytime I get one I start "screaming" raise the thermostat, raise the thermostat!!

Enjoy and stay Cool