We’re celebrating because it’s only 81 degrees in our house today and it feels so cool compared to the 85 and 86 degrees it’s been in our house the past few days!! It’s amazing how your perspective on what’s “cool” can change.
We’re not sure what’s up with our air conditioner, but it clearly is having some issues. The repairmen can’t come out to fix it until tomorrow. In the meantime, we’re grateful for fans, ice cold water, and a semi-cloudy afternoon!
Just for fun: what temperature do you usually keep your thermostat set at? Or are you one of those brave and amazing people who doesn’t even have an A/C at all? What are your best ways to stay cool in the heat of summer?
Barry Clompus says
nooo sorry, 80 anything is scre$ed for an indoor temp.
I am in 84 degrees right now.
Only because the air conditioner needs service.
I would keep it between 72 and 75 if I could.
I am drinking bottled water and keeping my mind off the situation by being online.
My hands are damp and I have taking cool showers.
Candy is melting and medicines are going bad and you say 85 ???
Jordan says
Sorry for the misunderstanding. She was saying the A/C was broken and it was amazing what feels cool when you have been sitting in 85 degree house. I hope that makes sense! -Jordan, MSM Team
Robin says
We live in southwest Georgia, and we have our thermostat set at 78.
zoranian says
We live in Kentucky and get all the extremes of weather. Usually we try to keep it at 66/68 in winter (night/day) and 72/74 in summer. My husband will turn it down to 72 or 73 if he’s home though, so it’s usually a little lower on the weekends. We have two young kids, so we try to avoid too many extremes. We have nice shade trees though, so our electric bill isn’t terrible in the summer, otherwise I probably would try to keep it a bit higher during the day at least.
When I lived in Maine we didn’t have a/c other than window units, so I used a fan in my bedroom which worked well on all but the worst summer nights.
SandyH says
I’m in Houston, Texas, ” the most air conditioned city in the world” and we keep the thermostat at 74-75 and sometimes that’s too warm! I try not to use the oven during the heat of the day, if I need to bake something I try to do it early. Houstonians are pretty much hermits during the summer, our highs are in the 90’s and so is the humidity, lol
Mama Rachael says
I’m impressed reading those who say they keep the house at 80’+. Here in Waco, Texas, we cool to 80′ during the day and 78′ at night. I think I could handle a bit warmer during the day, but 78′ is almost too warm for the night. I thought about saying we could let the house heat up during the day (hitting mid to upper 90s right now… very cool for June!) but Hubby said it was worth just keeping it level, instead of heating up in the day and cooling for the night.
Natalie says
You’ve moved to our “neck of the woods”. We live about an hour east of Nashville on the Cumberland Plateau. Our weather can be rather unpredictable during every season. Just this month we’ve had daytime temps of 75-92 degrees and night time temps of 54-75 degrees. During the summer, we usually keep the thermostat set on 77 degrees even though I try my very best to NOT turn the A/C on at all…having NO TREES makes that difficult when the HOT weather finally sets in. This kept our last month’s electric bill at only $134 for a 2500 sq. ft. house!!! Woohoo!!!
Our favorite ways to keep cool are: play in the creek, water the garden and each other, wash the van, make homemade lemonade/ice cream/popsicles, shop at thrift stores, and visit friends.
Hope these ideas help!
Jenn @ Beautiful Calling says
We keep our house at about 74 in the summer and 68 in the winter…though we tough it out without AC as long as we can. We haven’t turned ours on yet this year. We’re blessed with beautiful shade trees and so far our house is about 80 during the day or less (87+/- while dinner is cooking) but cools off nice in the evening thanks to a patio door in our bedroom and the children’s rooms are in the basement, nice and cool.
Ed says
Back in the old days, we put a pan of ice water, or just ice cubes, in front of the fan. It tends to cool off the air that is being blown around.
Keelie Reason says
We keep our thermostat at 79 or 80 in the summer. Then in the winter we keep it at 65. We do all we can to save on energy.
karole hernandez says
If you have a shop vac, the drain hose might be clogged. Hook the shop vac to the tube outside and turn it on. When that drain is unclogged it should go back to working ok. Hope it stays cooler for you until then.
Claire says
I live in upstate NY, and unfortunately I do not have central AC. In the winter I set the thermostat at 67 degrees. In the summer, I usually turn on the loud, ugly window AC units when the outside temperature reaches the mid 80s. But honestly, the other variables such as humidity, cloud cover, and overnight temperatures make a difference, too. For example, if the overnight low is 78 degrees, the house doesn’t get a chance to cool off enough, which means that we end up needing the window units even if the temperature the next day is only in the low 80s. The house I grew up in was a Victorian with high ceilings and lots of shade, and we didn’t have window units and didn’t even feel the need for them unless it got well into the 90s. But my house now is small with low ceilings (and it’s old; no insulation), and the upstairs can feel like an attic on hot days.
Gina says
We live outside of Phoenix, AZ and keep ours @ 75 day and night! We moved here from Washington State and are working on getting acclimated….slowly I’ll try to inch it up and keep it at 80.
Jenni says
In the summer I try to keep it at 78 degrees and in the winter around 67 degrees.
Tracy K says
I live in southern IL and it can get quite steamy here. We don’t typically turn on the ac until it becomes too uncomfortable to sleep. We are fortunate that our little farm house was set up to keep things cool e.g. Shade trees, windows on east & west of house across from one another to enhance airflow, and open fields and pastures all around. My husband and I both have jobs that keep us outdoors the majority of the time. We don’t like to use the ac because it’s too hard on our bodies to acclimate when the temps start rising. AND I hate high electric bills!!!
Jennifer says
We live in Tulsa & keep our thermostat set to 72 pretty much all year. I have never met anyone without an A/C. The summers are just way too hot here!
Celeste says
My husband works in freezers so he can’t stand being warm. Our air stays on most of the year. We keep it around 70 during the day in the summer and it goes down to 62 at night. In the winter the heat gets turned on as long as the outside temp is below 50-55, otherwise…a/c. I live in sweatpants and hoodies and my heated mattress pad gets used every night.
Penni Hill says
I live in the Maine Highlands region (near Bangor). We have only had a couple of days so far this spring/summer that are over 80F and no nights over 70 yet. It has been an unusually cold spring… we still had one pile of snow on our property the beginning of May!! Usually July can get several days of 95+. Coupled with the high humidity here and the fact that our blood doesn’t have a chance to acclimate (75 one day- 96 the next is a big jump!) … it can really feel overwhelmingly oppressive! … We have one large window unit we run on occasion, mainly to get the humidity down (I have asthma and it can be an issue on really humid days.)
Our summers are so short here, I TRY hard not to complain about the heat when we finally get some. 🙂
Mary Beth Patnaude says
We live on the coast of Maine, so the temperature only gets above 90 a few days out of the summer. We have a few window units. MY son keeps his set at 60!
We bought our first house last July, and calculated that we spent over $3000 for oil, so we are looking into a pellet stove. I like to keep the thermostat at 68 in the winter.
ally says
I live in the northwest and we don’t have ac. It stays cool most of the summer, we usually get a couple of hot days. In the winter we keep the heat at 63-65. It would be interesting to know what peoples’ electricity bills are in different places at different times of yr. we run about $220 in winter per month, and $120 in the summer.
T Hunn says
Hi, I live in Arizona. We had a super mild winter this year. I heated my 2000 sq. ft. home in Jan. and Feb. with gas heat for $77/mth. I could afford to keep the temp at 75 degrees. June thru September is when we run the electric ac. It cost $150 – $200/mth. We have a variable thermostat. 78 degrees from 4pm to 10 pm. 80 degrees from 10pm to 5 am. 78 degrees from 5am to 7 am. 85 degrees from 7am to 4 pm. We have fans in every room, but only turn them on if someone is in the room. I think my main electric cost comes from electronics. Many folks here use solar panels and incurs $0-to $20 electric bills, but I don’t think solar panels are cost effect yet for the initial lay out.
brooke says
I’m with you. We live in the high desert where it gets cool at night, so if we leave the windows open and close them up as it heats up in the morning, we can keep our house at 69-70. If it starts getting up past 72, we start to melt. 🙂 And it’s dry heat. We’re total wimps. We use a window unit to keep it cool once the outside temps start regularly creeping into the high 80s. lol … to each his own … we love this weather! (of course, we have to keep our wood stove going all winter long and heat the bedrooms!)
cheryl says
We just have window units and keep it pretty cool in the house. We don’t really know what it is in most of the house but the unit in the dining room blows right on the thermostat and it goes down to 62 but feels more like 70 in the living room. We usually keep the dining room one on while we are up and turn it off when we go to bed and turn on the one in the bedroom. we turn them off when we leave the house. We have always been amazed that the 2 little 5000 btu units can cool the whole house pretty good, we can even turn the oven on in the summer and not be bothered by it.
Kathy says
Oh my goodness, we came home Wed. to find that the air was running but not blowing cool. I noticed it right away…..don’t know how long it would have taken for my husband to notice. Couldn’t understand how the fan outside was working but not the compressor. We live in NW Ga. and it’s been really hot and muggy the past few weeks. We start going down the list calling people to come out and it’s 4pm and no one can come for 2 days. Finally, one little guy calls us back and can come right out. We’ve worked with him before and he just works on his own. He shows up in 15 mins. and calls us on the phone from the back yard and asks me to flip the breaker off and back on. I do so and he says power is not going to the unit. He comes into the garage and pulls off the covering to the breaker box. We live in a brand new (5 year) 1story home and figure all the wiring is new and there shouldn’t be a problem with that…..wrong! Anyway, he pulls the breaker out and the wire just drops out of it! The screw that holds the wire in is very loose. He puts the wire back in the breaker, tightens the screw and snaps the breaker back in. Tells me to turn on the AC while he checks the screws on all the other breakers. AC runs just fine!! We had a freezer that was going off sometimes in the garage a year ago. Same sort of problem. The GFIC outlet was kicking off because one of the wires was loose. Boy am I learning a lot! Back to my story, guy was so nice to come out that I had to give him a little extra $$$ (I paid cash) for showing up so quickly. My husband said for him to be sure to remember us if we called again. Sometimes it is just a simple little thing and it sure does remind you to be thankful when things work!! Hope you will have your air on soon!
BettySue says
Smart girl for giving this wonderful repairman and extra tip ($$). I take my car to my reliable, dependable and honest auto mechanic and gladly pay $10-$20 more than a chain service/lube place to get my oil changed. I, too, often give him extra when he gets my car in early or squeezes me in at the last minute. As my son says, “You can’t put a price on a great and honest mechanic/repairman. Treat them appreciatively and generously”
ABT says
We live in Phoenix, AZ and keep it at 74 pretty much year-round. I grew up here but still don’t handle the heat well at all. My husband sleeps under a blanket during the summer!
Amy says
Fun question! We live in the northeast, and keep the thermostat at 68 (day) and 60 (night) in the winter. I’d like to keep it a bit higher, but propane is way too expensive!
We get very little direct sun in our house, which keeps it comfortable without A/C as long as the outdoor temp is below 90. On hot summer nights, we set it at 73.
A says
Last year, our A/C broke, middle of summer when I was about 8.5 months pregnant…I remember looking at the thermostat saying ’90’ and thinking it felt cool!
Typically, we keep ours at 78 in the summer, 68 in the winter. Having a smallish, newish house helps keep the bills down…for now.
Lorene says
I live in surf city nc and haven’t used my AC yet. It’s 82 tonight at 930pm
kristen elrod says
I live in East TN. I leave it at 70 degrees during the day and night. Our electric bill is only $88 this month!!! During the winter it peaks at $170, so AC seems so cheap!
Emily says
We live in Oklahoma City, where summers are very hot. Many days temps are over 100 degrees. We keep our AC at 74 during the day and 72 at night. I can’t sleep if I’m hot!
Keiza says
About 80. We don’t want to get too spoiled :p 🙂 ’cause when we go out it will be harder to get acclamated to the natural temps.
Bea says
Here in South Alabama it’s very hot and very muggy. I’d like to keep the thermostat at 80, but our sinuses and health this spring and summer keep it closer to 74. Last year I tolerated it close to 78 or higher. Down here, no a/c means you’re in trouble.
Lindsey Gurley says
I live in Mobile, AL and the humidity is unbelievable this year! My husband and I have an ongoing battle about the air conditioner. I like 75 – 76 and he likes 72-73. So, we’ve compromised at 74. I will try to sneak it up a little when he’s not paying attention, but that man can tell a difference of 1 degree!
Jessica says
We live in Auburn, Al. Humidity has been awful! We had been keeping our at 74 but these past few days it seems nothing is keeping this house cool so we went down to 72. I am not looking forward to this hot, hot summer we are having.
Krysten says
I’m in Pensacola, FL, and I generally keep mine at 78 in the summer. Sometimes it gets bumped down to 77 to cool off the upstairs when it gets unbearable since the upstairs runs 5-10 degrees warmer than downstairs.
Shelly says
We try to keep it as warm as we comfortably can – which is 78 in the day and 76-77 at night. We’re in Minnesota, which – even though the winters are crazy cold – can get plenty warm and humid in the summer. We keep the heat at 62 in the winter (58 at night).
Anita Finn says
We live in S.E. GA where the temperatures can reach 115 mixed with incredibly high humidity. It’s the kind of heat where you feel like you melt just walking to your car. My husband & I both have school related jobs so are home for about 4 weeks during the Summer. With that being said, we usually keep our air running to about 70 degrees. We hate if the house is hot.
I know you’re probably thinking that’s crazy! What is their electric bill like?? To be honest we are blessed to have levelized billing. With the levelized billing we are able to run the a/c for the hot summer months but hardly use the heat in the winter. In the end it balances out & we know exactly what our electric bill is each month which makes budgeting much easier.
Lecia says
We are in Mesa, AZ and keep our a/c at 82 most of the time. I wish it was lower, but our electric bill gets so high. Saving money is important to me, so I have to consciously remind myself when others come over that it’s more important for people to feel comfortable in my home for a couple of hours than it is to shave pennies. So, if any of you come visit me, I WILL turn the a/c down for a while 🙂 please, please come visit, haha.
MOnica says
Here in Georgia I keep the a/c set @72°day and night. When we lived n California I kept a/c @79° and only ran it in late afternoon.
Carolyn says
We keep the thermostat at 75 during the summer. We have a pug, and they are pretty temperature sensitive creatures. I’m not sure I’ve met anyone around here without an A/C. At least a window unit. It’s hot and humid, and doesn’t cool much in the evening.
Clare C. says
How interesting to hear everyone chime in on what the weather is typically like in their area… We’re in NW FL, and we have a time-of-day savings thermostat with our power company which makes our electric costs high on winter mornings and summer afternoons. I try to keep it at 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter, but my husband manually overrides the system quite a bit when he’s home. My friends all LOVE coming over to our house when he’s around because then the temps in our house are around 73 in the summer and 77 in the winter. 🙂
Sam says
Here in southern Arizona, going without AC would be horrible. With our temperature highs around 115 and the lows only 85 from June to September, there is really no relief. We have ours set for 82 all day, and then one of them to 76 by the bedrooms for sleeping. I would love to have it cooler, but then my electric bill would out weigh my house payment. In the winter, we hardly ever have the heater on. We like to enjoy the 50’s and 60’s in the house because we know it will be horrible in the summer. Plus, the kids love their footed pj’s so everyone’s happy.
The Jewish Lady says
I like to stay cool by serving No-Cook Summer Suppers. Turning on the oven heats up the whole house!
http://thejewishlady.com/cook-summer-supper/
Sarah says
73 during the day & 66 at night. But I live in Louisiana and am pregnant.
Lauren says
What is a good goal for being in your third trimester in Dallas? I should I have thought about this when we tried to get pregnant around our nice comfy Thanksgiving!
Jenni says
I’m in my 3rd trimester in NE Kansas, which is fairly hot right now and very humid (90’s). I set it at 77, but now I need fans in whatever room I’m in. Having a fan blowing on me makes a huge difference. I have a little floor one under the homeschool table, ceiling fans on in our family room and kitchen, and a tower fan in our bedroom.
Jodi says
We live in Arizona-me, my 2 kids, 3 dogs and 1 cat. We have a 2 story house with ceiling fans in every room and one AC unit so the temp is the same for upstairs and down. We keep it at 83-84 during the summer and 78-79 during the winter. I am a wimp when it comes to cold. I am definitely an Arizonan. I take my jacket with me in stores and movie theaters. I work in retail so most of the time I have my jacket on. I get headaches if I get to cold, compared to the people who get sick if they get too hot.
Bridget says
Wow, we keep ours at 74.
Sheri says
I forgot to mention that I keep the house cooler by not cooking inside. We either cool food or we cook outside. I have an old electric roasting pan/oven that I use outside. Keeps the heat out of the kitchen.
Also, unless your fans are exhaust fans or send the air around the house, they are a waste. Fans cool people, not rooms. Unless, like I said, the fans are drawing in cool air or exhausting hot air.
Crystal Paine says
Yes! It’s amazing what a difference not heating up the kitchen makes!
CC says
With multiple horrendous allergies, keeping the air on 24/7 is a must. 70-72 during the day and 74 at night. Fresh air is really nice, but I pay the price later So we rarely do it. Ceiling fans make dust particles on the move constantly, so we can’t use those either.
Sheri says
We don’t have an air conditioner, only a swamp cooler. It gets up in the 100’s a lot where I live. Usually when it gets that hot, it is dry too. So the swamp cooler works. But we have a lot of humid days in the 90’s and the swamp cooler only adds to the humidity, so we just use fans. But the best way to cool off is to get in the pool and bring my core temperature down. Then it’s easier to take the heat. Ice cream helps too!
We don’t have a pool, but son, who loves close by, does. He’s good at sharing too! I’ll bring snacks or babysit for him.
Shannon says
I agree about the ice cream! In north-central Colorado at a mile closer to the sun than Florida is, my boys ask for “ice pickles” (icicles) often. It is dry most of the time here, too, so our evaporative (swamp) cooler is effective. We keep our above ground floor (upstairs) at about 70-73F. The finished basement is much cooler anytime of year. I feel badly for neighbors with a/c. It costs them twice as much in electricity to keep their homes in the mid- to upper 70s as it does us to cool at 70 with the swamp cooler.
When outside cools off, we can use just the fan to send fresh air through the upstairs living spaces.
Theresa says
This is very interesting (as your blog always is!). I was quite surprised by some of the numbers. I’m a cartographer and can’t help but think this info would make for an awesome mapping project! My wheels are turning 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Oh, that would be fascinating, wouldn’t it??
Libby says
We live in the panhandle of Texas… So a VERY dry, dusty heat. We run our A/C most of the time at 75, and turn it down to 70 at night. We also have an a/c unit in our bedroom that runs at 63 every night. We are very hot sleepers, so it has to be cool. We nearly died when a storm knocked out our power for 4 days in July last summer!
Sarah says
Our air conditioner stopped working. Hubby’s first reaction was mad that he was hot. Mine was Yay for a low electric bill next month.
Vickie says
Only 1 day so far this summer have we turned on the air…we live in Michigan. It will be a high of 80 today. Wonderful weather in the summer but winter oh my!
Deb says
Another one of the joys of Montana. We have a heat pump so we have a/c but only use it less than 10 days in the summer. We have the most perfect summers here, it gets warm during the day but cools off at night and NO humidity………winter however is another story…….
Sheri says
That’s what I want! That is so nice! I’m in Southern California. We have weeks that the high is at least 90 and the lows are in the 80s. Not enough to cool down the house.
Aimee R. says
My husband is very hot natured and I’m very pregnant, so we like to keep it at 70 (that’s how we always had it in our 6 yrs of marriage). But currently it’s set to 75 which is kinda warm for us. I feel so sick if I get too hot and my husband can’t stand it hot. We live up north right now, but it still gets hot (to us) and humid. We used to live in the south where it got up in the 90’s and 100’s…AC is a must.
Amy says
We keep it at 72 to 74 during the day and 70 at night. When we were house hunting we decided that we’d rather have a smaller place we could afford to ac and heat than a bigger place that we’d have to be uncomfortable in.
robin says
we live in northwest GA our thermostat is set at 72 during the day and 68 at night, ceiling fans in every room run 24/7, oscillating floor fan in bedroom….I can hear all of the whats? two words HOT FLASHES may you never have them, job security for the hubby he works fir the power company
Laura says
We keep ours at 80. Only one unit so it can get hotter upstairs. Ceiling fans going in every room. When we got energy efficient windows 6 years ago that really helped. We live in SoCal! Don’t like to run it at night, but we usually get about 2 weeks in August where it doesn’t cool down enought at night so we have to run it.
Karen says
Our A/C is set at 77º; sometimes I am cold and bump it up a degree or two. If I’m doing a cake I’ll lower it so the frosting doesn’t get melty. We just got a new HVAC system with our remodel, so we will have to see what feels comfortable in the winter. Previously we’ve had the heat at 62º during the day and 55º at night.
Jia-Min says
I feel like a wimp for keeping the thermostat at 74. We are home all day as homeschoolers, but usually we can keep the windows open all morning and evening. We don’t let it get too much higher than 75 so the a/c doesn’t have to work so hard. We are thankful for the Delta breeze out here in N. CA.
Amanda says
We live in Franklin, TN and we keep it on 72 year round usually. We don’t have a digital thermostat on our apartment so it’s a little hard to tell exactly what temperature it is.
CM says
I live in south FL; ours is set to 78 all the time, but I am constantly trying to sneak it down to 76 or 77 when my husband isn’t looking.
Emily says
We live in a 100-yr-old house with no central air, so we are at the mercy of our window A/C units & ceiling fans! It’s been hot in southern KY, so we’ve been coasting at a pretty consistent 87 degrees this past week. We keep the windows open in the evenings & after it rains, close the blinds in the middle of the day, and try to run all errands during the hottest part of the day– the A/C in the car is a real treat!
Sheri says
Yep! That’s it! The car air conditioner! My drive to and from work us just long enough for me to cool down in the car!
Sheila says
Because of seasonal allergies, we run our A/C 24/7. But I’m hot natured & a wimp, so it’s 71-72 during the day & 69 in the evening to cool off before bed time. Then it holds there all night. I’ll have to see if I can live in the 72-73 range & shave off a few dollars this summer. 🙂
Shirley powers says
We do the same but the air runs constant. And it never reaches 71 degrees tell late at night. Then it finally shuts off and on. It’s a new unit. Done had them out here 3 times I think I’m going to ask my money back and get some one else to put in a nother unit.
sarah says
I think Heidi has me beat. I used to always keep it at 69-70 in the summer but am trying to eek it up to 74. I feel uncomfortable at 74 much of the time but try to hang out in our basement. I have a chronic illness and I’m always hot. We keep our house at 60-62 in the winter so I’m used to that. I’m not a fan of summer at all!!
LisaP says
We haven’t used it much over the years. We now have a baby at home so we set it at about 85 in the summer and we splurged all winter and kept it at 60!
We do live on a lake and generally have great breezes. And we have wood burning fireplaces in our bedroom and family room that we use during the winter. Mostly we use the AC over the summer just to drown out noise at night (you’ve seen the movie Neighbors?….well, that’s who we live next to. But we love them!)
Stephanie says
Here in MI we don’t tolerate heat well! We keep the AC at 70! During the winter we keep our heat at 68.
Sylvia says
We live in California Wine Country where temps get into the 110’s on a regular basis during the summer. BUT if I ran my AC at 65/70 my monthly bill might match my house payment so I keep the AC around 76/78. Still sweating at that temp sometimes but it’s not too bad. 🙂
Heidi says
Ours is usually 64-65 degrees year round. Even at that temp I sweat all night long! I’m thinking of gradually turning it up until it’s at 70 because when I go anywhere I sweat and get sick from being overheated.
Megan says
I am Frugal in nearly every other way but this. Hubby is a stove at night and neither of us can sleep hot. We just had some dampeners installed to help with the flow to our room (no need to cool entire house to our desired night time temp).
So 74 during day and I wish I could go cooler but I can’t afford it. And 72 at night on whole house, 66 in master bedroom.
Kelly says
We live outside of Houston. I keep it on 76 during the day- 74/75 if I’m cooking or cleaning. We put it on 74 at night.
Amie says
I live in central Georgia (or “middle Georgia” as the natives call it). I was raised in New England and have adapted to the heat. We keep our AC at 78, but when I cook dinner and the sun is beating down on the house, our AC can’t keep up and it still climbs to 81 or so. I don’t mind too much. In the winter, we set it at 71 and I wear warm clothing. I grew up with the heat set at 63 in the winter. I would freeze now. lol. One thing that lowered our summer electric bills a lot was buying UV reflecting window film and putting it over our windows. It made a huge difference in our electric bill. I also use blinds and open them just enough to let the light in. We stay home a lot in the summer so I don’t adjust the thermostat upstairs. We have 2 AC zones: upstairs and downstairs. Bedrooms and the open concept: family room, breakfast room, dining room, and kitchen are upstairs so we keep it more comfortable. Downstairs we have a family room/play room, extra bedroom with exercise equipment, and a room where we keep our dog crates where they sleep at night. This zone is kept at 80 in the summer and 65 in the winter and adjusted to a more comfortable temperature when people are using it.
Ryan says
It has been 90 the last week and I didn’t even need the A/C. I just opened the windows at night when it was low 70s and closed them when I first got up. House never got above 80. At night a cold shower or a iced drink was enough to fight that “I can’t take anymore!” feeling. Meanwhile the neighbors run their A/C whenever it gets past 70, definitely a waste.
Stephanie says
I am very cold most of the time so even if it’s 86 in the house I’m actually quite comfortable. we have a/c but rarely use it. we live in a country setting so the amount of breeze is amazing. my husband and kids are pretty “cool” to the idea of not freezing mom out! our electric bill last month was only $59 for a family of 5. hopefully your a/c is repaired quickly.
stephanie says
72 – all day and all night. I’m giving myself a pat on the back for that. Last year it was 70. We absolutely hate the heat. This is one of the main reasons we only buy ranch style homes.
Robyn says
Me too! We moved to the midwest from California, and we can’t take the heat! 72 degrees, baby. Worth every penny!
Shelly Smith says
I agree! I am still stuck at 70 for both day time and night time. I hate to be hot, and I am hot natured! I tell my family they can add more clothing, but there’s only so much clothing I can take off! 😉 However, I point out to my husband that I save us lots of money in the winter (keeping thermostat set at 65 most days!)
Miriam says
Here in Richmond, the breath-taking humidity when it gets HOT is what gets me every summer. So far this year we’ve had the AC on very little (set on 74-76). We invested in ceiling fans this spring so we are putting them to good use and enjoying lower electric bills. My hubby is in HVAC and is the back-up on-call guy this week; he’s worked till after 9pm every day but Monday this week, and is headed out again today (Saturday). He’s THE on-call guy next week… yuck. Such is life! Grateful for God’s provision through Daniel’s job.
Cindy says
We leave ours set at 76 with a couple of ceiling fans running, as well.
Doreen says
We usually keep it at 77 or 78. Last summer we kept it at 79 or 80. The funny thing is, the hotter it is outside the hotter it can be inside without me feeling hot. The other day it was in the lower 80s outside and I got hot at 76. Yesterday was a blistering hot day and I would regularly go outside for little jobs and when I would come back inside. . . 77 felt too cold, so I upped it. One secret for making your house feel cooler is to go outside for a while and then come back in! It works. When we don’t use our AC we open up the windows at night and get the fans blowing the cooler evening/night air through the house then in the morning shut the windows quickly, pull all the curtains shut (yeah, I know it is dark, but it is cooler too) and set the fans in the halls, etc. to get the air circulating around the house. Then in the afternoon when the inside temperature passes up the outside temperature (we live in a mobile home, and that does happen pretty quick) I open up again and get air moving in from outside.
Jenn says
I keep ours at 77* all day and night, unless we have a house full of people and then I’ll turn it down to whatever to keep everyone cool. I wait as long as possible to turn it on–windows open as much as possible and our ceiling fans run pretty much non-stop. Our house is a spread-out ranch, so no upstairs or basement to worry about, but I do find that the back of the house tends to get a bit warmer than the rest of the house. I have thermal curtains over our back door and that makes a HUGE difference in keeping the back living room cooler.
shannon says
I know it would mean more electricity, but we have a dual window fan that can either draw air in or draw air out. I am often amazed how much it can cool down the upstairs to draw the air out later in the day. If it was cool enough at night, you could draw in (intake) while you were sleeping.
Michelle Zang says
Haha this is so funny because we’re going through the same exact thing right now. The compressor went bad so we were weighing the options & costs of replacing the compressor vs. a new unit. Then had to wait for the compressor to be ordered & for the repairman to get here. We’ve borrowed fans from family members & it’s actually been a fun test to see how long we can make it (and how low our electric bill should be this month). I hope you get your situation figured out soon as well.
Misty Nicole Overstreet-Roberts (The Lady Prefers To Save) says
It would be awesome if we were able to keep our thermostat at 81 degrees, but I have pets, and our puppy, a great pyrenees has a lot of fur, and it just wouldn’t be fair to her to have her as hot inside as out! I try to keep the thermostat at 74; I do utilize my ionic fans and swamp cooler as much as possible, but the way I look at it, as much as I save on other things, my ac is my yearly luxury!
Amber S says
We live in the hot desert of Southeastern Arizona, so AC is a blessing! However, I am very frugal, so it stays at 82 downstairs and 85 upstairs, then is turned off at night. By opening doors and windows when I get up at 4:00 a.m., it usually cools down quite a bit. We have a well-insulated house and ceiling fans in every room, so those things help out! Our upstairs AC did go out a couple of summers ago and it got to 93 or so up there before it could be fixed- yikes!
MaryEllen@ImperfectHomemaker says
You know you’re frugal when 81 is about normal! I start feeling cold when it gets down to 79 and wonder who turned the air down. But 85 to 86 would definitely not be fun! Hope it’s fixed soon!
Lisa Clark says
I had to laugh when I read your comment! I keep my house (north AL) at 79º in the summer, and I can tell when it drops to 78º. My teens complain and I tell them when they’re paying the utility bill they can set the thermostat on whatever they want. In my house it works because we have 10-foot ceilings. All the hot air rises to the ceiling, so 79º is comfortable. We also run fans in every room and sleep with them running because air moving across your skin makes you feel 5-10º cooler. It might help that I grew up in west Texas where 110º summer days are not unusual and we didn’t have central ac until I was a teenager.
Janell says
I live in middle GA. If you’ve ever lived here that should be all I have to say. My husband works outside all day in the heat and says he refuses to be hot in the house. I’m also very hot natured so we keep our air on 75 most of the time. If I’m cooking or cleaning, we turn it to 74 or even 73. Has anyone else switched from an old fashioned coil stove to a flat surface and feel like it puts off more heat or is it just me?
Christine says
I would agree about the stove.
nancy says
During the day, we keep ours 79 upstairs, 84 upstairs, higher when we are gone for more than a couple of hours. At night we flip it and keep the upstaits cooler. Temps peak around 115 in the summer so AC is a must!
nancy says
During the day, we keep ours 79 upstairs, 84 upstairs, higher when we are gone for more than a couple of hours. At night we flip it and keep the upstaits cooler. Temps peak around 115 in the summer so AC is a must!
Hannah says
We’re without A/C too and have been for the past three years (can’t afford to get it fixed). So, it’s been around 85 degrees inside.
Laura says
Happen to us 2 years ago thank god my brother, father and brother in law all do hvac. It was 93 outside and 86 inside. There was a small leak he filled it haven’t had an issue since.
Lynn says
I wouldn’t have the air on now if it wasn’t for seasonal allergies. Grass. so it sets on about 74*.
One of the things that helped us a couple of years ago when our a/c went out was to have box fans blowing the stale air OUT during the day and blowing the cooler air in at night. Remember to keep the curtains closed if the sun is shining in them. I can remember being so thankful for the a/c turning on again. It had been in 100’s for DAYS. And night time wasn’t much better. By the time I finished hanging the basket of clothes on the line… the first ones on were dry. I’m not joking. Remember also to do as much cooking outside as you can to keep the house cooler.
Casey says
West Texas girl here, I keep the a/c between 78 & 80 during the day and turn it down to 77 when my husband gets home until morning.
Lisa says
North Florida. 78 during the day, 77 at night works for us. We just had to replace our upstairs AC unit a month ago, ugh. It was the original one from when the house was built 19 years ago (typical lifespan is more like 15 years). Not a nice check to write, but that’s part of what savings are for, right?!
Margaret says
I keep it 80during the day and down to 78 at night. Unless I am cleaning house, I am perfectly comfortable but hubby prefers it cooler. Last week out ac went out too and took 5 days to be fixed. Went out on a Friday pm. Yeah! 🙁 Got to 87 one day inside and quite lethargic but the rest of the time t was no more than 83 -quite manageable. We were thanking The Lord that he brought rain two days when it was to be sunny all day! Take lots of cooling showers to cool off!
Kim says
Crystal,
You may need to clean your A/C coils on the outside unit. It should be done every year. I once paid for a service call for the repair man to charge me $75 to use my water & my garden hose. Believer me, I watched what he did. You can probably do a google search for a video on how to clean the coils. It only takes a few minutes & might save you a service call. It helped immediately after they were hosed clean!! That’s on my “To Do” list already for tomorrow. And don’t forget to change the furnace filters. 🙂
Mona says
I keep our A/C at 78-79. Too warm for hubby (he’d prefer 70!) and too cool for me (I’d be happier with 80-82). We have ceiling fans in most rooms plus we have a small fan in our room for hubby. We live in SWFL so our A/C runs about 9 months.
Rebecca says
we keep our a/c set at 78 in the day; 80 at night. We live in NW FL where it can get really humid, so we have a dehumidifier that makes it less “sticky” and feel cooler.
Jo says
We keep it at 78 when we’re home – 79 at night. Tip: if you live in a humid climate, run a dehumidifier at 35 or 40 percent humidity setting – it feels soooo much cooler when the air is dry! Outside humidity here is in the 60-70 percent range FYI.
Kristin S says
I’m so so so so sorry. It’s miserable. I live in constant fear of my a/c breaking. Yep, fear. It’s gripping. It’s not about being hot but about how much it will cost to replace and who can I trust and will it break when I have company and and and. Yuck, fear, yuck.
I’m a die hard 76 in the summer until this year. I’m working from home all summer and have kept it at 75. With these weeks and weeks of over 90 degrees, I’m so scared (yep, more fear) of getting my power bill this month.
When working at my office and not home, I keep it at 78 during the day and 76 at night. Hm… maybe I need to go back to 76.
Lisa says
Oh Kristin! I so understand where you are coming from. We moved into a home a few years ago and the AC was 13 years old at that time. Every time I heard it kick on, I would feel such relief because I was so concerned that one day it would break down. Same with the heater in the winter. Well, fast forward 6 years and our AC is now 19 years old and…we found out it needs to be replaced and we don’t have the money to do it. Until we are able to save up the money for it, we bought a couple of portable units that do okay. It is still fairly warm in the house (yesterday it was 88 in our bedroom) but I know it would be a lot worse if we didn’t have them. Having to endure hot, humid Kansas summers with no central AC does not sound like much fun, but we are just taking it one day at a time.
Patty Hales says
We just moved from Utah to the Phoenix area. Sometimes in the summer in Utah I would be just dying at 78. Wiping seat off my face, turning the fans on full blast. So I kept it lower. Really, I have not dealt well with heat at all!
Here we have tile most of the places in the house. When we bought it I immediately thought we were going to replace it with wood. Now I’m not so sure. I keep the air at 74 in the morning to cool down the tiles and it feel cool. Then in the afternoon starting at 1pm when the electricity rates go up I keep it at 84-86. So far the tiles have kept the house cool enough not to have the AC going at all till about 5:30 and at 84 it feels good.
Shelly Robinson says
I feel your pain – literally. Our AC messed up last Saturday, and we are waiting for the part so they can fix it. In the meantime, we have to leave the AC off upstairs and keep the temperature higher than we would like downstairs.
Typically, we keep the temperature around 75-76. We live in North Carolina where the humidity is a beast in the summer!
Helen says
No Ac here! It gets up to 90 in the house in the heat is the summer and over 100 upstairs. We just live on how first floor and visit the pool a lot.
Anna @ The DIY Mom says
Having moved to a part of the world where there is no central heat or air, it is amazing what a few degrees change can do for comfort levels, and also how your body does slowly adjust up to certain points. Thankfully it is a (fairly) moderate climate and we do have a space heater and fan for when we really need them.
Lately it has been upper 70s and low 80s which is absolutely wonderful. But if I had to choose, I definitely pick 90 over 50 in the house any day.
We’ll be visiting the states shortly and I’m wondering what we’ll all think of the more prevalent a/c this summer.
Cathy says
I’m in east TN. We stay at 76 in our house but we keep all our ceiling fans running. We have fans in each bedroom and one in the living room. I would prefer to have it a few degrees cooler at night because I burn up at night but my super frugal husband doesn’t agree.
Jessica says
In Columbus, OH, I keep my thermostat at 81F in the summer and 65 in the winter. My house is 2000 sq ft and is a 4 level split. The three upper level bedrooms do get hotter in the summer. We have a newer high efficiency heat pump. Our street doesn’t have natural gas service.
JoyG says
In the winter, we keep it at 68…summer, around 74 or so. My husband has this weird thing that he never wants to turn on the A/C until July….go figure. We have an attic fan that keeps our house really cool for the most part. This year, so far so good!
Lana says
75 downstairs and 76 upstairs. We turn the upstairs down to 72 or 73 at night.
Alyssa says
Our a/c was acting up also and it just needed cleaned! If you haven’t tried that yet it might help. Just take a garden hose to the coils on the unit outdoor starting at the top and go down on all sides.
Laressa Nordgren says
We keep ours at 79 which keeps the basement awesome and the upstairs pretty nice. If I have company I lower it to 78 or 77. We have ceiling fans in the the bedrooms and the living room upstairs. This is where as a child I was taught to save money. We used to keep our windows open at night too but we moved to a more humid climate so that isn’t really an option anymore..
Janell says
75 or 76
Margaret says
Ha! I had to jump in on this question…. we live in Phoenix, so we have ours at 78 at night and 81 most of the day. (We have a weird power plan where certain daytime hours are much more expensive, so we turn up the AC and don’t run the dishwasher/ laundry during those times). Compared to 110 outside, 81 feels great… especially with a glass of ice water in hand. 🙂 However, November- April we don’t use it at all. Makes up for the $ we spend in the summer.
Christina says
We live in Florida And our a/c is 78 during the day and 77 @ night… And sometimes we get cold lol 🙂
Brooke says
We live in Texas and ceiling fans in every room is a must! We keeps ours between 78-80. We fans we are cool and comfy. One time when we lived in Amarillo our ac went out on fathers day and it got to 92 inside!!! Oh and I was pregnant, so that was fun.
Jennifer says
I live on the Maine coast where air-conditioning isn’t needed. The moderate climate and sea breeze keeps the temperature pretty comfortable. We have maybe a week in August, if we’re lucky, where the temps get in the high 80’s to low 90’s. We relish those days because they’re so rare and they make jumping in the ocean and our myriad lakes and ponds so much fun.
Nighttime temps this week, today is June 20, have dipped into the 30’s…Needless to say, I’m still sleeping in my long underwear 🙂
Stephanie Bourne says
We keep ours at 70.
Laura says
That’s one benefit of renting. It’s nice not to be stuck with the repair bills.
L.L. says
Does keeping ur thermostat on 69+ does it really keep ur house cooler and ur bill down?
We don’t have a/c and the dehumidifie we got today it makes it really reaally hot!
Becki @Running with Team Hogan says
We set it to 78 but also have ceiling fans. I used to try 80 but we didn’t sleep well. Our a/c thermostat is upstairs so that does make a difference.
Sarah says
We keep the AC at 76 during the day, 82 at night. Works for us! Unless it’s 85-ish or higher during the day, we don’t use it at all. 🙂
Merrilee says
We keep the AC unit set at 76-78 in the hot humid summers in PA. But in the freezing winter we turn the heat up to 70. It’s funny how the different seasons affect our temperature tolerances!
Lcg says
Ac at 80. After 12 yrs in FL, my best tip is to step outside for five to ten minutes. When you comeback In you will feel like you are jumping into a cool pool.
Meredith M says
68 all year! Hate being hot!
Rachel says
Seconded!
Karen says
At my old apartment, I had a wall unit which, when on, ran constantly. And no ability to see what temp it was. My new place has central. It’s my first summer here and so far, I set it at 82 when not home, and then bump it to 76 or 78 when home. Unless I’m cooking or working hard. Then…72! This winter, I was paying heat for the first time and kept it at 64 except for when taking a shower. Lol!
Julie@couponcrazygirl says
We keep ours at 80 degrees in summer and 65 in winter. Our AC was out last week and it was 86 in the house. It’s not bad during the day, but tough to sleep with it that hot at night.
Alicia says
Here in SE Nebraska it’s been hot and humid. We set the A/C for 76-78 in summer, and for 67 in the cold and windy winter.
Victoria says
We keep it at 76 to 78 on the main floor and then at night about an hour before bed we put on the bedroom units on high it is hard to say how cool the bedrooms guess but I would bet it is around 68 within a few hours. The bedroom units go off when we get up though.
Ai @ Less to More says
It’s funny because I often don’t feel the need to turn on the AC even when the temp gets up there. But the minute I take a look at the temperature reading, then I start feeling warm. Maybe I should tape a piece of paper over it.
Crystal Paine says
😉
Stacey says
We live in Central Florida, our A/C runs 11 months of the year. We keep it at 80 degrees during the day and it automatically goes to 77-76 degrees in the evening. However, we have found having a humidity control on our A/C helps us.
Kelli says
74 degrees in Summer and 68 degrees in Winter.
Danielle G. says
I keep ours at 82. That’s usually cool enough when it’s in the high 90s here in Sacramento. If it starts feeling too warm, or when I’m cleaning, I drop it to 79 for a bit.
Sarah says
Kudos to you! I am not that strong of a woman. Cali girl here too. 🙂
Jasmine says
We keep our main floor thermostat to 79 in the daytime and 81 at nighttime. We use ceiling fans to circulate the air in the daytime.
Janet says
75 here in Southern Illinois, though this is the first year we have kept it that high. I have been quietly working it up a degree or so at a time to lower the utility bill.
Sarah says
It is interesting to see the variance in what people feel comfortable at! We keep ours at 78 (I personally can tolerate 79-80 but my work at home husband disagrees). 😉 Today I was feeling extra hot so I set it to 76 which is definitely a ‘splurge’ for us. We live in the high desert = dry heat.
Jen says
I live near Phoenix, so AC is pretty much a necessity here. It’s 110 today! Dry heat, my arse, it’s still hot. Anyway, I keep the thermostat on 85 while I’m gone to work, then turn it down to 80 within 30 minutes-1 hour after I get home so I don’t pass out while I exercise. When I go to bed, I turn it down to 78, turn on the ceiling fan, and turn on the pedestal fan.
Happy Healthy and Wealthy Girl says
We live in Texas, so it is hot outside. We keep 76 right now inside but I plan to move it up to 78.
Does your AC is running? If not, your thermostat might be broken. I had same problem this spring and guys from AC company just changed my thermostat and everything started working.
If it is running, then your freon might be low. After AC guys will add it, your AC will work again. Do not let them talk you into changing your AC. One of my friend, who used to be a part of AC company told me that even with a leak I can just keep adding freon every year and it might last for another 10 years. It’s much cheaper to add freon once a year than to replace the entire AC.
I learned a lot about AC living in Texas… 🙂
Hope it helps.
Lori says
I also live in Texas and just today had to have freon added because my a/c was not cooling. But this was due to a small leak. He fixed the leak and told me they’re should not be any reason to ever add more freon unless there was another leak. He said being low is only because of a leak. Hope this helps you maybe in some way.
Jen says
I’ve tried and tried to get used to keeping the house at 72 degrees. I just can’t cope with the heat! It is usually 70 -71 during the day, and 71 at night with fans going on full blast! Just another reason having a single story house would be my ideal floor plan. You can feel the difference just going up half a flight of stairs!
Has anyone invested in a portable air conditioner (not a window model) to cool the upstairs? I was considering it very much! 🙂
joyce says
Please research this – there was an article in a popular reporting magazine for consumers that these type units are a waste of money and inefficient in cooling even a small space . Perhaps someone who has purchased one has first hand info for you.
Lana says
Friends of ours have one and it does not do much. Also, it has to have a place for condensation to drain and in their older house it keeps blowing the breakers.
Meghan says
As a Tennessee native, I hope your A/C gets fixed soon! That’s dreadful. We live in Montana now and our A/C = our windows 🙂 Leave them open at night, close them in the morning, house stays cool all day! That’s only in the summer though. NO WAY would I do that in the winter!! Our inside temp is normally 68-70 degrees.
Sarah says
A/C!? It’s 50 degrees and raining. I have my space heater roaring away.
Crystal Paine says
😉
Amy says
We keep ours between 78-80 degrees in the summer. When it is over 100 degrees outside, we have found that 80 actually feels cool inside so we turn it up!
Lynsi says
We keep it at 72 but it cannot manage to get it there on most really hot days. It usually gets to about 74 or 76 when its 90+ outside. We had problems with ours last year and understand what you’re going through. Pray for rain:)
Matt McWilliams says
I know the feeling. My office is in an old home where you can’t switch from AC to heat and back easily, so the spring is always an adventure. One day, I’m in a hoodie and track pants, the next I am sweating in shorts and a t-shirt.
We keep ours at home right at 73 and it automatically goes down to 70 at our daughter’s nap time and again at bedtime.
I hope they fix it tomorrow! It’s amazing how much we can take that for granted.
Roxanne says
I generally keep it at 69, my husband always bumps it down to 66 when he comes home.
It’s a splurge, but we cannot stand the heat at all. We live in the cold north, so our air isn’t even on every day in the summer. Our bill is still probably less than many people in warmer climates.