Is it more expensive to leave your air conditioner on or turn it on and off?

Answer 1

cheaper to turn it on and off. it doesn't work any harder cooling down a hot room than it does maintaining a cool room so it will run less total time if you turn it on and off. cheaper to set the thermostat higher than lower for the same reason, it runs less total time. Don't forget humidity is a factor. It doesn't take a lot of energy to cool a room, but it does take a lot of energy to draw all the hot moisture out. If it is humid, it will be cheaper to just leace the ac on and keep the room cool and dry as opposed to letting the room fill with moist air and then removing it. So: If it is dry, you could save money by shutting the AC off. If it is humid, not so much. It is cheaper to maintain a constant temp. A warm room increases the amp draw (hydro draw) on the A/C compressor. This is called the power factor. As a room cools the amp draw on the A/C drops. Leave it on at a resonable temp I disagree, regardless of the humidity or temp, you are removing it all day or once! Also it takes less energy to cool the air then it does to cool the concrete, walls, furntaure etc. so if the air is off the house gets warm the concrete gets warm and it takes more energy to cool that