Air conditioned
New York State HVAC fact of the day: Of the state's roughly 7.2 million households, an estimated 5.3 million (74 percent) use some sort of air conditioning. Of the households that use air conditioning, 74 percent use window units (as opposed to central air or some other tech). [US EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2009]
On Monday, the org that oversees New York's power grid projected that this week's heat wave could push the state's electricity usage close to its all-time peak level, set August 2, 2006 (it hit 95 that day in Albany). [NYISO] [Weather Underground]
Adjusting the temperature on the air conditioner from 75 to 78 can save about 18 percent in energy costs. (Oh, and pushing the temp way down to "cool the room off the faster"? That doesn't actually cool the room off the faster.) [National Grid]
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Comments
Proud member of the 26%. Proud but sweaty.
... said chrisck on Jul 16, 2013 at 3:08 PM | link
Even prouder member of the 74%. And a nice and cool one, too. And since when does 78 count as Air Conditioning? That sounds like heat to me!
... said Mike on Jul 16, 2013 at 4:34 PM | link
Cheaping out on my AC may have been a false economy. I held out for so long, until August of my first year of self-employment and working from home. I was tired of camping out at Uncommon Grounds every day.
I got the basest base model of the smallest size Sears had at the time, for my bedroom. Sears was the only store in the area that had any left. The problem is that mine has no temperature control: just a 1-10 dial. There are days when I want to turn it up to 11, sure, but it would be easier/probably cheaper to pick a temp and let the machine handle it from there.
... said LB on Jul 16, 2013 at 5:12 PM | link
Hey, Mike, can I come over?
... said chrisck on Jul 16, 2013 at 5:32 PM | link
78 degrees!?! No, that's not A/C. We set our central for 74 degrees, and forget about it. Not too cold, but refreshing enough to make you say, "Ahhh" every time.
... said -R. on Jul 17, 2013 at 9:35 AM | link
1-1/2 years ago we went for the geothermal option and since our electrical loads are down roughly 1/3 since then, we're kinda spoiled on a/c. 73 F all the time!
... said ChuckD on Jul 17, 2013 at 9:56 AM | link