Keeping a house cool in the summer

[ken0042]

^^ I turned mine on yesterday as well. In part just to make sure it was working before I needed it, but also the 25¢ I spent in electricity to get the house perfectly comfortable was worth it.

[red sky]

Arpi's is coming out today to do an estimate. Hopefully it will be below 4k...

[CRXguy]

Anyone here tint their house windows? Our bonus room gets pretty warm in the afternoons between 1-3. Just wondering if its a good alternative before we splurge on central ac.

[Northendzone]

^ we tineted the windows on our upper floor (east and west facing), it helped a little

[ruddstud]

we have a west facing backyard... tinted all the windows, added central air, put up an awning over the sliding doors and now its comfortable. Sears did our AC install and quoted us a 2 ton unit. When all was said and done, they miscalculated the size of the house, the number of windows and that it was west facing. They installed a 3.5 ton unit no charge! Central air was approx $3800.

[automaton 3]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

I had an hvac guy suggest getting an attic evacuating type fan installed in the roof. He said it could be on a thermal switch so that at a certain temp it would start drawing air out of the hot attic, and that it would make a significant difference in the interior temp.

Has anyone heard of this, or had it done? I have been thinking of doing this, since for some reason my wife doesn't want us to get A/C, and I don't have a good location to place the exterior unit.

My parents had one of these, as I recall it worked pretty well, in particular in cooling down the house in the evening. Not particularly effective when temps were up into the 30's though.

Central air is some of the best money we've spent on our house. Considering the value of your house, another $3K to be comfortable year-round imo is worth it.

[CRXguy]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

^ we tineted the windows on our upper floor (east and west facing), it helped a little

Who did you hire? I'm thinking of calling Shadow Tinting since I chatted with the sales rep at the home show a couple years ago.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by CRXguy

Who did you hire? I'm thinking of calling Shadow Tinting since I chatted with the sales rep at the home show a couple years ago.

We had Shadow come in and measure everything for a quote.

Really nice guy and he showed us all the options for tint.

The price was reasonable as well for as many windows as we have, just haven't pulled the trigger yet with a basement development underway.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by CRXguy

Who did you hire? I'm thinking of calling Shadow Tinting since I chatted with the sales rep at the home show a couple years ago.

It was a guy who's business was in river bend. It was the closest to my house, seemed like a valid way to select a provider

[jeffh]

Yup, after reading Ken 's recent post, I decided to turn the ac on yesterday evening. Brought the house down to 20c for a comfortable sleep. Then , I put my stat back to heat mode with a set point of 18c as I headed to bed. Worked out well.

[BigNumbers]

Originally Posted by jeffh

Yup, after reading Ken 's recent post, I decided to turn the ac on yesterday evening. Brought the house down to 20c for a comfortable sleep. Then , I put my stat back to heat mode with a set point of 18c as I headed to bed. Worked out well.

I did the same. I have used mine a few times and it's been great. It was installed by FMF heating and cooling. They did a great job, pro install and a great mid range 3.5t unit for $2,500 all in. You could get a basic 3.5t for $1,900.

[Vox]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

It was a guy who's business was in river bend. It was the closest to my house, seemed like a valid way to select a provider

I think that is Icon Window Films. He and his wife did ours as well. Definitely the best price we could find, and really nice couple.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Just had AC put in - what do people here do for:

1) Temperature setting: 22 or something like 24? (22 is our normal temp)
2) Leave it on all day and let the thermostat sort it out or do you turn the AC on at a certain time of day?

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Just had AC put in - what do people here do for:

1) Temperature setting: 22 or something like 24? (22 is our normal temp)
2) Leave it on all day and let the thermostat sort it out or do you turn the AC on at a certain time of day?

1.) Leave it on all day starting in about April-May
2.) Get that first utility bill
3.) #### my pants
4.) Start turning on the AC as-needed
5.) In about October, begin this cycle over again with the gas fireplace

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Just had AC put in - what do people here do for:

1) Temperature setting: 22 or something like 24? (22 is our normal temp)
2) Leave it on all day and let the thermostat sort it out or do you turn the AC on at a certain time of day?

1. Mine is set to 70F and in really hot weather turn it to 69F.

2. Never leave it on all day. Honestly most of the time the main floor of your house is cool enough during the day. It's when you go to sleep that I turn mine on. Turn it on about 30 mins before bed. I also close a bunch of vents on the main floor and basement because as hot air rises, most of that cold air stays on the main floor at night.

Of course there is that 1 week of 30+ In July I have it on when I get home from work and all night. Other than that my formula works well in my house.

Also, I use my furnace fan to cycle air when I get home from work with windows open. I find that keeps it pretty cool and my AC only needs to cycle for a few hours at night.

[Sliver]

I leave mine on 22 and if I'm feeling extra hot I turn it down to 21.

[psicodude]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Just had AC put in - what do people here do for:

1) Temperature setting: 22 or something like 24? (22 is our normal temp)
2) Leave it on all day and let the thermostat sort it out or do you turn the AC on at a certain time of day?

1) Purchase a Nest.
2) Profit!

Ok, maybe not that simple, but I honestly believe the Nest makes financial sense if you have AC. My nest has programmed itself to be set at 22.5 most of the time and drops to 21.5 around 10:30 (before we go to bed). The auto-off and cool-wave features are awesome for AC.

[ken0042]

I also just use a regular programmable thermostat. It shuts off the A/C after we have gone to bed. (Set to 24.) I then have it set to 23 around noon, then down to 22 at 4:00 for when we get home.

I would say that our electricity use in the summer is about the same as in the winter. Longer days mean less lights; which offsets the A/C.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I also just use a regular programmable thermostat. It shuts off the A/C after we have gone to bed. (Set to 24.) I then have it set to 23 around noon, then down to 22 at 4:00 for when we get home.

I would say that our electricity use in the summer is about the same as in the winter. Longer days mean less lights; which offsets the A/C.

I hate the regular programmable thermostats that were in my house when I bought it with every fibre of my being. Every time the batteries die, which is often, I have to program every day and time again, which takes forever. Plus, it seems to auto change to things I don't want pretty regularly. With two furnaces (and thus two thermostats) I bought nest for the time savings not the money savings.

Back on to an AC topic (new baby = getting central AC). We have one furnace for upstairs and one for the basement/main floor. I assume putting central air only upstairs should be fine? The main floor never really gets hot, but the upstairs gets very hot.

Any recommendations for someone with a decent price/quality right now?

[Ryan Coke]

On this topic, how much temp gradient to the upstairs is normal? As soon as it started getting warm out last week it started getting too hot on the top level, and the change through the 3 levels is pretty significant.

I've assumed it is just the way it is, but I wonder if other houses are the same or if our house might've been poorly insulated in the attic.