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Raise the set temperature for the air conditioning system in your home during the day when you are out.

Last comment by user_379 on 15 May 2009:
I don't have air conditioning
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Description

If you don't have a programmable thermostat, set the temperature for your air conditioning system to a higher temperature when you leave the house for an extended period of time. A good range is 3-5 degrees warmer than you would otherwise set the temperature. This eliminates cooling the space, and wasting energy needlessly, when no people are inside.

Tags

  • behavior
  • cooling
  • hvac
  • individual
  • repeatable
  • residence
  • summer
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Assumptions We Made

Change temperature for 8 hours during day, assumes 6 degree change for cooling (e.g., 70 during AM/PM home time, 76 during work hours and nights), northern US climate. Calculated using Estar programmable thermostat spreadsheet which accounts for cooling degree days. Assumes central AC unit running on electricity. Does not include set-up for evening as a programmable thermostat does.

Impacts

Initial Impacts

Each time you carry out this action, the immediate impacts are:

  • Saves 0.04 dollars
  • Saves 0.40 kilowatt hours
  • Saves 0.55 lbs of CO2

Ongoing Impacts

Some actions also have additional impact over time. For this action, these are:

  • Unknown

Potential Annual Impact

We assume that this action will be carried out daily (about 160 times a year). In this case, in a year you could save:
  • 6.40 dollars
  • 64.16 kilowatt hours
  • 87.36 lbs of CO2
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