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Re: [Phys-l] cooling hints



Hi,

I suspect that there are lots of myths, about A/C. Some may have been true of the equipment of 20-30 years ago but not the current equipment. My A/C can easily keep my house at 80 F when it is 110 F outside. I suspect it could keep the inside at 70F based on the On/Off time

Timing has a lot to do with this. IF you come home at near the peak outside temperature and kick on the AC, then is working at a big temperature differential and is less efficient. If I could talk my wife into it, I would have the A/C target temp drop to 70F or 65F at about 4:00 or 5:00 AM when the outside is coolest and then at 7:00 AM change the target to 80 F. The system would coast for a few hours.

Here at the U of Arizona, they take this a step further. At night, when the outside temp has dropped and the electric rate is lower, they make ice, lots of ice. The campus is cooled during the day with this ice. They claim to save lots of money.





On 8/23/2011 10:08 PM, Aburr@aol.com wrote:
In a recent newspaper article about energy efficiency, an energy company
spokesperson said
"If you actually turn your air conditioner off for periods of time, the
amount of energy it will use as it tries to "catch up" and make the house cool
again is more than if it comes on periodically throughout the day."
Am I missing something practical here or is this statement as wet as the
condensation from the air conditioner?
Alex. F. Burr
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