Does turning the air conditioning off when you’re not home save energy?
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Grace Cary)
Hot summer days can mean high electricity bills. People want to stay comfortable without wasting energy and money. Maybe your household has fought over the best strategy for cooling your space. Which is more efficient: running the air conditioning all summer long without break, or turning it off during the day when you're not there to enjoy it?
We are a team of architectural and building systems engineers who used energy models that simulate heat transfer and A/C system performance to tackle this perennial question: Will you need to remove more heat from your home by continuously removing heat throughout the day or removing excess heat only at the end of the day?
The answer boils down to how energy intensive it is to remove heat from your home. It's influenced by many factors such as how well your house is insulated, the size and type of your air conditioner, and outdoor temperature and humidity.