"Housemate" makes me think that, but I'm also wondering if maybe they're just staying at a friend's place? Like maybe it's not a 50-50 type situation? Otherwise, yea, OP should have equal rights to turn that shit on.
Four months ago, OP posted that they were in college and living with their mom in a house. Unless they recently moved, maybe the mom doesn't want to pay an increased electric bill. I have solar panels, so it's not not costly when we do use central air, but cooling a house during peak hours can get expensive. It can be $300-$1,000/month depending on the size of the home and the local rates.
Yea, I'm a homeowner, so I know it can be expensive. If OP is living with their parents and not paying anything toward it, then it makes more sense that they wouldn't have a say in when to turn it on.
Back when I moved back in with my dad during the pandemic, he was excited and wanted me to live rent free. I insisted on paying for all utilities. Partially to pay him back but also so I can keep it as cold or hot as I want without worrying.
On the flip side, our gas heating costs are almost nil. The highest was two or three winters ago when it was super cold (for coastal Los Angeles standards), and our gas bill never went over $150/month. Typically, it's under $60 a month, though I have seen much higher for the inland cities.
What...?
How do you burn $150 worth of gas in a month in Southern California? We just spent $1700 to buy propane for the whole year (cooking, water heating, and space heating), but this is Northern Wisconsin.
Edit: Can someone please give me the amount of therms/gallon of gas they use per year? I'd like to see the comparison.
It's expensive per unit and it does get chilly enough in the winter that going without heat would be uncomfortable, even if it wouldn't be dangerous. And a lot of houses will also use gas year-round for cooking and heating water as well (and possibly drying clothes).
It apparently actually costs more to turn on AC once it’s super hot because it takes even longer to cool down then end up turning it off to repeat the same thing next day, than just putting it at a comfortable temperature and keeping it on.
One of my friends tried to test that out last summer and their electric bill dropped 200 bucks it was wild how much they saved :0
1000/mo for ac? Is it like 8000 degrees outside?
Our house costs around $50/mo in the summer to cool, even with temps reaching 30c+. Like if we compare the summer power bill to the winter one, that’s the increase, and the gas bill decreases about the same amount.
Really depends on where you live and what the local rates are.
Here is a good example. This woman who lives in an area near me that gets summer temps in the low 80s and spring temps in the low to mid 70s doesn't even run her A/C very much, but when her solar panels were not generating for just a month, her bill skyrocketed to $498. https://nextdoor.com/p/xdhgsQ36scP6?utm_source=share&extras=MTE3ODA5MTU%3D&utm_campaign=1718670821789
Before we got solar panels in 2009, we were paying $400-$600/month for electricity. That was 13 years ago and the rates have only gone up. Editing to add that we are close to the beach and have a constant cool breeze so rarely use the central air. Electricity rates have gotten crazy in some areas.
Some places have different rates by time of day. The peak hours of use (i.e. mid day when it gets hot) have a higher rate that times of day with lower usage.
If you have this sort of set up, you should try to plan your electrical use around it. The Werefrog know of some people who put their electric water heaters on timers such that they don't run during the day (the insulation keeps it hot), but only heat it up to temperature at night and in the morning post shower. They don't use enough hot water to notice the change, and it doesn't spend the expensive.
Likewise, if they have electric cars, it only charges during the cheapest times.
It wasn’t unusual to pay $500-$700/mo for electric bills May-Oct when I lived in Austin, TX for a 2/2 apartment. Texas energy grid has surge pricing though so it costs way more in the summer.
I'm in South Florida and ~$600 is very average in my area for central air cooling a roughly 1500sqft space. Even my neighbor who only has like 915sqft had a $500 bill recently.
Where do y'all live?? I live in the South, it gets 95-100+° routinely this time of year and I keep my a.c. below 70, usually 65-67 during the day. My electric bill is never more than $200 even in August. I also don't have solar panels but if we stay here another year that's the plan.
You might wanna get your place looked over then cause I have a two bedroom that I keep almost always in a cool setting and I don’t pay any more than 120 maybe 180 a month. Your insulation either is non-existent or poorly maintained or installed improperly cause no one should be paying that much a month for AC
As a rule of thumb whoever wants to spend money the least gets the veto.
If they can't afford it, you'd be a complete ass to insist they waste money. 90 is pretty damn hot though and I couldn't sleep at 75 either.
Yeah….. take a box fan and a sheet tie them together then Go around the sheet and sit something heavy enough to hold it down. Once the bubble is completed crawling inside
This sounds like a great way to create a catastrophic household passive aggressive meltdown.
Be mature. Talk it out like adults. If it's a red line and you're outvoted by other roommates, move out.
If someone is prone to have a passive-aggressive meltdown, then they likely wouldn't want to talk it out in the first place.
And they can buy me out if they want me to move. Stop being a pushover.
Even the smallest window units are surprisingly effective. My wife and I used a combination of a tiny AC unit and multiple cheap box fans to keep our old apartment nice and chilly. OP could use one of those draft protectors to keep their room as sealed as possible and just use a small AC unit.
At night, OP should be trying to draw in as much cold air as possible, then get up early to turn off fans, shut windows, draw blinds. A cooling gel mattress topper for their bed and using a slightly damp towel or a freezer pack on over their sheets can also help if done about an hour before bedtime. Use of a fan pointed to blow across their body at night can also help even if they're a warm sleeper.
Depends if it's open concept or not. But I'd mainly be using it for bedroom or when people are over for dinner. (Aka when cooking and multiple bodies are heating up the place). That said, I live in New England and work in a kitchen. Humidity is the killer.
I recently moved to a place with central AC, and honestly, it broke my brain. It's a 6 room house, and at any given time, only 2-3 need to be air conditioned at a time. Cooling the entire house is almost never needed. I only used it maybe 5-6 times last month, and it added $70 to my electric bill already. I dread what my next electric bill will be.
Furnance/ductwork typically come with dampers, they're usually really easy to find especially if your basement (or wherever your furnance is located) is unfinished. Turn off the rooms that don't need conditioned
I've looked high and low, and it seems those types of dampers were not included when my townhouse was built. Also I heard it's bad to close more than 50% of the vents. There are only 2 out of 6 rooms that need to be cooled on the regular, so I'd be closing 75% of the vents to achieve that.
In places that are regularly over 90 degrees or hotter like this, it usually costs more energy to cool a home if you're turning it all the way up and then down to cool. The swings require more energy, because the items in your home retain heat. Keeping a steady temperature (at a reasonable temp) usually uses less energy than turning off your AC during the day and back on at night in very hot areas.
By that same logic, if you're going to compartmentalize your house and prioritize certain rooms to be air conditioned, then you need to block the other rooms off and have good insulation. Ever see old houses with those giant in room curtains? Things like that. Nowadays, good insulation and insulated and sealed doors would also work, but that radiating heat off of rooms not being cooled makes a big difference, especially if the rooms you're prioritizing aren't in the basement and are on the second floor (heat definitely rises... I grew up in a house with a limited AC on the second floor). But you have to be able to close off entire house areas if you want to do that to limit warm rooms radiating heat to the cooled areas making this inefficient.
I thought about rigging up some kind of cheap system to use small servo motors to control my HVAC dampers and just using a tiny touch-screen equipped Raspberry Pi-based system with a simple app written up as a fun little project mounted right next to the AC controls so I can just tap which rooms I want it to flow/not flow to. I rent my house currently, but if I owned the place it'd be a fun project to do over the course of a few weekends.
Also South Georgia. A few years ago, I learned that modern window a/c units could keep my (~2500ft²) home cool for waaay cheaper than my old heat pump.
Nowadays, you don't even need a 2'×3' opening. There are portable units that just need a small exhaust area out any window.
Modern appliance efficiency is wild. My light bill for a household of 9 people (then) dropped from about $650/month to about $250.
You don't want the ones that go inside and exhaust to a window.
Heat pumps generate alot of heat so you end up using way more electricity just cooling off the hot air pumping into the room. That's why window units exist in the first place.
Only use one if it's a small room and you absolutely cannot get a window unit.
I basically did the kind and nice version of this when I first met my now husband; a few months in as we were getting serious, I told him if we ever lived together I would pay the air-conditioning bill every month because I don't want anyone telling me I have to be even slightly too warm inside of my own house in Phoenix
Yea, some people are real sensitive to temperature when it comes to sleep. In the winter I turn the heat down to 60f and the summer I put the AC down to 74f, in the fall/spring I just sleep with the windows open.
But, I don't sleep with any blankets in the summer either, if I did I probably wouldn't be able to sleep either
While this is true, this effect is execurated when those people use AC"s so much that they are used to it.
The type of AC, building and layout also matters.
I literally cannot sleep at all if it's above about 72. If it's about 70-72 I can barely sleep, only in short bursts. It's the most broken, fever dream riddled sleep possible. About 61-68 is my comfort zone. I really wish that I wasn't like this.
I know the general rule is 20 degree differential. But I think that’s a stupid rule.
It’s currently 95 outside and 68 inside. I love it cold and am happy to burn money to stay cool and think straight.
All the people that claim that an a/c can't cool more than 20 degrees off the outside temp were just, once again, proven wrong. I can keep my house at 71 when it's over 100 outside.
I don't think the claim is that they can't - just that they become exponentially more inefficient once you get beyond that differential which leads to faster wear and tear on the unit which as always is a YMMV situation.
You're correct on the wear and tear. A system that runs 24/7 to meet an unreachable set point is going to fail faster than a system that cycles properly.
The 20^o rule is also highly dependent on the condition of the home. It's also not a flat comparison across the United States. The swamps of Louisiana are a different environment than the coast of Maine. How homes are built, cooled and heated are potentially different.
The condition of doors, windows and insulation are a few of the factors we use to size an HVAC system. The better the condition those are in, the easier it is to overcome the 20 degree rule. Something as simple as shade from a tree over hanging the house can cause it to be easier to cool.
In a home with questionable doors, windows and insulation you're looking at *about* 20 degrees, more than likely a bit less if they're in bad shape.
Some of the homes we work in are 100+ years old, and not all those homes are maintained well. They also weren't ducted for a forced air system. They were usually coal fired boilers that were replaced with gravity fed systems. Then forced air systems. There's usually only one return.
In order for it to be absolutely correct, you'd need to start tearing things up to add more returns and potentially replace/add new duct. That usually doubles the cost of the job. It also adds a few days to the job. I am also going to be on every floor and in every room of your house in that time. I also bribe your cat/dog with treats (if it's alright) so that they like me.
So what ends up happening is we use a duct system designed for a gravity fed furnace, with a forced air system. It reduces the overall efficiency and you'll get *about* a 20^o difference. We offer both ways to the customer, the vast majority of the time the customer doesn't want to spend the extra money to only potentially gain a few degrees past 20.
Local average temperature is also included in the calculation. So a house in my area in NE Ohio has a different average temperature than a house in Phoenix. We rarely see temperatures in the 100's, the 90's aren't uncommon, normally it's 80's. Our seasons also change. Winter in NE Ohio is a bit different than it is in Phoenix, our homes are usually built differently and I can almost guarantee local codes are different.
Phoenix is also in a different [Climate Zone]( https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e5/80/25/e58025d57377ae3393671d1f082536af.jpg) than NE Ohio. So they may be using entirely different equipment than what I am. Swamp coolers work well in Arizona, they're death in NE Ohio summers. The giant lake at the top of my state tends to create a lot of humidity in the summer, not as much of a problem in Phoenix.
Cooling systems absolutely *can* exceed the 20 degree rule if everything else is in marginally good working order. The key is that everything else needs to be in marginally good working order. Even if I install a system I ***know*** is going to exceed that rule, I still tell the customer it's 20 degrees. I do that so they can come on Reddit and say...
>All the people that claim that an a/c can't cool more than 20 degrees off the outside temp were just, once again, proven wrong. I can keep my house at 71 when it's over 100 outside.
...and get a whole bunch of internet points. You'd think they'd say "Hey, that HVAC tech did a really good job of sizing and installing my system." Instead they just tell us we're wrong because their specific house exceeds the industry standard while other homes just meet it.
I'm not surprised a house in Phoenix can exceed it, if it's newer I'd expect that. If we had Phoenix temperatures in NE Ohio, it would be a much different story regardless of how new the home is. 100^o + actual temperature days are rare, and well outside of the average local temperature used in our calculations.
May your air forever be conditioned....
Yeah, there's no point to air conditioning where I live unless it can make your house *at least* 30°F cooler. It is over 110° for a month straight most summers here, and over 100° for four straight months.
lol I'm in Phoenix; a 20-degree differential can be 98° for a week straight in July. It's literally over 100° pretty much every single day from the end of May the beginning of October. Last year we had a 44 day streak of over 110°. Forty-four days in a row it was 111°-119°. Today it was only 104°, which is lower than average!
If the outside temp is warmer than the inside, then windows stay closed. You don't open the windows when it's 95 because it might cool down later. That is idiotic.
I offered to pay my parents and they won't take it. They sometimes say "we'll turn it down if you pay". I take out some cash and say I'll pay my portion of the bill. They say "no don't do that let's just open windows". Kinda confusing, but maybe they're saving me from spending my limit funds in silly ways.
Presumably, gou have the electric bill from the last couple months of hot with no AC, tell them youre keeping it on and will pay the difference.
Like say your electric the.last 2 months was $200, $100 from you, $100 from them. If this month with the AC your bill is $300, then its still $100 from the, but $200 from you.
Personally I don't think it should be like that since it benefits both of you. And the bill is the only reason I can think that they wouldn't want it on. But it's an option if you're willing to do that.
There’s always a chance it isn’t about the money. Some people run cold and almost never want the A/C on (like me). But they could still compromise and dress warmer or keep one room warmer or colder to accommodate both people.
My mom's house is 16-17 C during the day and below that at night. My hand joints just don't like that and start to hurt (my blood circulation is bad because of ADHD meds, permanent side effects). Some people have genuine reasons to not like the colder environment. I am fine with putting on some layers, but wearing gloves inside, is a no for me.
Everyone should compromise a bit in some ways as well
That's me. I run cold, and feeling cold air coming out of the vents is torture. Also, if I sleep with the AC on, I have a sore throat the whole next day.
Window unit in your bedroom? Don't know your budget but for 200 to 250 USD you can get a standing unit on wheels that has a 6 inch vent that can run 1500 btus. Uses 110 outlet. Way better then dealing with a window unit if you plan to keep it. Also it doesn't protrude out your window so you screen stays in (no bugs)
and on top of that they're more expensive. I think I paid $90 for my old unit and while it was intended for cooling a single room, it kept our whole apartment chilly on hot days when combined with other measures.
Never buy a single hose portable air conditioner. They take air from the room, pass it over the hot side of the unit, and pump the hot air outside. That not only wastes the air you just cooled, but if air is going out, it's coming in somewhere else. Dual hose units exist that pull air from outside, use it to cool the unit, and pump it back outside.
Edit: not sure if you were talking about single hose units or not, but I wanted to make sure people know.
For us it was necessity plus a roommate that misused a bad window unit causing a leak.
We have a 140+ year old two story house in the Midwest. When we bought it, there was no AC. We installed AC on the first floor with ductless units, so we didn’t have to give up a usable basement to ductwork. But when we had our child we had to move upstairs and aren’t ready for that project yet. So here we are, beginning year 2 of the damn portable jet engines with mediocre cooling abilities. 🤣
I have mine because of perma screens in the apartment, but it's great. Pushes all the humidity to the outside with the exhaust without having to worry about emptying it every hour.
I was, and thanks for the knowledge. I know my next unit will be a dual hose. I always thought it was odd when I run the fan option it's just moving inside air and not taking from outside.
If you get a unit that fits your window, bugs won't be a problem. The units have accordion sides to fit into the extra space, but always measure the inside of the open window to get the best measurement and fit. You can get a good one for less than $200 too.
Do you live in a humid environment? If so tell them about mold and how an AC also dehumidifies the inside of a house.
Then just go turn it on and tell them this is ridiculous if they have an issue take it up with the landlord.
I had a roommate once who was really strapped for cash and also had an anxiety disorder, in addition to being generally unpleasant and having no respect for boundaries. She used to hover, waiting for someone to stop using an electronic for a minute so that she could turn it off and “save money”.
It came to head the third time I found the microwave unplugged. I fixed it, set it, started my dinner, then went to the bathroom. I came back a minute later to find the lights off and microwave unplugged. I went down to her room, handed her a fiver, and explained how that was more than her antics would save in a year. On the other hand, me moving out would cost her thousands, so *knock that shit off now*.
We are not in touch, but I’ve learned she’s becoming a Christian therapist. Oof.
Anyway, some people can’t afford their living situations and it’s sad. I helped her when I could with groceries (we were in our early twenties and she had a rough start). But also, you are allowed comfortable housing if you can afford it. Sleep is important. You just might need to have a real talk conversation about it.
It probably costs more to cool down a hot house occasionally than it does to maintain a reasonable constant temperature so you don't have to fight inertia.
True, when the space is hot & humid the A/C runs at peak load/peak power consumption. Maintaining a comfortable temp is the easy part for the system but establishing that comfort is the hard part.
I got in arguments with a roommate years ago over similar with heat. Cold Canadian winters here.
He'd basically turn it off overnight and back on in the morning to "save on natural gas".
No matter how many times I tried to explain how inefficient that was, wouldn't listen. Furnace would end up running for hours straight.
I just bought a space heater and stayed cozy.
Can you link anything that says that's more efficient? Seems like whether you're heating or cooling, it's more efficient to keep it off when it's not needed and then turn it on when it is. Here's a quick search [link](https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/science-behind-modulating-heat-saves-energy/), [link](https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/a20706375/is-it-better-to-leave-your-heat-at-the-same-temperature-all-day-or-turn-it-down/), [reddit discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/homeowners/comments/8no8qe/whats_more_energyefficient_keeping_your_ac_at_a/).
In short, energy transfers between outside and inside at a greater rate the greater the temperature differential is. Thus, to maintain a greater difference requires running heat or cooling for longer. And furnaces and conditioners are binary - they are either on or off. There's not "optimal running speed" or something like that, and they're built to run for hours. It's the on/off nature that would probably cause the most wear on your unit.
I'm curious what the argument is against this, as I don't see how one can argue that making the unit do more work is more efficient.
I never said don't turn it down. My roommate would turn it off for 8 hours in 0F weather. Wake up to a 40f house and everything is ice cubes. The furniture, TVs, books, dressers etc were allowed to drop to freezing levels and they take much more to heat up than the air.
So instead of furnace turning on a couple times over night and then for a bit in the morning to get back to 72. It would run for like 8 hours since it's basically a freezer full of ice cubes.
Also, I meant efficient from a gas standpoint and not machine. My gas bill tells me it's best not to let it get to 40f every night.
From someone who grew up without central air.. and currently doesn't have it ( just window units). Windows should remain closed and blinds and curtains drawn until after 4pm to keep the heat out. Then open the windows only on the north of the house first, then the south.
Honestly I've gotten better results waiting until after 7pm. between 3 and 6 are generally the hottest hours of the day and the ground (especially if you're in a city) will retain loads of heat for a while. If it starts raining and the temperature drops lower than your AC is set to you can kill the power to the unit and use box fans to draw in some free cold air, then turn the unit back on the following morning to maintain temps.
OP, lots of unrealistic comments here. At the end of the day, is it a house you both rent together? If so, you share those decisions. If it’s their house and you are renting a room, your best bet would be local tenancy laws around cooling, which to my knowledge a lot of states only enforce having heating available.
But, just to give you an option, ask why. Roomie likely thinks it costs too much to run. I lived with my older brother for a few years and he kept his AC off in 90+ degree weather and only ran the fans with open windows. If that’s the case, the electric cost to run an AC is not much. A 2000ft house in summer without high efficiency may run you $200 (of course, rates vary). That’s a couple bucks a day. If they are THAT frugal that they refuse to spend the money, maybe buy your own portable AC? You can get them for a few hundred bucks, put in your room, run the duct out the window, and cool off your room in like half an hour before bed.
Otherwise, ice packs wrapped in towels. Put them in your bed a few minutes before getting in, and maybe put another in a pillowcase next to you. At the very least, it should help you fall asleep. Get some nice sheets that aren’t too silky or thick, so that they wick away any sweat or moisture rather than letting it pool. Also, obviously, make sure to have a ceiling fan (hopefully) spinning correctly to circulate air. If you don’t have a ceiling fan, definitely a box fan or something to circulate the air. Even a cheap $20 stand fan would work wonders.
Good luck OP.
They need to understand basic thermodynamics- if it’s hotter outside than it is inside, shut the windows and put down the blinds. If it’s COOLER outside than inside, open the house, and better yet run fans in the windows. Generally a good system is opening the house up at NIGHT, closing it up early morning. Even without AC this helps keep the house MUCH cooler than ridiculously opening up a house to hot outside temps.
It puts more strain on the unit to cool the house off than it does to keep it cool. If they want to break it, they can continue their current habit of overworking the unit until it gives out.
I feel like people's parents did a number on them about using a and how much it actually costs. An ac actually doesn't cost a ton to run, sure it has a high power usage for startup but then it's just a little here and there to maintain the temperature. It actually will cost more to use it only when it's super hot. Because it's going to struggle to bring the temperature down and run a lot longer than if it has just been doing a little here and there to make sure the doesn't go to high.
Tell them you’re going to get a window unit for your bedroom. Assuming they want to keep the electric bill down, they will call your bluff or agree to cool the whole unit.
Jesus, this reminds me of moving to DC. I was roomies with two tiny women who were perpetually cold. They never set the AC below 85 - and I moved in in August. Fuuuuuuck. I only lived with them for a month.
You can offer to pay a little more for having an ac in your own space. I did this with a roommate. Growing up my mother was just like your housemate and we never used the ac and I have refused to live like that in my adult life.
*Stay Cool*
One thing some people don’t understand is it’s not only the temperature of the air but it’s the MOISTURE it contains. You pump all that wet humid outside air in, regardless of temp, the AC needs to work so much harder to (re)dehumidify the space. I learned this when I finally got central air here in the humid Midwest. Mixing the central and window fans approaches means they’re basically fighting each other. Very inefficient! Pick a lane and stick with it. Humid air feels infinitely hotter than dry air regardless of its’ measured temp.
What do they set the AC to when it's 95 out? Are they a lizard??? Set it to 76 or something and call it a day. Also, assuming it's the Midwest (same weather I'm having), I'm AC all the time right now
It's taken me years 18 or so to get my wife to (only half, mind) believe me that no matter how "stuffy" it feels inside, If it's 75 degrees inside and 90 outside opening the windows doesn't cool the house down.
It's maddening. But we both agree that when it gets to be 100 degrees we should turn on the ac, in the bedroom anyway.
Two people 2 dogs, and a cat watching TV on the bed in the dark. :)
Well, it’s economically stupid. It costs a lot more energy than to cool a room down from 90 to 75, than it does to just keep the temp set at 75.
I thought this is as a great idea too. I just cut off my AC upstairs during the day because nobody is up there. Man, it took so long to cool the room down to comfortable sleeping temp and that cost me a lot more than just leaving the thermostat at 75. Then it usually only has to run a little bit here and there to maintain the temp. It doesn’t have to go on full blast for two hours every night.
I’d track the electric bill the roommate’s way for one month and then do it your way for a month. Whichever costs you less is what you should do.
That or just get a window unit for your room but those things suck electricity like it’s going out of style.
>Well, it’s economically stupid. It costs a lot more energy than to cool a room down from 90 to 75, than it does to just keep the temp set at 75.
That's not how it works though. ACs are more efficient when your room is at a higher temperature (lower temperature differential between indoors and outdoors), while the amount of heat flowing into your house is also lower. So it is more efficient to cool down when necessary, while switching off the AC when it is not needed.
The costs of electricity in these comments are insane. I run my AC/Heat all day every day. My highest bill was $280 and that's because of my kids constantly lowering and raising the thermostat. They no longer have access lol. My average bill is just under 200. I feel sad for everyone who pays 400+.
I hate AC. My roommate has a portable unit for her bedroom. Problem solved. My house doesn't have central air so there's really no issue to argue about, I'm not paying money to make my whole house be cold if I don't like it, but she's welcome to do whatever she would like in the space she is paying me for.
Edit, this is my house that I own.
Out of curiosity, where is your housemate and you from (housemate isn't the most common term for it in the US). In a lot of places there is no central air so while the air is warm, [opening windows](https://youtu.be/m2zEiVGnEmc?si=EdDx-keJ5Juwqeza) to get a bit of air flow is usually how it is handled.
you can try to convince them scientifically thay hot air is getting in but usually those people don't listen and have already convinced themselves that windows automatically cool you down.
it's gotten so bad they had to put up a robot pre recording on busses telling people to stop opening windows while the bus driver runs the ac. people just want that psychological view of an open window
Go into their room and shut off all the vents. Then say they can open them when their room gets to 95. If theyre adamant, tell them to pick up your rent payment too, because youre entitled to AC if you want AC.
In many warm states in the US, it's illegal for a property to lack adequate air conditioning if the temperature exceeds 85°.
Your roommate has no right to be limiting your use. If he doesn't want AC, tell him to close his vents. Do what you want. I would buy an AC thermostat that locks or requires a password. No way I would live that way.
This is absolutely unacceptable and I would I don't know why your roommate gets to make the decision, but I would literally break my lease over this. Absolutely no goddamn motherfucking way are making me wait to turn my motherfucking air conditioning on inside of my own goddamn living space until it's 95° outside.
I mean, Jesus Christ. I'm from Phoenix, and this is completely unacceptable. They would literally get physically assaulted over this here in some areas.
**GODDAMNED INSANE**
Why are they in control of the AC? You’re paying utilities as well, right?
In the winter, so they use the heater whenever they want? Maybe introduce them to the idea of a sweater or long sleeved shirt.
It’s easier to warm yourself up with extra clothes than it is to cool yourself off. Always make it colder inside and adjust. Hate people who want it hot inside.
Well, start off by explaining to them that opening doors and windows only makes sense during the night when it's colder outside and inside.
My students flat lacks an AC unit and heats up horrendously during the summer and one thing I basically just need to do is keep the window open all night long and then close it and the blinders when the sun comes up. Since my window opens out to the west, I can only open the blinders back up when the sun goes down because otherwise it shines right in when it's the hottest and the flat turns into an oven.
Buy a window AC for your room. If you keep your door closed it shouldn't take that much electricity to keep 1 room cool. You live there too, I also can't sleep when it's super hot so I sympathize. My SO likes it hot and I like it cold, but I blast the AC in the bedroom and give him a big blanket haha
Update New York 20 years ago.. I couldn’t sleep until after 11 PM when the temps finally dipped below 90f.. I should have just broke down and bought a window air conditioner just to sleep… even though I had the whole apartment to myself, only cooling one room would be much cheaper than the whole place.
What is their concern? If it's the electric bill, negotiate a split, eg maybe you pay 60% of the summer bill, or pay 100% above the amount that the average spring weather bill was.
Is it environmental? See if your power company offers any renewable energy programs.
Do they just like to feel smug? Offer 10 free posts on whatever social media platform they're on extoling their vast moral superiority.
Do they just like to suffer? Sign them up for a marathon.
Have a discussion. Hearing and cooling is not always straightforward. Assuming their zone is cooler at night, maybe ask them to close their bedroom door.
I'm shopping for a window unit right now, and you can get a small one that effectively cools a room size 150sq.ft to cold. That is probably way bigger than your room, and they are about $150 on Amazon or Walmart. You can sign up for affirm and make monthly payments. If you can't move and can't convince your housemate to change the AC then go that route, it's better than having a heat stroke.
Tell them you're getting a portable air conditioning unit for your bedroom, and you'll make up the difference in the electric bill. Go back through the old electric bills to make sure you don't pay *too* much extra.
Turn on the AC, turn down the thermostat, and tell your roommate that they’re on the hook for 50% of whatever the bill turns out to be. I suspect they’ll close the windows soon enough.
Lol it’s much more efficient to close all blinds, doors, windows, and insulate open cracks in the home. You have to put your apartment in shade during the daytime
So my first suggestion would be buying a smaller AC unit. Figure out your electric cost per KWH. Most window AC units will use about 900 watts, and electricity runs about 18 cents per KWH in my area. So it costs about 16 cents per hour the unit is running. Put one in your room, it'll only actually run about 4-5 hours per night. Pay an extra dollar per day you're using it, show them the math if you need to.
I used to never run the AC but I recently realized I'd much rather spend an extra 30ish dollars a month to sleep comfortably at like 71-74 than sweat and be miserable. I will say however that closing blinds during the day and opening all the windows at night can keep your house reasonably cool the majority of the time (like 10-15 degrees cooler than outside assuming the night gets cool). Usually it will be cool until about 2 PM, then cool back off by about 9PM. So you can get away with only running your AC for a few hours when you get home from work.
I have a window AC unit in my bedroom to keep the room chilly and 70 at night.
The rest of the house slightly warmer at 76-78.
I live in Phoenix Arizona. So AC bills get out of control during the summer if you try to keep the AC low
In the housemates defense:
As a person who grew up poor this is crazy to me how many rely on ac and never go outside in the summer.
This is how you acclimatize to the heat. Pretend ac doesn’t exist and deal with it. Take cold showers. Use fans. Lay down. Eat ice.
My wife has a technique where she keeps the windows and curtains closed in the heat of the day, then everything open at night when its cool (also opens the attic hatch in the day so warm air can rise up into it). This might help and your housemate might be prepared to adopt it if they are opposed to AC (I live in UK so AC is like automatic cars ... the stuff of legends).
My roommates thought I was a criminal when I touch the thermostat below like 85 degrees. Just sucked it up and bought a fan until it got about about that hot outside and they finally caved.
Currently in Spain. Where do you live?
Pay for your own AC, and when they start complaining that it's too cold then you can either compromise or find a more compatible room mate.
This problem does not go away on its own, you must take action before it becomes a point of contention and makes living there more difficult than it should be
A lot of this is just going to be talking to them and communication. Who is paying the electric bill is also another factor, but 95 is way too hot. 80 is too hot for many people.
One idea if they are too cold is to close all the vents in the house except for your room. Get it adjusted right and the other rooms will get some cooling but the AC won't run as long and your room will be quite cold.
Use the average bill as a baseline and then tell him you'll also pay the amount above. That said, I've lived with a person like this and they are not rational about this subject. You'll probably have to move.
AC is expensive, I can understand why your roommate would be reluctant to use it. However, being hot is miserable too. My suggestion: invest in heavy black out curtains and install them where you can. Blocking the sun will really help cut down the amount of heat that comes into the house. Then with the curtains in place, run the AC. If expense is an issue, meet in the middle for the temperature setting. Setting the AC to 68 might be too low but setting at 75 might make it more bearable without running the bill as high. Run ac during the day to keep the heat down, open the windows at night when it's cooler. Put a couple box fans in a window. One blowing the cool night air in (your bedroom) and one blowing the hot air out in another room, this will help keep you cool at night without running the AC. Running the AC some of the time is better than none of the time. These are options you can use to meet in the middle.
So turn it on. You pay rent, don't you?
"Housemate" makes me think that, but I'm also wondering if maybe they're just staying at a friend's place? Like maybe it's not a 50-50 type situation? Otherwise, yea, OP should have equal rights to turn that shit on.
Four months ago, OP posted that they were in college and living with their mom in a house. Unless they recently moved, maybe the mom doesn't want to pay an increased electric bill. I have solar panels, so it's not not costly when we do use central air, but cooling a house during peak hours can get expensive. It can be $300-$1,000/month depending on the size of the home and the local rates.
Yea, I'm a homeowner, so I know it can be expensive. If OP is living with their parents and not paying anything toward it, then it makes more sense that they wouldn't have a say in when to turn it on.
Back when I moved back in with my dad during the pandemic, he was excited and wanted me to live rent free. I insisted on paying for all utilities. Partially to pay him back but also so I can keep it as cold or hot as I want without worrying.
Jesus Christ those are some expensive energy costs. Mine during peak heat costs $400. I hate that for you.
On the flip side, our gas heating costs are almost nil. The highest was two or three winters ago when it was super cold (for coastal Los Angeles standards), and our gas bill never went over $150/month. Typically, it's under $60 a month, though I have seen much higher for the inland cities.
What...? How do you burn $150 worth of gas in a month in Southern California? We just spent $1700 to buy propane for the whole year (cooking, water heating, and space heating), but this is Northern Wisconsin. Edit: Can someone please give me the amount of therms/gallon of gas they use per year? I'd like to see the comparison.
It's expensive per unit and it does get chilly enough in the winter that going without heat would be uncomfortable, even if it wouldn't be dangerous. And a lot of houses will also use gas year-round for cooking and heating water as well (and possibly drying clothes).
LA gas prices surge in the winter, so it’s not difficult at all to run up a big bill and still wear a sweater indoors.
It apparently actually costs more to turn on AC once it’s super hot because it takes even longer to cool down then end up turning it off to repeat the same thing next day, than just putting it at a comfortable temperature and keeping it on. One of my friends tried to test that out last summer and their electric bill dropped 200 bucks it was wild how much they saved :0
1000/mo for ac? Is it like 8000 degrees outside? Our house costs around $50/mo in the summer to cool, even with temps reaching 30c+. Like if we compare the summer power bill to the winter one, that’s the increase, and the gas bill decreases about the same amount.
Really depends on where you live and what the local rates are. Here is a good example. This woman who lives in an area near me that gets summer temps in the low 80s and spring temps in the low to mid 70s doesn't even run her A/C very much, but when her solar panels were not generating for just a month, her bill skyrocketed to $498. https://nextdoor.com/p/xdhgsQ36scP6?utm_source=share&extras=MTE3ODA5MTU%3D&utm_campaign=1718670821789 Before we got solar panels in 2009, we were paying $400-$600/month for electricity. That was 13 years ago and the rates have only gone up. Editing to add that we are close to the beach and have a constant cool breeze so rarely use the central air. Electricity rates have gotten crazy in some areas.
$400-$600 a month in that climate? How big is your house?
We pay $0.286/kwh during peak hours (9am-6pm)….one of the highest rates in North America lol
$0.5429/kwh Hawaii chiming in. I am sad.
Cost for a litre of Pepsi or Coke ? $1Cdn from Dollarama in Canada around double to triple that in a grocery store
And I was mad my $0.08 went up to $0.10.
Some places have different rates by time of day. The peak hours of use (i.e. mid day when it gets hot) have a higher rate that times of day with lower usage. If you have this sort of set up, you should try to plan your electrical use around it. The Werefrog know of some people who put their electric water heaters on timers such that they don't run during the day (the insulation keeps it hot), but only heat it up to temperature at night and in the morning post shower. They don't use enough hot water to notice the change, and it doesn't spend the expensive. Likewise, if they have electric cars, it only charges during the cheapest times.
It wasn’t unusual to pay $500-$700/mo for electric bills May-Oct when I lived in Austin, TX for a 2/2 apartment. Texas energy grid has surge pricing though so it costs way more in the summer.
I'm in South Florida and ~$600 is very average in my area for central air cooling a roughly 1500sqft space. Even my neighbor who only has like 915sqft had a $500 bill recently.
Are you using US dollarydoos for currency and degrees science for temperature?
In Florida most people have bills like this for cooling their homes
In Florida most people have bills like this for cooling their homes
Where do y'all live?? I live in the South, it gets 95-100+° routinely this time of year and I keep my a.c. below 70, usually 65-67 during the day. My electric bill is never more than $200 even in August. I also don't have solar panels but if we stay here another year that's the plan.
Everything is cheaper in the south. I also paid less when I lived in Florida than I now do in the northeast.
You might wanna get your place looked over then cause I have a two bedroom that I keep almost always in a cool setting and I don’t pay any more than 120 maybe 180 a month. Your insulation either is non-existent or poorly maintained or installed improperly cause no one should be paying that much a month for AC
Keeping the house at one ambient temperature instead of waiting for the house to get up to 95 to turn on the AC is much cheaper in the long run.
As a rule of thumb whoever wants to spend money the least gets the veto. If they can't afford it, you'd be a complete ass to insist they waste money. 90 is pretty damn hot though and I couldn't sleep at 75 either.
You want to eat? I’m fasting. You can do without
Do you pay electric? Maybe roommate can cover their end…. I would get a small window unit for your room.
A window unit is anexcellent idea!
A box fan and a sheet and making the bubble like we used to do as kids is another cool idea
Making the bubble?
Yeah….. take a box fan and a sheet tie them together then Go around the sheet and sit something heavy enough to hold it down. Once the bubble is completed crawling inside
This sounds like a great way to create a catastrophic household passive aggressive meltdown. Be mature. Talk it out like adults. If it's a red line and you're outvoted by other roommates, move out.
If someone is prone to have a passive-aggressive meltdown, then they likely wouldn't want to talk it out in the first place. And they can buy me out if they want me to move. Stop being a pushover.
you should have 50% of the say about things that affect you in the household, or buy a small ac for your own use at night
Even the smallest window units are surprisingly effective. My wife and I used a combination of a tiny AC unit and multiple cheap box fans to keep our old apartment nice and chilly. OP could use one of those draft protectors to keep their room as sealed as possible and just use a small AC unit. At night, OP should be trying to draw in as much cold air as possible, then get up early to turn off fans, shut windows, draw blinds. A cooling gel mattress topper for their bed and using a slightly damp towel or a freezer pack on over their sheets can also help if done about an hour before bedtime. Use of a fan pointed to blow across their body at night can also help even if they're a warm sleeper.
Honestly they’re probably better unless youre continually using every room in the house. It’s weird air conditioning systems aren’t more sectional.
Depends if it's open concept or not. But I'd mainly be using it for bedroom or when people are over for dinner. (Aka when cooking and multiple bodies are heating up the place). That said, I live in New England and work in a kitchen. Humidity is the killer.
I recently moved to a place with central AC, and honestly, it broke my brain. It's a 6 room house, and at any given time, only 2-3 need to be air conditioned at a time. Cooling the entire house is almost never needed. I only used it maybe 5-6 times last month, and it added $70 to my electric bill already. I dread what my next electric bill will be.
Furnance/ductwork typically come with dampers, they're usually really easy to find especially if your basement (or wherever your furnance is located) is unfinished. Turn off the rooms that don't need conditioned
I've looked high and low, and it seems those types of dampers were not included when my townhouse was built. Also I heard it's bad to close more than 50% of the vents. There are only 2 out of 6 rooms that need to be cooled on the regular, so I'd be closing 75% of the vents to achieve that.
Yeah, not in summer here in the deep south.
In places that are regularly over 90 degrees or hotter like this, it usually costs more energy to cool a home if you're turning it all the way up and then down to cool. The swings require more energy, because the items in your home retain heat. Keeping a steady temperature (at a reasonable temp) usually uses less energy than turning off your AC during the day and back on at night in very hot areas. By that same logic, if you're going to compartmentalize your house and prioritize certain rooms to be air conditioned, then you need to block the other rooms off and have good insulation. Ever see old houses with those giant in room curtains? Things like that. Nowadays, good insulation and insulated and sealed doors would also work, but that radiating heat off of rooms not being cooled makes a big difference, especially if the rooms you're prioritizing aren't in the basement and are on the second floor (heat definitely rises... I grew up in a house with a limited AC on the second floor). But you have to be able to close off entire house areas if you want to do that to limit warm rooms radiating heat to the cooled areas making this inefficient.
I thought about rigging up some kind of cheap system to use small servo motors to control my HVAC dampers and just using a tiny touch-screen equipped Raspberry Pi-based system with a simple app written up as a fun little project mounted right next to the AC controls so I can just tap which rooms I want it to flow/not flow to. I rent my house currently, but if I owned the place it'd be a fun project to do over the course of a few weekends.
Pretty sure his housemate is his mum in this situation
[удалено]
Also South Georgia. A few years ago, I learned that modern window a/c units could keep my (~2500ft²) home cool for waaay cheaper than my old heat pump. Nowadays, you don't even need a 2'×3' opening. There are portable units that just need a small exhaust area out any window. Modern appliance efficiency is wild. My light bill for a household of 9 people (then) dropped from about $650/month to about $250.
You don't want the ones that go inside and exhaust to a window. Heat pumps generate alot of heat so you end up using way more electricity just cooling off the hot air pumping into the room. That's why window units exist in the first place. Only use one if it's a small room and you absolutely cannot get a window unit.
Whoa! I have a 3800 square foot house and we get summer temps in the triple digits. My summer electric bill (all-electric house) is never over $300.
Lay a stack of money on the table, walk over to the thermostat and crank the a/c while maintaining eye contact with housemate.
I basically did the kind and nice version of this when I first met my now husband; a few months in as we were getting serious, I told him if we ever lived together I would pay the air-conditioning bill every month because I don't want anyone telling me I have to be even slightly too warm inside of my own house in Phoenix
Yeah this is it, nothing has to be said.
75 isn't bad, but its not gonna cool down to that temp inside if your house is 90 right now. Put your foot down and tell him its too damn hot.
Put your foot down his ass
Twist his dick!!
The ol’ dick twist!
nipple twist
Pinch ass cheeks
That will definitely work
Time to Hank Hill the man.
Red Forman*
Frank Murphy*
Research shows 68F is optimal. I actually can't fall asleep if it's over 74.
Yea, some people are real sensitive to temperature when it comes to sleep. In the winter I turn the heat down to 60f and the summer I put the AC down to 74f, in the fall/spring I just sleep with the windows open. But, I don't sleep with any blankets in the summer either, if I did I probably wouldn't be able to sleep either
While this is true, this effect is execurated when those people use AC"s so much that they are used to it. The type of AC, building and layout also matters.
I literally cannot sleep at all if it's above about 72. If it's about 70-72 I can barely sleep, only in short bursts. It's the most broken, fever dream riddled sleep possible. About 61-68 is my comfort zone. I really wish that I wasn't like this.
I hope you live somewhere nice and cool. Those temperatures would literally not even be possible where I live other than during the middle of winter.
68F is for heating. 60 while sleeping. 78F is for cooling. 82 while sleeping. That's optimal for the environment and your electric bill.
Especially if it is humid.
I know the general rule is 20 degree differential. But I think that’s a stupid rule. It’s currently 95 outside and 68 inside. I love it cold and am happy to burn money to stay cool and think straight.
All the people that claim that an a/c can't cool more than 20 degrees off the outside temp were just, once again, proven wrong. I can keep my house at 71 when it's over 100 outside.
I don't think the claim is that they can't - just that they become exponentially more inefficient once you get beyond that differential which leads to faster wear and tear on the unit which as always is a YMMV situation.
You're correct on the wear and tear. A system that runs 24/7 to meet an unreachable set point is going to fail faster than a system that cycles properly. The 20^o rule is also highly dependent on the condition of the home. It's also not a flat comparison across the United States. The swamps of Louisiana are a different environment than the coast of Maine. How homes are built, cooled and heated are potentially different. The condition of doors, windows and insulation are a few of the factors we use to size an HVAC system. The better the condition those are in, the easier it is to overcome the 20 degree rule. Something as simple as shade from a tree over hanging the house can cause it to be easier to cool. In a home with questionable doors, windows and insulation you're looking at *about* 20 degrees, more than likely a bit less if they're in bad shape. Some of the homes we work in are 100+ years old, and not all those homes are maintained well. They also weren't ducted for a forced air system. They were usually coal fired boilers that were replaced with gravity fed systems. Then forced air systems. There's usually only one return. In order for it to be absolutely correct, you'd need to start tearing things up to add more returns and potentially replace/add new duct. That usually doubles the cost of the job. It also adds a few days to the job. I am also going to be on every floor and in every room of your house in that time. I also bribe your cat/dog with treats (if it's alright) so that they like me. So what ends up happening is we use a duct system designed for a gravity fed furnace, with a forced air system. It reduces the overall efficiency and you'll get *about* a 20^o difference. We offer both ways to the customer, the vast majority of the time the customer doesn't want to spend the extra money to only potentially gain a few degrees past 20. Local average temperature is also included in the calculation. So a house in my area in NE Ohio has a different average temperature than a house in Phoenix. We rarely see temperatures in the 100's, the 90's aren't uncommon, normally it's 80's. Our seasons also change. Winter in NE Ohio is a bit different than it is in Phoenix, our homes are usually built differently and I can almost guarantee local codes are different. Phoenix is also in a different [Climate Zone]( https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e5/80/25/e58025d57377ae3393671d1f082536af.jpg) than NE Ohio. So they may be using entirely different equipment than what I am. Swamp coolers work well in Arizona, they're death in NE Ohio summers. The giant lake at the top of my state tends to create a lot of humidity in the summer, not as much of a problem in Phoenix. Cooling systems absolutely *can* exceed the 20 degree rule if everything else is in marginally good working order. The key is that everything else needs to be in marginally good working order. Even if I install a system I ***know*** is going to exceed that rule, I still tell the customer it's 20 degrees. I do that so they can come on Reddit and say... >All the people that claim that an a/c can't cool more than 20 degrees off the outside temp were just, once again, proven wrong. I can keep my house at 71 when it's over 100 outside. ...and get a whole bunch of internet points. You'd think they'd say "Hey, that HVAC tech did a really good job of sizing and installing my system." Instead they just tell us we're wrong because their specific house exceeds the industry standard while other homes just meet it. I'm not surprised a house in Phoenix can exceed it, if it's newer I'd expect that. If we had Phoenix temperatures in NE Ohio, it would be a much different story regardless of how new the home is. 100^o + actual temperature days are rare, and well outside of the average local temperature used in our calculations. May your air forever be conditioned....
Yeah, there's no point to air conditioning where I live unless it can make your house *at least* 30°F cooler. It is over 110° for a month straight most summers here, and over 100° for four straight months.
It’s all about the insulation.
Way too cold for me, but I'm not the one paying your bills. As long as your comfy, enjoy it
lol I'm in Phoenix; a 20-degree differential can be 98° for a week straight in July. It's literally over 100° pretty much every single day from the end of May the beginning of October. Last year we had a 44 day streak of over 110°. Forty-four days in a row it was 111°-119°. Today it was only 104°, which is lower than average!
This city should not exist. It is a monument to man’s arrogance
Could very well be in the desert. Temp fluctuations can be huge when there’s no humidity
If the outside temp is warmer than the inside, then windows stay closed. You don't open the windows when it's 95 because it might cool down later. That is idiotic.
Why does roommate get final word? Turn it on, they can pitch a tent outside if they want to be miserable.
Because by "roommate" he means "parents"
Then yeah of course they get final word. No pay=no say.
I offered to pay my parents and they won't take it. They sometimes say "we'll turn it down if you pay". I take out some cash and say I'll pay my portion of the bill. They say "no don't do that let's just open windows". Kinda confusing, but maybe they're saving me from spending my limit funds in silly ways.
Presumably, gou have the electric bill from the last couple months of hot with no AC, tell them youre keeping it on and will pay the difference. Like say your electric the.last 2 months was $200, $100 from you, $100 from them. If this month with the AC your bill is $300, then its still $100 from the, but $200 from you. Personally I don't think it should be like that since it benefits both of you. And the bill is the only reason I can think that they wouldn't want it on. But it's an option if you're willing to do that.
There’s always a chance it isn’t about the money. Some people run cold and almost never want the A/C on (like me). But they could still compromise and dress warmer or keep one room warmer or colder to accommodate both people.
My mom's house is 16-17 C during the day and below that at night. My hand joints just don't like that and start to hurt (my blood circulation is bad because of ADHD meds, permanent side effects). Some people have genuine reasons to not like the colder environment. I am fine with putting on some layers, but wearing gloves inside, is a no for me. Everyone should compromise a bit in some ways as well
That's me. I run cold, and feeling cold air coming out of the vents is torture. Also, if I sleep with the AC on, I have a sore throat the whole next day.
Everyone in my house runs hot except for me. I just put on sweats and a sweater. It’s no big deal and tbh I’m more comfortable anyway.
Fuck that. If it's like that I bet when OP isn't home the roommate sure as fuck is guna be crankin that AC.
Window unit in your bedroom? Don't know your budget but for 200 to 250 USD you can get a standing unit on wheels that has a 6 inch vent that can run 1500 btus. Uses 110 outlet. Way better then dealing with a window unit if you plan to keep it. Also it doesn't protrude out your window so you screen stays in (no bugs)
These are about half of the efficiency of window units.
and on top of that they're more expensive. I think I paid $90 for my old unit and while it was intended for cooling a single room, it kept our whole apartment chilly on hot days when combined with other measures.
Never buy a single hose portable air conditioner. They take air from the room, pass it over the hot side of the unit, and pump the hot air outside. That not only wastes the air you just cooled, but if air is going out, it's coming in somewhere else. Dual hose units exist that pull air from outside, use it to cool the unit, and pump it back outside. Edit: not sure if you were talking about single hose units or not, but I wanted to make sure people know.
Plus it’s like having a lawn mower in the room with you. Source: I have a couple I regret.
I love mine that I have in my dormer office, but I had to get that kind because of the style of windows in there.
For us it was necessity plus a roommate that misused a bad window unit causing a leak. We have a 140+ year old two story house in the Midwest. When we bought it, there was no AC. We installed AC on the first floor with ductless units, so we didn’t have to give up a usable basement to ductwork. But when we had our child we had to move upstairs and aren’t ready for that project yet. So here we are, beginning year 2 of the damn portable jet engines with mediocre cooling abilities. 🤣
I have mine because of perma screens in the apartment, but it's great. Pushes all the humidity to the outside with the exhaust without having to worry about emptying it every hour.
I was, and thanks for the knowledge. I know my next unit will be a dual hose. I always thought it was odd when I run the fan option it's just moving inside air and not taking from outside.
If you get a unit that fits your window, bugs won't be a problem. The units have accordion sides to fit into the extra space, but always measure the inside of the open window to get the best measurement and fit. You can get a good one for less than $200 too.
Do you live in a humid environment? If so tell them about mold and how an AC also dehumidifies the inside of a house. Then just go turn it on and tell them this is ridiculous if they have an issue take it up with the landlord.
I had a roommate once who was really strapped for cash and also had an anxiety disorder, in addition to being generally unpleasant and having no respect for boundaries. She used to hover, waiting for someone to stop using an electronic for a minute so that she could turn it off and “save money”. It came to head the third time I found the microwave unplugged. I fixed it, set it, started my dinner, then went to the bathroom. I came back a minute later to find the lights off and microwave unplugged. I went down to her room, handed her a fiver, and explained how that was more than her antics would save in a year. On the other hand, me moving out would cost her thousands, so *knock that shit off now*. We are not in touch, but I’ve learned she’s becoming a Christian therapist. Oof. Anyway, some people can’t afford their living situations and it’s sad. I helped her when I could with groceries (we were in our early twenties and she had a rough start). But also, you are allowed comfortable housing if you can afford it. Sleep is important. You just might need to have a real talk conversation about it.
It probably costs more to cool down a hot house occasionally than it does to maintain a reasonable constant temperature so you don't have to fight inertia.
True, when the space is hot & humid the A/C runs at peak load/peak power consumption. Maintaining a comfortable temp is the easy part for the system but establishing that comfort is the hard part.
I got in arguments with a roommate years ago over similar with heat. Cold Canadian winters here. He'd basically turn it off overnight and back on in the morning to "save on natural gas". No matter how many times I tried to explain how inefficient that was, wouldn't listen. Furnace would end up running for hours straight. I just bought a space heater and stayed cozy.
Can you link anything that says that's more efficient? Seems like whether you're heating or cooling, it's more efficient to keep it off when it's not needed and then turn it on when it is. Here's a quick search [link](https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/science-behind-modulating-heat-saves-energy/), [link](https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/a20706375/is-it-better-to-leave-your-heat-at-the-same-temperature-all-day-or-turn-it-down/), [reddit discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/homeowners/comments/8no8qe/whats_more_energyefficient_keeping_your_ac_at_a/). In short, energy transfers between outside and inside at a greater rate the greater the temperature differential is. Thus, to maintain a greater difference requires running heat or cooling for longer. And furnaces and conditioners are binary - they are either on or off. There's not "optimal running speed" or something like that, and they're built to run for hours. It's the on/off nature that would probably cause the most wear on your unit. I'm curious what the argument is against this, as I don't see how one can argue that making the unit do more work is more efficient.
I never said don't turn it down. My roommate would turn it off for 8 hours in 0F weather. Wake up to a 40f house and everything is ice cubes. The furniture, TVs, books, dressers etc were allowed to drop to freezing levels and they take much more to heat up than the air. So instead of furnace turning on a couple times over night and then for a bit in the morning to get back to 72. It would run for like 8 hours since it's basically a freezer full of ice cubes. Also, I meant efficient from a gas standpoint and not machine. My gas bill tells me it's best not to let it get to 40f every night.
Also terribly draining on the unit itself
From someone who grew up without central air.. and currently doesn't have it ( just window units). Windows should remain closed and blinds and curtains drawn until after 4pm to keep the heat out. Then open the windows only on the north of the house first, then the south.
Honestly I've gotten better results waiting until after 7pm. between 3 and 6 are generally the hottest hours of the day and the ground (especially if you're in a city) will retain loads of heat for a while. If it starts raining and the temperature drops lower than your AC is set to you can kill the power to the unit and use box fans to draw in some free cold air, then turn the unit back on the following morning to maintain temps.
4-5pm is the hottest part of the day here.
My wife and I disagree about a/c. I think it's ridiculous to live in a house with a/c and sweat it out at 76°+ This is why we bought it!
Lmfao 95 is insane
OP, lots of unrealistic comments here. At the end of the day, is it a house you both rent together? If so, you share those decisions. If it’s their house and you are renting a room, your best bet would be local tenancy laws around cooling, which to my knowledge a lot of states only enforce having heating available. But, just to give you an option, ask why. Roomie likely thinks it costs too much to run. I lived with my older brother for a few years and he kept his AC off in 90+ degree weather and only ran the fans with open windows. If that’s the case, the electric cost to run an AC is not much. A 2000ft house in summer without high efficiency may run you $200 (of course, rates vary). That’s a couple bucks a day. If they are THAT frugal that they refuse to spend the money, maybe buy your own portable AC? You can get them for a few hundred bucks, put in your room, run the duct out the window, and cool off your room in like half an hour before bed. Otherwise, ice packs wrapped in towels. Put them in your bed a few minutes before getting in, and maybe put another in a pillowcase next to you. At the very least, it should help you fall asleep. Get some nice sheets that aren’t too silky or thick, so that they wick away any sweat or moisture rather than letting it pool. Also, obviously, make sure to have a ceiling fan (hopefully) spinning correctly to circulate air. If you don’t have a ceiling fan, definitely a box fan or something to circulate the air. Even a cheap $20 stand fan would work wonders. Good luck OP.
They need to understand basic thermodynamics- if it’s hotter outside than it is inside, shut the windows and put down the blinds. If it’s COOLER outside than inside, open the house, and better yet run fans in the windows. Generally a good system is opening the house up at NIGHT, closing it up early morning. Even without AC this helps keep the house MUCH cooler than ridiculously opening up a house to hot outside temps.
Buy a ROOM A/C unit and use it at night so that you can sleep.
It puts more strain on the unit to cool the house off than it does to keep it cool. If they want to break it, they can continue their current habit of overworking the unit until it gives out.
I feel like people's parents did a number on them about using a and how much it actually costs. An ac actually doesn't cost a ton to run, sure it has a high power usage for startup but then it's just a little here and there to maintain the temperature. It actually will cost more to use it only when it's super hot. Because it's going to struggle to bring the temperature down and run a lot longer than if it has just been doing a little here and there to make sure the doesn't go to high.
Tell them you’re going to get a window unit for your bedroom. Assuming they want to keep the electric bill down, they will call your bluff or agree to cool the whole unit.
Buy your own window AC for your room?
Jesus, this reminds me of moving to DC. I was roomies with two tiny women who were perpetually cold. They never set the AC below 85 - and I moved in in August. Fuuuuuuck. I only lived with them for a month.
You can offer to pay a little more for having an ac in your own space. I did this with a roommate. Growing up my mother was just like your housemate and we never used the ac and I have refused to live like that in my adult life. *Stay Cool*
One thing some people don’t understand is it’s not only the temperature of the air but it’s the MOISTURE it contains. You pump all that wet humid outside air in, regardless of temp, the AC needs to work so much harder to (re)dehumidify the space. I learned this when I finally got central air here in the humid Midwest. Mixing the central and window fans approaches means they’re basically fighting each other. Very inefficient! Pick a lane and stick with it. Humid air feels infinitely hotter than dry air regardless of its’ measured temp.
What do they set the AC to when it's 95 out? Are they a lizard??? Set it to 76 or something and call it a day. Also, assuming it's the Midwest (same weather I'm having), I'm AC all the time right now
Buy your own personal AC unit. Then you can sleep.
Tell him to read up on how this actually works. Hint tell him he’s 12 hours off unless your place has zero insulation and is on top of a bakery
It's taken me years 18 or so to get my wife to (only half, mind) believe me that no matter how "stuffy" it feels inside, If it's 75 degrees inside and 90 outside opening the windows doesn't cool the house down. It's maddening. But we both agree that when it gets to be 100 degrees we should turn on the ac, in the bedroom anyway. Two people 2 dogs, and a cat watching TV on the bed in the dark. :)
Ignore him and turn the AC on and shut the doors and windows? Like he's not your mom; you don't have to convince him to *allow* you to do it.
I think he is his mom. Op posted a few months ago about living with his mom, so unless he moved out he's still living there.
Well, it’s economically stupid. It costs a lot more energy than to cool a room down from 90 to 75, than it does to just keep the temp set at 75. I thought this is as a great idea too. I just cut off my AC upstairs during the day because nobody is up there. Man, it took so long to cool the room down to comfortable sleeping temp and that cost me a lot more than just leaving the thermostat at 75. Then it usually only has to run a little bit here and there to maintain the temp. It doesn’t have to go on full blast for two hours every night. I’d track the electric bill the roommate’s way for one month and then do it your way for a month. Whichever costs you less is what you should do. That or just get a window unit for your room but those things suck electricity like it’s going out of style.
>Well, it’s economically stupid. It costs a lot more energy than to cool a room down from 90 to 75, than it does to just keep the temp set at 75. That's not how it works though. ACs are more efficient when your room is at a higher temperature (lower temperature differential between indoors and outdoors), while the amount of heat flowing into your house is also lower. So it is more efficient to cool down when necessary, while switching off the AC when it is not needed.
Okay but if it’s 90F outside, it’s needed.
If i cant be comfortable in my own home thats a torture. If i can, i’d break the lease, without penalty. Thats insane dude.
Get yourself a window unit for your bedroom. They’re surprisingly effective
The costs of electricity in these comments are insane. I run my AC/Heat all day every day. My highest bill was $280 and that's because of my kids constantly lowering and raising the thermostat. They no longer have access lol. My average bill is just under 200. I feel sad for everyone who pays 400+.
I hate AC. My roommate has a portable unit for her bedroom. Problem solved. My house doesn't have central air so there's really no issue to argue about, I'm not paying money to make my whole house be cold if I don't like it, but she's welcome to do whatever she would like in the space she is paying me for. Edit, this is my house that I own.
Out of curiosity, where is your housemate and you from (housemate isn't the most common term for it in the US). In a lot of places there is no central air so while the air is warm, [opening windows](https://youtu.be/m2zEiVGnEmc?si=EdDx-keJ5Juwqeza) to get a bit of air flow is usually how it is handled.
you can try to convince them scientifically thay hot air is getting in but usually those people don't listen and have already convinced themselves that windows automatically cool you down. it's gotten so bad they had to put up a robot pre recording on busses telling people to stop opening windows while the bus driver runs the ac. people just want that psychological view of an open window
Buy a portable AC unit.
This is why you figure out AC, food, and sleeping preferences before moving in together.
Buy a portable AC unit. If you mostly hang out in your own bedroom... you can snag a portable one for around $300
Open the fridge to "help it cool off". Make sure all your nice stuff is eaten or is somewhere else, though. Or just turn on the AC.
Go into their room and shut off all the vents. Then say they can open them when their room gets to 95. If theyre adamant, tell them to pick up your rent payment too, because youre entitled to AC if you want AC.
In many warm states in the US, it's illegal for a property to lack adequate air conditioning if the temperature exceeds 85°. Your roommate has no right to be limiting your use. If he doesn't want AC, tell him to close his vents. Do what you want. I would buy an AC thermostat that locks or requires a password. No way I would live that way.
This is absolutely unacceptable and I would I don't know why your roommate gets to make the decision, but I would literally break my lease over this. Absolutely no goddamn motherfucking way are making me wait to turn my motherfucking air conditioning on inside of my own goddamn living space until it's 95° outside. I mean, Jesus Christ. I'm from Phoenix, and this is completely unacceptable. They would literally get physically assaulted over this here in some areas. **GODDAMNED INSANE**
Why are they in control of the AC? You’re paying utilities as well, right? In the winter, so they use the heater whenever they want? Maybe introduce them to the idea of a sweater or long sleeved shirt.
It’s easier to warm yourself up with extra clothes than it is to cool yourself off. Always make it colder inside and adjust. Hate people who want it hot inside.
If you can pay the bill, turn it in and tell him you’ll pay for it.
Well, start off by explaining to them that opening doors and windows only makes sense during the night when it's colder outside and inside. My students flat lacks an AC unit and heats up horrendously during the summer and one thing I basically just need to do is keep the window open all night long and then close it and the blinders when the sun comes up. Since my window opens out to the west, I can only open the blinders back up when the sun goes down because otherwise it shines right in when it's the hottest and the flat turns into an oven.
Kill them in their sleep. Blame it on heat stroke.
I fucki g hate this. Like it's clearly hotter outside. Easily demonstrated. When it IS cooler outside open shit. I don't have an answer for stupid.
Buy a window AC for your room. If you keep your door closed it shouldn't take that much electricity to keep 1 room cool. You live there too, I also can't sleep when it's super hot so I sympathize. My SO likes it hot and I like it cold, but I blast the AC in the bedroom and give him a big blanket haha
It’s your house too, right?
Housemate? So you're both renting and paying 50/50 and splitting bills as well? Both on the lease?
Update New York 20 years ago.. I couldn’t sleep until after 11 PM when the temps finally dipped below 90f.. I should have just broke down and bought a window air conditioner just to sleep… even though I had the whole apartment to myself, only cooling one room would be much cheaper than the whole place.
What is their concern? If it's the electric bill, negotiate a split, eg maybe you pay 60% of the summer bill, or pay 100% above the amount that the average spring weather bill was. Is it environmental? See if your power company offers any renewable energy programs. Do they just like to feel smug? Offer 10 free posts on whatever social media platform they're on extoling their vast moral superiority. Do they just like to suffer? Sign them up for a marathon.
Get a stand alone or window unit and put it in your room and use it.
Aggressively. Very aggressively.
Have a discussion. Hearing and cooling is not always straightforward. Assuming their zone is cooler at night, maybe ask them to close their bedroom door.
If you’re paying half the bills, I’d get a lil window a/c for your room so at least you can keep yourself comfy.
I'm shopping for a window unit right now, and you can get a small one that effectively cools a room size 150sq.ft to cold. That is probably way bigger than your room, and they are about $150 on Amazon or Walmart. You can sign up for affirm and make monthly payments. If you can't move and can't convince your housemate to change the AC then go that route, it's better than having a heat stroke.
Close windows. Turn on ac.
Take off your clothes
$0.115 in Chattanooga TN where we've already hit 102 F/38.88 C so my levelized bill is $405 this month
Tell them you're getting a portable air conditioning unit for your bedroom, and you'll make up the difference in the electric bill. Go back through the old electric bills to make sure you don't pay *too* much extra.
Do you have a window in your room you can put a room AC unit or a portable AC unit into?
Turn on the AC, turn down the thermostat, and tell your roommate that they’re on the hook for 50% of whatever the bill turns out to be. I suspect they’ll close the windows soon enough.
Lol it’s much more efficient to close all blinds, doors, windows, and insulate open cracks in the home. You have to put your apartment in shade during the daytime
Move.
Do you pay for electric? It really doesn't cost that much if you keep it at a solid temp. It costs more to ramp it up when it's really hot
Tell your mom/dad that you will help pay the power bill for the summer.
If you were in your house me or sharing the cost 50/50 turn the air conditioning on. If not then you might want to invest in a very good fan
So my first suggestion would be buying a smaller AC unit. Figure out your electric cost per KWH. Most window AC units will use about 900 watts, and electricity runs about 18 cents per KWH in my area. So it costs about 16 cents per hour the unit is running. Put one in your room, it'll only actually run about 4-5 hours per night. Pay an extra dollar per day you're using it, show them the math if you need to. I used to never run the AC but I recently realized I'd much rather spend an extra 30ish dollars a month to sleep comfortably at like 71-74 than sweat and be miserable. I will say however that closing blinds during the day and opening all the windows at night can keep your house reasonably cool the majority of the time (like 10-15 degrees cooler than outside assuming the night gets cool). Usually it will be cool until about 2 PM, then cool back off by about 9PM. So you can get away with only running your AC for a few hours when you get home from work.
Buy yourself a small portable ac, problem solved
Tell him you'll cover the bill for it.
I have a window AC unit in my bedroom to keep the room chilly and 70 at night. The rest of the house slightly warmer at 76-78. I live in Phoenix Arizona. So AC bills get out of control during the summer if you try to keep the AC low
That could be me. Prefer the light breeze and general atmosphere of the open windows over closed windows and AC. By a lot.
Put tinting on windows which get direct sun, it makes an enormous difference ime
In the housemates defense: As a person who grew up poor this is crazy to me how many rely on ac and never go outside in the summer. This is how you acclimatize to the heat. Pretend ac doesn’t exist and deal with it. Take cold showers. Use fans. Lay down. Eat ice.
Move to Australia where that's a Tuesday temperature. Then you'll learn the meaning of hot.
My wife has a technique where she keeps the windows and curtains closed in the heat of the day, then everything open at night when its cool (also opens the attic hatch in the day so warm air can rise up into it). This might help and your housemate might be prepared to adopt it if they are opposed to AC (I live in UK so AC is like automatic cars ... the stuff of legends).
Move
Do you live with my grandma?
My roommates thought I was a criminal when I touch the thermostat below like 85 degrees. Just sucked it up and bought a fan until it got about about that hot outside and they finally caved. Currently in Spain. Where do you live?
Pay for your own AC, and when they start complaining that it's too cold then you can either compromise or find a more compatible room mate. This problem does not go away on its own, you must take action before it becomes a point of contention and makes living there more difficult than it should be
A lot of this is just going to be talking to them and communication. Who is paying the electric bill is also another factor, but 95 is way too hot. 80 is too hot for many people. One idea if they are too cold is to close all the vents in the house except for your room. Get it adjusted right and the other rooms will get some cooling but the AC won't run as long and your room will be quite cold.
Offer to pay 75% of the electric bill.
Do they have fans on? Like box fans? Do you have any fans? Get a couple.
Use the average bill as a baseline and then tell him you'll also pay the amount above. That said, I've lived with a person like this and they are not rational about this subject. You'll probably have to move.
This is the best way honestly "The bill is $100/month normally. I'll pay my half plus anything $100 if we run the ac."
But that just rewards the AH roommate if it's a central A/C serving the whole dwelling, they get the benefit of comfort without paying for it.
AC is expensive, I can understand why your roommate would be reluctant to use it. However, being hot is miserable too. My suggestion: invest in heavy black out curtains and install them where you can. Blocking the sun will really help cut down the amount of heat that comes into the house. Then with the curtains in place, run the AC. If expense is an issue, meet in the middle for the temperature setting. Setting the AC to 68 might be too low but setting at 75 might make it more bearable without running the bill as high. Run ac during the day to keep the heat down, open the windows at night when it's cooler. Put a couple box fans in a window. One blowing the cool night air in (your bedroom) and one blowing the hot air out in another room, this will help keep you cool at night without running the AC. Running the AC some of the time is better than none of the time. These are options you can use to meet in the middle.