I don't know where you are from, but I've been to the US a couple of times and I can understand why the AC power bill can be absurd there. You cannot keep, in August, in the middle of the desert, AC at 18°C when outside there are 35-40°C. It's criminal on so many levels.

I had a layover in Atlanta last summer and I got home sick, so much was the air conditioning in the airport and in shops and restaurants. Outside it was proper sweating hot, inside I was freezing while wearing a hoodie. I've been on a bus where the driver was wearing a heavy jacket, in August, and all because the bus AC was set to something like 15°C. What is wrong with Americans?

Keep AC at 25-27°C, remove all blankets and clothes when you go to sleep, and I bet you it will consume a lot less energy. Unless you live in the Death Valley, in which case, good luck.

[–] DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

Yup, could do this. Have tried to do this. Slept like shit. Not worth it. I'll spend the extra $50/mo on cranking the AC to wake up each day feeling decent.

[–] capital@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

This was in west Texas so yeah, basically desert.

I fully agree - every thread like this has people coming out of the woodwork claiming they’d simply die if their house isn’t =< 65f. Maybe it’s because we’re so fat?

25c/77f is a perfectly reasonable temperature to have your house at. If I lived alone, it’d be 78 in the summer.

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 2 points 7 months ago

I live in a basement so it stays a little cooler but I was sitting at 77ish all summer last year with the Windows open and AC vents closed. I have never been so comfortable. Before I did that my housemates were freezing me out with the AC. I was walking around in a sweatshirt when it was 95 outside. Coincidentally both of them are overweight.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I spent $10k on a whole home battery and it got me 1/3 of my average daily power use.

Good thing you have a sun for most of the other 2/3.

[–] capital@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

Have you even looked at the power curve of solar system output? You’re being obtuse.

Plus you seem to have completely ignored the last portion of my comment.

I rarely had months where I zeroed out my bill since I was in an area where credits weren’t a thing. My overproduction was sold back at ~$0.03 per kWh. I had to buy at ~$0.12.

You can be snarky if you like. You’re still wrong if you think that’s enough to cover summer days.

[–] psud@aussie.zone 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

My house was built with vents, un-closable, always venting vents. Inside temperature equals outside air temperature plus a little draft as the air moves from inside to outside and outside to inside

Heating or cooling is economically impractical, except in two rooms, one with no vent and one with a vent blocked with foil

I look forward to a knock down/rebuild where the future house will be will insulated and will exchange air with the outside in measured, heat exchanged doses and solar powered air con can heat or cool the house in peak solar generation and the house will be pleasant the rest of the day and night. I'm comfortable in 18°C to about 26° in winter and a little offset upwards in summer, and it's pretty easy to build to not gain or lose more than 8° in 18 hours in my climate (lows in the single digit negatives Celcius; highs seldom more than 40°C)

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 7 months ago

exxon fucking HATES heat pumps, they want everyone to live in the coldest winter burning fossil fuels to survive.

[–] randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 2 points 7 months ago

I set my AC to 26°C (79°F) in summers. As far as I know, most people in my country do somewhere between 20 and 26°C (68~79°F).

[–] Rinox@feddit.it 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I bet you also sleep with a heavy blanket as if it were winter.

I got sick last time I was in the US cause everywhere was like 16°C while outside was like 30-35°C. What's your problem, people?

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 months ago

We love AC. We also realize that it's easier tod add layers than to take them off, when out in public.

Bring a hoodie? 🤷

[–] Zink@programming.dev 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Wow. I am impressed from where I sit, in a house with the AC set to 66F, sometimes 65, to save energy vs where we might otherwise set it.

[–] psud@aussie.zone 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

People consider 70 ideal, don't they? So 65 is only a saving in winter, you would set a higher temperature than ideal in summer

[–] Zink@programming.dev 1 points 7 months ago

Yeah, it was kind of a joke to say I’d probably like it even colder.

And 65 does just happen to be our default winter setting!