re: #650 reine.de.tout

I have wondered about that.
Where I am, it gets so hot, that it seems it’s better to leave the AC running at a higher temp rather than turning it off altogether.

When it’s off altogether, it takes forever to cool down later. It isn’t just the air in the house that warms up, it’s every item in the house, and all of that has to cool off before the air starts feeling cooler. It seems the AC works very hard if its been off and has to come on and cool everything down.

Have you considered getting thermal curtains for the south facing windows? They aren’t really pretty but you could put them up underneath your regular curtains/drapes and they reflect the sun. It may lower the temp by 10 degrees. I got mine at Kmart for 10.00 per pair of 63 inch ones.

Also, depending on the size of the house (if not an apartment) having the local insulation guys blow insulation into the attic is fairly inexpensive. I plan to have it done this fall and (small house) it probably wont cost more than $250.00. Depending on the temp at night, you can open up the windows and put in screens; close the windows in the morning before you leave.