[insert rant here about roomate wasting a/c during the day]

I just got a gift card from the Home Depot so Id prefer to shop there. I want 7-day programable and needs to be easy to install.

Looking at this one http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...4+3004&pos=n04

Anyone have any experience with any of these?

 

Link is for the general the "Electrical" page, not a specific item.

 

Home Depot wont let me link it:



Intermatic
15 Amp 120/240/277 Volt Digital 7-Day Programmable Time Switch

Model 030663

Price: $34.76/ea

Comfort, Convenience & Security .. All the time. Use this 7 day timer for lighting, fans and appliances.

• 15 Amp 120/240/277 Volt Digital 7-Day Programmable Time Switch
• Digital 7-day programmable automatic, for loads up to 15 amp 6 programs with up to 42 on/off settings for daily, weekend and weekly combinations. Random setting feature available to avoid predictable timer controlled look.
• Set once, never set it again
• For single pole and 3 way applications
• Self adjusting timer with astronomic feature
• use with decorator style wall plate

Internet/Catalog #100004779
Store In-Stock SKU # 451207

The only thing that concerns me is I have a length-ways mounted unit. Does this work in conjunction with what I have or do I get to poke holes in my wall?

 

Don't get me started about wasting A/C. Ugggggh.

My wife insists that it stays at around 65-67 during the night, and roughly 68-72 during the day. Our fawking electricity bill is going to be $400 for the first full month down here. Ugggggggh.

I have been trying to use fans to cool down, which is a lot cheaper.

How are you talking to your roomate about the A/C? I can't ever win a LOGICAL argument with my wife about this.

 

We have a digital thermostat, so we can program it. Does it help? Nope, cause wife still likes to keep it COLD at night.

I don't know a lot about A/C stuff, so hopefully someone else can help you!

 

Saki that is not what you want to control your A/C. Get a programmable thermostat.

 

A/C at night doesnt bother me as I like to keep cool as well. 72 Is perfectly ok, imo.

But Mon-Fri I leave work at 7am and dont get home until 630pm. He leaves at 8ish and some nights doesnt get home until midnight.

So from 8-1830, the hottest time of the day, the a/c is pumping trying to keep everything at 72. Fuck that.

I want to program it to go from 830-1800 at 80ish then drop back down about a half hour before I get home. Maybe earlier on Fridays because he doesnt stay as late.

If he wants it cold at night, fine, but dont leave that shit on ALL DAY. My bill for a < 1,000 sq/ft 1 floor was $120!

 

You posted a programmable light switch.

Go to the store, find the programmable thermostat that looks good to you and fits your price range. Basically, the cheap ones only let you program Weekdays/Weekends, then you work up to individual days, then days/nights, then specific times, etc. The boxes will tell you what you're getting... and it just comes down to the money you spend.

I have a holmes or something, works fine.

 

Ah yes. This is what I want



Any difference in brands? I dont need anything fancy. A 5-day, 2-day mode would be fine.

Any hasstle in temporarily stopping it? Like if its a holiday or something?

 

I've used Honeywell and my current house has a Lux. They are both good but I personally like the Honeywell better.

You can easily override that thermostat. Just push the up down hours to temporarily override the temp until the next timed event. If you want your override to stick indefinitely push the hold button.

 

Is it sad that Im excited about getting this thing this weekend.

 

$120 isn't a bad bill. I'd bet your A/C, assuming it's properly sized for your unit, isn't using a TON of energy keeping the place at a reasonable 72 degrees. You may find you use nearly as much energy bringing it down from 80 as you do keeping it at 72.

You'll probably save more money making sure your blinds are drawn (and/or getting insulating blinds) then you will turning your A/C to 80 during the day.

My electric bill in the winter is about $150 or so, that's just my appliances/tv's essentially. I'm betting 75%+ of that bill is your refridgerator, your computer, your televisions and because you're in florida, your electric range/ovens/etc.

How much was your bill when you weren't using A/C (if you weren't using A/C at some point since you've lived there)?

 

Ive only been here since May.

I do all the other things like keep the blinds closed and from what I can tell its a fairly well insulated unit. I use ceiling fans when I can and what not.

$120 for Jacksonville is high. It should be a little over $100. Our electricity is fairly inexpensive and that first bill irked the heck out of me. Im here for the long haul, Ive got a Home Depot gift card I have no need for, so I might as well.

Ideally Id like to try to do it manually by myself just to see how big of a difference, if any, it makes, but my roomate cant remember to turn it up when he leaves and since he leaves an hour after me, I cant do it myself. I figure for the $50 investment, it cant hurt (would it?) over the 5-6 years Ill be here.

Edit: From what I can remember my electricity bill dropped about 30% from a using a/c month (July) to a not using a/c month (November).

 

Honeywell is good. I have something similar, the Honeywell Pro 6000 or something like that.

 

Saki, what is your electricity cost with JEA? Mine is $0.0991185/KWH with Clay Electric. That includes the actual cost of electricity plus a "Power Cost Adjustment" (i.e. what the power company charges Clay Electric for power, and what we have to pay).

I want to compare prices with JEA and see if it is higher or lower.

 

I know you have another thread on this, but seriously, thats insane. It was over 100 degrees yesterday and I was quite comfortable with my A/C set at 76

 

Ill have to look at the bill when it comes in. Should be sometime this week. Last month I had to pay a $150 deposit so I tossed that bill away as soon as I paid it.

I should mention, the bill also includes water. Like I said, utilities are cheap right around here. So really, the electricity part is around $100...but it should be less than that.

 

Yeah I know. I don't want to get into that here, but yeah, I know. There is no talking any sense into this woman. She argues, "Why can't we pay a little extra to be comfortable?" Comfortable? COMFORTABLE!!!??? How about I wake up in the morning COLD, nuts the size of peas, and our electric bill is 52% MORE than it needs to be.

This is the thread in case anyone missed it! https://acurazine.com/forums/home-garden-37/would-cheaper-344403/

 

Our electricity is not cheap. Of course, we live in Oakleaf Plantation, which is expensive, but damn!

 

I understand every home is different, but was there a noticeable difference? How drastic of a temp difference is it between day and night? Soopa's point about recooling everything back to 72 was well taken. I was thinking leaving it at 80 during the day when I wasnt home.

The only beings that would be effected are my cats, and they dont pay rent, so theyll live Its much more comfortable than being outside....

 

There are recomendations that come with the unit. I personally raise things during the day, but not drastically. Maybe 5 degrees or so, so that the A/C works less, but still keeps things reasonable if its really hot out. If your A/C can bring things down from 80 to 72 in an hour or less, then I say its worth it to crank to 80 during the day

Also, the point about the blinds is spot on. Blinds make a huge difference, especially for windows that get hours of sunlight.

 

Yeah. I do have shitty blinds, and have been meaning to put up the curtains I have to replace them with. Its a new month so I should do one or the other and see what the change is.

Was the 5 degree difference noticeable when the bill came in?

 

We have a Honeywell programmable thermostat as well. It's slightly different looking then the one you posted (ours is square and kind of small, which is nice b/c it doesn't stand out). It's called a 5-1-1 thermostat which means I can run 3 programs (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun). We thought about having a 5-2 thermostat which allows Mon-Fri and weekend programs, but we liked the flexability of having Sat and Sun different and separate since Sunday is usually an earlier night b/c of work the next day, so we can run a different program for each weekend day... so 5-1-1 is was!

Our thermostat also has 4 settings per day (Wake, Leave, Return, Sleep), so we set each of those for every day pretty much giving us total control of the heat and A/C. The builder did not give us these with the house (go figure as our last place had them), so the day after we closed we went to HD and bought them.

 

5 degree difference will be noticeable. Try different things, and see what works best for you.

 

Alrighty. Im going to do a little experiment. Since I already have two statement's worth of info Ill go ahead and call last month the balls out month where no thermostat changes were being made.

This month Ill finally put up the curtains and see if that makes a difference (since Ive already put out the cash for that).

If I dont see a drastic improvement Ill go for the programable thermostat.

While its not that huge of an issue here in FL, when it gets colder Ill just have to leave the curtains open during the day.

Thanks guys

 

I have basically that same Honeywell model probably, except mine is 5-2. It really helps with bills because even at 76 it runs constantly, but at 80, which I leave it at when I'm gone, it actually cycles on and off. And lately with it being 100+, even at 77-78 it barely shuts off

gatrhumpy: I'm glad I don't have to pay your bill. Mine was $225 for just a 1200 sq ft townhouse Tell your wife to take off some clothes to cool off.

 

I love our thermostat. Has saved us quite a bit over a standard one. Plus, I never have to touch the thing. It's all setup and programmed. I just need to change it from A/C to heat in the winter, and vice-versa in the spring. Can't beat that.

Our thermostat also has a cool feature called Auto-Recover. Basically, if it starts getting too warm, it kicks the A/C (in summer) on earlier so the system does not have to work so hard. Our A/C is set high, so don't freak out at the numbers . But, It's set to 86 during the day with it programmed to come on at 78 around 8:30pm. What happens, especially during these hot days, is that it actually goes into recovery around 5pm and brings the temp back down. By the time 8:30pm rolls around the house is only about 80 degrees and the A/C hardly has to work to get to the programmed 78 degrees. That combined with a few ceiling fans and our bills are next to nothing. To cool our whole house, factoring in the pool running 10 hours a day and the cleaner running 3 hours per day, plus regular electric (cooking, laundry, lights, TVs, fountains, landscape ligthing, etc) our bill was $240 last month. The pool has increased the bill $100/mo... so if it was last summer (no pool), we'd be around $140/mo in July in the south (and it's been near or over 100 on and off for a few weeks now).

BTW, as mentioned, before you freak out at the temp, know that 78 is cooler then it seems. I had 4 guys come down from NY last weekend and they were complaining before they got ot the house (they know how the A/C is programmed). Their first night here I manually turned it down upstairs to 76 degrees for them at night and they all told me the next day they were cold. It's a very effecient system, so that allows me to keep it set in the high 70's while still keeping the house very comfortable...

 

Ya, i think it depends on how well insulated your house is. At 76-78 things are just right at my place.

 

I have a honeywell digital thermostat and let it go to 85 during the day, and 78 while I'm home. I have no pets or roommates, so there's nothing and no one to get hot while I'm not home.

It's easy to see whether or not your saving electricity, since the thermostat keeps track of the number of hours it runs each day. You just pick two days with similar weather and make a note of how many hours it ran each day. I save about 3 hours of run time per day by setting it the way it is.

 

This is what I have. You can program it however you want.

I don't like when it's too cold so I keep my setting at 74-75 when I'm home and 78 when I'm out. So far, my highest bill was $40 for 1,000 sq ft condo.

 

Same here except I have it at 86 during the day. Only thing that sucks is that I work from home, so sometimes it gets hot. I just work in my unmentionables and flip on the ceiling fan. It usually doesn't get too hot... only starting around 3pm will the temp start climbing to 83 or 84 since we get the afternoon sun... but I'm usually good. Can you imagine what my bill would be if I ran the A/C all day?? I have chills (not from being cool, from getting the bill) just thinking about it

 

For those of you that leave it at 85-86 during the day, do you worry about it being too humid and mold forming etc if it hardly ever comes on?