Urgency to Conserve Energy Amidst Record Breaking Temperatures

[longnecker]

DELMARVA - The heat wave continues. It's tempting to crank up that air conditioning with the unbearable heat, but overdoing the cooling might make things worse.
The scorching hot weather keeps air conditioning companies extremely busy. "We've had a ton of calls - all different ranges - people's equipment going out, nuisance calls, things due to this power shortage just coming back into the systems too," said Pat Halley, Manager, Marathon Services Co.

With record breaking temperatures, Delmarva Power is urging their customers to conserve energy. "The system is in good shape. It's just that in times like this, where we're at 7, 8, 9 days in a row of excessively hot weather. The equipment can get stressed because it doesn't have a chance to cool off in the evening hours. It's running to keep up with people's energy demand. The equipment is more prone to sporadic power outages at times we have an overload on our system," said Matt Likovich, Spokesperson, Delmarva Power.

It's recommended that you keep your thermostat at 78 degrees. "For every degree that you can raise your thermostat, in the summertime, you save about 3 to 4 percent on your energy bill. Air conditioning counts for about 30% of their monthly bill," Likovich said.

Other tips include changing the air filter on your A-C unit at least once a month, running your dishwasher on the cool dry setting, and using compact fluorescent light bulbs.

[max1]

Damn pussies, I been painting the house and I changed the brakes and rotors on the wifes car yesterday.......

[childOfLacroix]

I could probably put it at 78. Except for our office (because of the computers) we generally just keep the windows open unless it goes into the 90s. We keep the A/C at 75 all the time, because we like it warm. I turn it down to 72 when I work out, then put it back up as soon as I'm done.

I don't know how people stand to set their A/C at 70. That's too cold. I hate having to set the heater that low in winter.

[max1]

We keep ours at 77 in the summer, and off in the winter. Two years in a row of not burning fossil fuels.

[Bellicose]

75 here, I would like to put it at 77 at times, it just ain't gonna happen though.

[EpicWin]

Consistent 74 in Summer time and 68 in the Winter.

[Kid Lester]

Unfortunately, I have no choice but to run my air at about 66 all day on days like these. 3 story townhouse. I have to shut all the lower floors vents and force the air upstairs first, and let it fall down to the lower floors. That keeps the third floor at about 74, the 2nd floor about the same, and the downstairs at 66. The heat from the attic heats the 3rd floor so much. If I ran my air at even 70, the upstairs bedrooms would be 80 degrees or more by 3pm today.

[childOfLacroix]

That's my only hesitation WRT running the A/C at 78. When it's set at 75, it stays 75 downstairs, but is 2-3 degrees higher upstairs. We live in a 2-story row home built circa 1912. We had the central HVAC system installed...including the vents. Because it was installed 95+ years after the house was built, the system isn't perfect. But it's exponentially better than what any of the other houses on this street have.

Because of where our home office is situated, we couldn't run the vents there in a cost-effective manner, so we still use a window unit in that one small room. It's actually better that way, because, while we like it hot, our computers do not. We're able to keep it cooler in just that one teeny little area.

I hate winter. I hate snow. I hate ice. I hate cold. I'd rather have it be 102 degrees than 5 degrees.

[longnecker]

I hate winter. I hate snow. I hate ice. I hate cold. I'd rather have it be 102 degrees than 5 degrees.

I wonder how you would feel if it WAS 5 degrees??

[Panama Girl]

I wonder how you would feel if it WAS 5 degrees??

She wouldn't be feeling much at all, that's for sure.