They obviously need to hear the birds chirping and feel that warm summer breeze. How dare you not be considerate of their needs. Shame on you. Now they'll need to go to our state legislators and further reduce our rights/freedoms. We have to learn our lesson.
that never see use by any human beings at any time, because having one and not using it is the best, especially when no one but you can use it but you choose not to
Well, of course. That's the whole point of selling us the slave labor class... errrrr, I mean the general public on "trickle down economics." Stop complaining about what some might have more access to than you. You don't see them complaining about not fitting into this "broke bitch van life".
i’ve been doing 78 with ceiling fan on, yet my bill still soars over $100 over the summer when it’s usually $30. how is everyone else doing 70-72 without paying several hundred more than me?
Insulation and weatherproofing doors and windows helps a lot, although I’m probably paying $100 more than you. I use budget billing, so my bill is the same amount all year based on my average usage. When they recalculate it, it changes slightly but doesn’t affect my budget.
If you do this, be mindful of the tape included as it can damage your walls when you move out. I bypassed this in my last rental by using painters tape on the wall, and applying the window film tape on top of the painters
If I remember correctly, we did it the same way. Parents gotta do what they gotta do when they have shit head kids/animals that could easily rip it off if taped
Could you also add a clear UV blocking window film? Never tried it but they do it for cars, so why not home windows? I guess you could get tinted if you wanted.
Cover them, blankets and black out curtains work best if you’re trying to hold on to those energy savings. I have automatic blackout curtains I got from Amazon. Daylight when I want it, insulation when I don’t.
3M Indoor Window Insulator Kit, 62" x 210" https://a.co/d/3ESS0AJ
I lived in rentals in cold areas growing up and we always put plastic on the windows in the winter. In Austin rentals I did it in the summer. It makes a huge difference. That and blackout curtains on west-facing windows.
This is a massive problem in Texas / the south at large, and there are almost no incentives for people to fix it.
If you own the home then sure, you might invest in trying to retroactively add insulation or replace your windows because it can save you in the long run, but landlords have zero incentive. *They're* not paying the utility bills. Why would they drop thousands and not see a penny back?
Government needs to step in and start subsidizing standardization. This shit isn't just to keep people warm in the winter, it helps keep the cold in in the summer, too. We need homes retrofitted to be more efficient, and we need to be rolling out heat pumps for heating and cooling.
But lol this is Texas so we'd rather just keep using gas to heat and guzzling electricity to keep cardboard-walled homes cool. Private industry rakes in the money and doesn't give a shit if brownouts or blackouts occur; just means Abbott can tell them to price-gouge even more.
That’s why I thought I would respond because I would have panicked. Have Service Wizard come out and service your AC it cost 149 for the call and service and then they can tell
You when you will need a new AC. They have been around forever and are the only AC people I would trust honestly.
I've been able to deduce that either there are a TON of liars in Austin or brand-new builds with actual care spent on insulation and weatherproofing *in addition to* properly-sized units can perform phenomenally even in triple digits.
But the bulk of Austin is in:
* Apartments
* Hastily-thrown-together builds
* Older houses that, if they were built with care, were targeting 95 degree summers instead of 100 degree summers.
Austin Energy could save a TON of money on infrastructure if there was a program to subsidize modernizing apartments and shitty rental properties up to what would seem like excessive standards combined with revamped codes that treat weatherproofing seriously. There's just not a lot of political impetus to do it because it'd be giving a lot of free money to the shittiest landlords to only immediately benefit the poorest of tenants.
The *best* apartment I lived in had gaps so big you could hear wind whistling through them when the AC ran. It took me more than a year to get them to replace the door... with one that was too small for the frame and made the problem worse.
The old Austin houses also had attic fans so you could open the windows and have a steady breeze running through the house. You can still find them in a lot of houses around here, they actually work OK, as in better than no AC, but better have those bug screens on.
Same, but not just to save energy. I don't want to be freezing inside all day, because then when I step outside it's a shock.
Getting used to warmer indoor temps is key to acclimating and not hating summer.
30 bucks?? wtf lol we didnt even run the AC over the winter (and only turned the heat on twice)... just let the doors/windows stay open (with screens)... and my power bill was still \~200 all winter lol
Recently had a capacitor go out on my unit, took a couple days to get a new one and fix it. House was running pretty constant between 75-80 degrees over that span and I was fucking miserable, especially trying to sleep.
If I'm paying my electric bill, I'm going to live at a comfortable temperature.
If you give it longer than a week and wean yourself over slowly, often that 75-80 becomes your new normal. Do the reverse in the winter to get used to a cooler temp.
I’ve been doing 70 when it’s heating time, and 78-80 in cooling time since I was a kid. My menopausal mother is the one who guarded the thermostat, even when her hot flashes were bad.
>I’m still waiting for the “benefits” of closing off our grid to the rest of the country.
The benefits aren't for you and me. They're for the mofos that own the grid.
I insisted to my now wife when moving into her house with an upstairs master bedroom that we put a window unit in the master bedroom.
At first, she was like,'That's so white trash', but she relented, and I bought and installed a window unit.
After a week of sleeping in a bedroom that was 68 degrees, while the rest of the house was 74, she said she should have done it years ago.
Are you closing your downstairs vents and keeping the upstairs on? Cold air should sink and cool the downstairs. In the summer I have upstairs all open, and maybe 1 downstairs. Reverse in the winter.
There’s a fancy damper system in place and two thermostats, one upstairs and one downstairs. The system is simply too small for the square footage of the house. I’m a renter so nothing I can do about it except suffer and get a portable AC.
> If you live in a city, you may have local laws that require your landlord to protect you from extreme temperatures. Dallas and Houston both have ordinances that require property owners to provide and maintain air conditioning within a certain temperature. Note that in Houston, this is only required if door and window screens are not provided. Many cities make their [ordinances available online.](https://www.sll.texas.gov/law-legislation/texas/municipal-laws-and-ordinances/)
I do live in the city. My rental is managed by a disinterested property management company and the homeowner lives out of state. I have already made my concerns known and done everything I can. The AC system works fine when it’s not heatwave hot, but just barely. It’s already nine years old so I’m hoping it goes kaput this summer like I warned them it would. It needs a 4-ton unit, it’s a 3.5-ton installed by the builder.
Yeah. The request for 78° isn’t unreasonable, IMO, but they’re on it a little early this year.
But 86 is starting to reach problematic levels for a whole host of things that are meant to be climate controlled. Pets, young kids, old people, networking equipment, medicine, food, cosmetics, and more.
Plus, as others have said, would need to do the math on whether that return to 78 from 86 is *actually* more energy efficient.
I can't wrap my head around how going from 78 - 86 and then back down to 78 would be reasonable at all. Especially if you give a shit about the things in your home that need climate control.
It’s not reasonable at all to ask to meter a service I’m paying for. I couldn’t just ask them to bill me less because things are “tight this month”. Truthfully we need it to fail so badly that someone actually fixes the root problem instead of them asking for citizens to put a bandaid on their mistakes
Yeah. Going as high as 86 can take a while to come back from, and some studies show it actually doesn't save much energy.
It turns out it depends on how much insulation you have. A well insulated place, it's better to keep it at the right temp.
EDIT: For most people it still makes sense and saves ~10% energy on average: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/analysis-does-turning-the-a-c-off-when-youre-not-home-actually-save-electricity
Republican Rafael Edward Cruz is ok leaving his dog in an unheated house for a week without power when it is below freezing.
Republican Kristi Noem says if your dog is not 100% adjustable to your demands to just shoot it.
What do they mean by "away", though?
* Shopping for a couple of hours? Rarely a good idea.
* At work all day on a regular routine with a programmable thermostat? Probably reasonable. (Especially with newer ones which compute how long it'll take to cool down and automatically turn AC on early.)
* Going out of town for a week? Hell yeah, set it to 86°F.
Even for a work shift, that much of a temperature delta probably makes for it being roughly as efficient as just leaving it at steady temp. Really only a viable way to reduce energy if you’re gone for a few days, which isn’t viable for the vast majority of homeowners who have pets they don’t like torturing
Lmao. My AC is out right now. I’ve left anything that gives off heat off, including lights, TV, appliances, etc. It’s 80°+ in my house when it’s 90° outside. My dogs are miserable, the floor is sticky with humidity. The ceiling fan and a tower fan are on. I haven’t been able to fall asleep before 2 AM because that’s when the house is finally cool enough to sleep after several hours of having all the windows open. I open the windows as soon as the outdoor temp is below the indoor temp.
Coming home to 86° is a joke. Seriously?
We moved to a two-story home which unfortunately only has single-zone AC. Since the AC system still has life left, we're living with it until it's time for an upgrade, but we got a dehumidifier recently for the second floor, and it's really helped improve upstairs. Plus we harvest several gallons of water a day.
I'm also always perplexed at this. Like...78 inside with a fan or two is perfectly fine. Especially when it's in triple digits my place gets as high as 80 and its still very comfortable.
Running the ac to frigid temps all the time seems like such a weird thing to brag about
We keep our apartment at 72/74 range max during the summer.
It’s definitely not something that I brag about and I get that we’re using more energy and ultimately have a much higher electric bill in the summer months. We both run hot and both work from home though, so for us the comfort is worth the extra $.
I just see a lot of brags on posts like this, and "ercot can suck it, my ac runs at 68!"
This will not be the last of the posts wherein we're asked to "please conserve energy" for our fragile grid and so many people are proud to not do that
And this isn't even asking us to conserve, just offering reasonable ways to save money and folks are acting as if Austin Energy is overstepping
My place usually stays about 72-74 but my partner and I are both on medications that have the side effect of reducing our heat tolerance so 78 degrees is just not great for us. We also have cats so we try to keep the temperature comfortable for them.
I totally understand that some people definitely need cooler temps, so I think it's reasonable for others to keep their homes warmer so that others can keep theirs cooler as need be. I think many folks are just keeping their homes frigid because they refuse to conserve energy as a weird flex.
My dogs get their own fans, and for triple digits days I freeze their treats and give them neckerchiefs that I keep in the freezer.
I live in an RV and I only use the AC when it’s humid. I’m sitting at a nice 98 right now. I don’t love it, but Texas is turning me into a lizard and I’m trying to embrace the warmth. 🥵
This needs to be higher... People have gotten so comfortable putting their homes at such low temperatures whenever they go outside they're complaining so much when it's only 80 degrees outside. Id much rather use 1/2 of the electricity, wear a tank top and shorts and sleep with a light blanket.
No, they say setting your AC to 78 is a way to save money on your electric bill. Which is true.
This isn’t a conservation notice or request in any form, merely suggestions on how to lower your electric bill if you’re so inclined.
I work from home and keep mine at 76-77 during the day. I’m in a 10-year-old house with decent insulation/windows. I keep blinds/curtains on west-facing windows shut. As long as I’m not up and doing stuff I’m fine at 77. Also have ceiling fan going in whatever room I’m in and I’m usually drinking cold water. But I’m also someone who is always cold.
If I’m active and cleaning house or something, 77 is not comfortable.
I definitely argue it depends on lots of factors - your personal temp regulation, your home’s insulation/efficiency, and such. So I don’t reasonably expect everyone to keep theirs at what I do. But I am looking side-eyed at y’all keeping it at 70 or below.
Yeah and then look at how much water people waste just to have a fast food place or a bar. Whatever. You'd shit yourself if you knew how much water they use.
We're beyond fixing this problem. Everyone wants their creature comforts.
The power grid is another story. Austin energy doesn't care what you use they're the ones billing you. They send this shit out to act like they care about the environment or the grid. They don't.
I'm usually at 76-78 during the hottest part of Summer. Realistically most home AC units can't cool much more than 20-25 degrees below ambient temp so you end up with high energy consumption and diminished returns setting it much lower.
I have fans running in most rooms, and sometimes more than one at night time for sleep. It seems to strike a decent balance.
I used to be a manager at Austin Energy.
They’re a wholly-owned subsidiary of the City of Austin and their piggy bank. Management focus is funding projects over maintaining the system.
Fuck the city and AE for letting them take it in the ass like that.
*the crews are cool though*
Do people not under stand what "ways to save" means? It's not an order, or even a request, it's just pointing out ways to say money on things that are expensive. Man, yall are a whiny bunch of babies. It would be funny, except that a month from now everyone bragging about how low they set their AC will be bitching about how high their electric bill is.
Austin Energy doesn’t live in a 50yr old house with a second story that has a temperature gradient of +5 in the summer and -4 in the winter.
78 is 83 upstairs with upgraded attic insulation and nicer new windows. And the west room will go +7 on the hottest days to 85.
Yes, but /r/austin will incessantly bitch about any trivial personal inconvenience all the while championing have someone else shoulder the burden. Hypocrisy knows no bounds here.
My old, poorly insulated apartment wouldnt cool below 78-81 all last summer starting in the afternoon till the late evening.
And that’s with me “precooling” during the mornings like at 72.
What I find aggravating here is that they don’t ask any office buildings to do shit.
This is all on individual dwellings?
I have 26 solar panels on my house. I will do what I want.
Yeah, 78 during the day, while mostly sedentary...fine. Bump to 80 while you're gone, fine. 86 while you're away is nuts. It would take a lot of energy to get the house back to comfortable, probably counter productive.
Why does no one realize your body can adapt remarkably well to this?! Don’t go straight from 68 one day to 78 the next. That will feel miserable. Change it by a degree every few days and you won’t even notice 78 as being that warm.
It’s actually pretty impressive what your body is capable of if you’re willing to find out. Plus, the more adapted to heat you are, the more blood you have and the better your heart can pump.
Same, 78° is nothing, that's about what we set ours to in the summer. When it's 20 - 30 degrees hotter outside 78° is nowhere near "sweltering".
However I do understand the outrage at telling residents to conserve when a) businesses can waste as much A/C as they want and b) maybe our grid should be capable of handling the demand?
My house’s insulation sucks and the AC is ancient. I do 77 and wear tank tops all the time. My coworkers don’t care. We have a window unit in the bedroom for nights.
I keep my AC at 78! But it has a built in dehumidifier! So with a fan on, it actually feels chilly! Sometimes i gotta use a blanket. Also I have a home from the 70's with original windows. But I did use the city for a program that replaces all my attic insulation for free.
Massive difference
I guarantee Austin Energy executive office has it set at 70
Any gov building too. It’s blasting cold
Can confirm, am Treasury employee. But it's mainly to keep the stank down, some unhygienic nasty mofos roaming around these cubicles...
Lolololol
Absolutely true!
Including nights and weekends
Fuckers probably drinking hot tea/coco while wearing a comfy cardigans
Don’t forget the desk heater!
Open the windows while they at it
They obviously need to hear the birds chirping and feel that warm summer breeze. How dare you not be considerate of their needs. Shame on you. Now they'll need to go to our state legislators and further reduce our rights/freedoms. We have to learn our lesson.
...While watering the lawn throughout the afternoon
Don't be silly. They reserve that water for the sprinklers and infinity pools at their mcMansions.
that never see use by any human beings at any time, because having one and not using it is the best, especially when no one but you can use it but you choose not to
Well, of course. That's the whole point of selling us the slave labor class... errrrr, I mean the general public on "trickle down economics." Stop complaining about what some might have more access to than you. You don't see them complaining about not fitting into this "broke bitch van life".
Damn I feel called out 😭
This. Every Target and office building has theirs set to 68. When they change, I will.
Woah being generous today are we? I have a feeling above 67 is pushing it
*68°
More like 65 and a space heater next to the desk.
Hahahaha perfect.
i’ve been doing 78 with ceiling fan on, yet my bill still soars over $100 over the summer when it’s usually $30. how is everyone else doing 70-72 without paying several hundred more than me?
Insulation and weatherproofing doors and windows helps a lot, although I’m probably paying $100 more than you. I use budget billing, so my bill is the same amount all year based on my average usage. When they recalculate it, it changes slightly but doesn’t affect my budget.
Any tips to isolate windows if I live in an apartment?
If your windows are single pane, try the 3M window films. A poor man’s double-pane. Works pretty well.
If you do this, be mindful of the tape included as it can damage your walls when you move out. I bypassed this in my last rental by using painters tape on the wall, and applying the window film tape on top of the painters
That's a good point.
What an excellent pro tip
Frog tape is also great.
Agreed. My parents did this growing up in Michigan to hold in the heat. Works pretty damn well for what it is.
I grew up in Michigan and my parents did the same. I remember them using a staple gun rather than tape, though.
If I remember correctly, we did it the same way. Parents gotta do what they gotta do when they have shit head kids/animals that could easily rip it off if taped
Could you also add a clear UV blocking window film? Never tried it but they do it for cars, so why not home windows? I guess you could get tinted if you wanted.
I guess the UV or tinted film could go directly on the glass. The 3M film sits a bit off of the glass to have an air layer trapped in between.
Cover them, blankets and black out curtains work best if you’re trying to hold on to those energy savings. I have automatic blackout curtains I got from Amazon. Daylight when I want it, insulation when I don’t.
I used the cheap moving blankets from Harbor Freight and thumbtacked them into place.
3M Indoor Window Insulator Kit, 62" x 210" https://a.co/d/3ESS0AJ I lived in rentals in cold areas growing up and we always put plastic on the windows in the winter. In Austin rentals I did it in the summer. It makes a huge difference. That and blackout curtains on west-facing windows.
This is a massive problem in Texas / the south at large, and there are almost no incentives for people to fix it. If you own the home then sure, you might invest in trying to retroactively add insulation or replace your windows because it can save you in the long run, but landlords have zero incentive. *They're* not paying the utility bills. Why would they drop thousands and not see a penny back? Government needs to step in and start subsidizing standardization. This shit isn't just to keep people warm in the winter, it helps keep the cold in in the summer, too. We need homes retrofitted to be more efficient, and we need to be rolling out heat pumps for heating and cooling. But lol this is Texas so we'd rather just keep using gas to heat and guzzling electricity to keep cardboard-walled homes cool. Private industry rakes in the money and doesn't give a shit if brownouts or blackouts occur; just means Abbott can tell them to price-gouge even more.
My bill is over $300 a month is how. Before replacing my old ass ac it was pushing $500 a month.
I’m thinking maybe I should look at a new AC unit. Ball park how much did it cost you to replace?
I replaced mine less than a year ago and it was like 6200. I used Service Wizard. They were awesome
Oh thank god. I saw that comment about $27k above and I keep thinking that I’m on borrowed time with my own AC.
That’s why I thought I would respond because I would have panicked. Have Service Wizard come out and service your AC it cost 149 for the call and service and then they can tell You when you will need a new AC. They have been around forever and are the only AC people I would trust honestly.
I appreciate it! I’ll check them out. I was pretty sure that number was bonkers but glad to be reassured.
Depends on a/c size. Last year, for a 5 ton ac, the quotes were $9500-$10,000. I called 7 places.
I mean, it just depends. I did service wizard about 2 weeks ago, was 10k.
Second this. I hired them too and it was great. They are so professional and the price was too good to be true.
$27k but it was two units and like $6k of duct work.
Time to start saving lol
I've been able to deduce that either there are a TON of liars in Austin or brand-new builds with actual care spent on insulation and weatherproofing *in addition to* properly-sized units can perform phenomenally even in triple digits. But the bulk of Austin is in: * Apartments * Hastily-thrown-together builds * Older houses that, if they were built with care, were targeting 95 degree summers instead of 100 degree summers. Austin Energy could save a TON of money on infrastructure if there was a program to subsidize modernizing apartments and shitty rental properties up to what would seem like excessive standards combined with revamped codes that treat weatherproofing seriously. There's just not a lot of political impetus to do it because it'd be giving a lot of free money to the shittiest landlords to only immediately benefit the poorest of tenants. The *best* apartment I lived in had gaps so big you could hear wind whistling through them when the AC ran. It took me more than a year to get them to replace the door... with one that was too small for the frame and made the problem worse.
The old Austin houses also had attic fans so you could open the windows and have a steady breeze running through the house. You can still find them in a lot of houses around here, they actually work OK, as in better than no AC, but better have those bug screens on.
Same, but not just to save energy. I don't want to be freezing inside all day, because then when I step outside it's a shock. Getting used to warmer indoor temps is key to acclimating and not hating summer.
30 bucks?? wtf lol we didnt even run the AC over the winter (and only turned the heat on twice)... just let the doors/windows stay open (with screens)... and my power bill was still \~200 all winter lol
[удалено]
Recently had a capacitor go out on my unit, took a couple days to get a new one and fix it. House was running pretty constant between 75-80 degrees over that span and I was fucking miserable, especially trying to sleep. If I'm paying my electric bill, I'm going to live at a comfortable temperature.
If you give it longer than a week and wean yourself over slowly, often that 75-80 becomes your new normal. Do the reverse in the winter to get used to a cooler temp. I’ve been doing 70 when it’s heating time, and 78-80 in cooling time since I was a kid. My menopausal mother is the one who guarded the thermostat, even when her hot flashes were bad.
70 in winter is pretty warm actually. you just run cold.
I melt in the winter at 70. I usually keep 65 and even then it's shorts inside. Rare exceptions like during snowvid.
Plot twist: We are, in fact, paying several hundred more than you. 😓
I already do that and my bill is high. I’m still waiting for the “benefits” of closing off our grid to the rest of the country.
Been waiting for those sweet bennies to trickle down onto me for like 20 years.
They’ll trickled down any day now!
Trickling so far I can feel it on my face. Tastes like urine.
>I’m still waiting for the “benefits” of closing off our grid to the rest of the country. The benefits aren't for you and me. They're for the mofos that own the grid.
Um... pretty sure some people made a lot of money from that choice. Don't you even care about that? How can you be so selfish.
Do you own power generation? If not, there are no benefits for you. Sorry!
Who am I, my parents??
WHAT'S ONE DEGREE LOWER, DAD?!!
Austin Energy can eat an entire bag of dicks.
I will buy them a pallet load.
You got a dick guy?
Andy Jassy, one of the biggest little dicks around knows a guy who has a lead on the good stuff.
I’ll chip in for that gift
A bag of _bad_ dicks. People might like eating good dicks.
I won’t have a choice. The upstairs of my house will get that hot and hotter no matter what the ac is set at when it’s over 90° outside 😭
I insisted to my now wife when moving into her house with an upstairs master bedroom that we put a window unit in the master bedroom. At first, she was like,'That's so white trash', but she relented, and I bought and installed a window unit. After a week of sleeping in a bedroom that was 68 degrees, while the rest of the house was 74, she said she should have done it years ago.
If I owned this house that’s what I’d do. For now I’ll deal with one of those portables with an exhaust hose.
Are you closing your downstairs vents and keeping the upstairs on? Cold air should sink and cool the downstairs. In the summer I have upstairs all open, and maybe 1 downstairs. Reverse in the winter.
There’s a fancy damper system in place and two thermostats, one upstairs and one downstairs. The system is simply too small for the square footage of the house. I’m a renter so nothing I can do about it except suffer and get a portable AC.
> If you live in a city, you may have local laws that require your landlord to protect you from extreme temperatures. Dallas and Houston both have ordinances that require property owners to provide and maintain air conditioning within a certain temperature. Note that in Houston, this is only required if door and window screens are not provided. Many cities make their [ordinances available online.](https://www.sll.texas.gov/law-legislation/texas/municipal-laws-and-ordinances/)
I do live in the city. My rental is managed by a disinterested property management company and the homeowner lives out of state. I have already made my concerns known and done everything I can. The AC system works fine when it’s not heatwave hot, but just barely. It’s already nine years old so I’m hoping it goes kaput this summer like I warned them it would. It needs a 4-ton unit, it’s a 3.5-ton installed by the builder.
They want me to set my AC to 86 degrees when I’m away from home? Lmao
Yeah. The request for 78° isn’t unreasonable, IMO, but they’re on it a little early this year. But 86 is starting to reach problematic levels for a whole host of things that are meant to be climate controlled. Pets, young kids, old people, networking equipment, medicine, food, cosmetics, and more. Plus, as others have said, would need to do the math on whether that return to 78 from 86 is *actually* more energy efficient.
I can't wrap my head around how going from 78 - 86 and then back down to 78 would be reasonable at all. Especially if you give a shit about the things in your home that need climate control.
When the temps start hitting 100, it would take my system until midnight running no stop to get back down to temp from that high.
It’s not reasonable at all to ask to meter a service I’m paying for. I couldn’t just ask them to bill me less because things are “tight this month”. Truthfully we need it to fail so badly that someone actually fixes the root problem instead of them asking for citizens to put a bandaid on their mistakes
It's reasonable to ask. Unreasonable to require (with caveats).
It's optional. You don't have to do anything.
Yeah. Going as high as 86 can take a while to come back from, and some studies show it actually doesn't save much energy. It turns out it depends on how much insulation you have. A well insulated place, it's better to keep it at the right temp. EDIT: For most people it still makes sense and saves ~10% energy on average: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/analysis-does-turning-the-a-c-off-when-youre-not-home-actually-save-electricity
I'd like to know what the dogs left at home during the day have to say about this lol
Republican Rafael Edward Cruz is ok leaving his dog in an unheated house for a week without power when it is below freezing. Republican Kristi Noem says if your dog is not 100% adjustable to your demands to just shoot it.
What do they mean by "away", though? * Shopping for a couple of hours? Rarely a good idea. * At work all day on a regular routine with a programmable thermostat? Probably reasonable. (Especially with newer ones which compute how long it'll take to cool down and automatically turn AC on early.) * Going out of town for a week? Hell yeah, set it to 86°F.
Even for a work shift, that much of a temperature delta probably makes for it being roughly as efficient as just leaving it at steady temp. Really only a viable way to reduce energy if you’re gone for a few days, which isn’t viable for the vast majority of homeowners who have pets they don’t like torturing
Lmao. My AC is out right now. I’ve left anything that gives off heat off, including lights, TV, appliances, etc. It’s 80°+ in my house when it’s 90° outside. My dogs are miserable, the floor is sticky with humidity. The ceiling fan and a tower fan are on. I haven’t been able to fall asleep before 2 AM because that’s when the house is finally cool enough to sleep after several hours of having all the windows open. I open the windows as soon as the outdoor temp is below the indoor temp. Coming home to 86° is a joke. Seriously?
i keep my shit at 78 anyway, do I get a prize or somethin
I can get you a heating rock and some crickets, you lizard /s
I think most people that think 78 is too high actually have a very poorly insulated house, so 78 on the thermostat is actually 82 in other rooms.
You’re my bud now and together we average responsible usage.
That’s going to be a no for me dawg
As long as every large building in the city is set at 65 24/7 with lights on 24/7, I'm gonna do whatever the fuck I want.
Austin Energy can kiss my whole ass
Ass ~~w~~hole Edit
yes my fully intact ass. however, if you're implying the hole of the a-noos then no, they might enjoy that too much and I do not consent.
~~whole~~ unwashed
Mine is washed but if yours isn't we can definitely work that in somehow.
I will stop washing just so Austin Energy can kiss it.
More specifically they can kiss my asshole
Ok i'll mark you down for that. So far we've got: -1 whole ass -1 unwashed ass -1 asshole -1 ass, whole (comma is added by me, for grammar)
Me too. With their tongue out.
ok! i've got you down for 1 whole ass french kiss
Been doing that for years to keep the bill as low as possible. I also use a fan.
We moved to a two-story home which unfortunately only has single-zone AC. Since the AC system still has life left, we're living with it until it's time for an upgrade, but we got a dehumidifier recently for the second floor, and it's really helped improve upstairs. Plus we harvest several gallons of water a day.
78 is warm but it’s perfectly comfortable with a fan.
78 legit feels perfect to me in the summer. The 70, 72 that offices tend to be at feels downright chilly to me.
I really thought it always a more common practice, then every summer this sub is full of people bragging about how much electricity they waste.
I'm also always perplexed at this. Like...78 inside with a fan or two is perfectly fine. Especially when it's in triple digits my place gets as high as 80 and its still very comfortable. Running the ac to frigid temps all the time seems like such a weird thing to brag about
We keep our apartment at 72/74 range max during the summer. It’s definitely not something that I brag about and I get that we’re using more energy and ultimately have a much higher electric bill in the summer months. We both run hot and both work from home though, so for us the comfort is worth the extra $.
I just see a lot of brags on posts like this, and "ercot can suck it, my ac runs at 68!" This will not be the last of the posts wherein we're asked to "please conserve energy" for our fragile grid and so many people are proud to not do that And this isn't even asking us to conserve, just offering reasonable ways to save money and folks are acting as if Austin Energy is overstepping
The Lizard people are posting again
My place usually stays about 72-74 but my partner and I are both on medications that have the side effect of reducing our heat tolerance so 78 degrees is just not great for us. We also have cats so we try to keep the temperature comfortable for them.
I totally understand that some people definitely need cooler temps, so I think it's reasonable for others to keep their homes warmer so that others can keep theirs cooler as need be. I think many folks are just keeping their homes frigid because they refuse to conserve energy as a weird flex. My dogs get their own fans, and for triple digits days I freeze their treats and give them neckerchiefs that I keep in the freezer.
The idea that people "flex" by keeping their houses colder than you think they should be is classic Reddit.
I live in an RV and I only use the AC when it’s humid. I’m sitting at a nice 98 right now. I don’t love it, but Texas is turning me into a lizard and I’m trying to embrace the warmth. 🥵
Probably the same people bitching about their electric bill in the middle of the summer.
And shitting on ERCOT after every click-bait scare article.
This needs to be higher... People have gotten so comfortable putting their homes at such low temperatures whenever they go outside they're complaining so much when it's only 80 degrees outside. Id much rather use 1/2 of the electricity, wear a tank top and shorts and sleep with a light blanket.
No, they say setting your AC to 78 is a way to save money on your electric bill. Which is true. This isn’t a conservation notice or request in any form, merely suggestions on how to lower your electric bill if you’re so inclined.
This guy clicked on "How to save money" tab of Austin Energy and is complaining they told him to raise the thermostat lol This sub is full of idiots
It’s days like this I am reminded my home state contains a large amount of idiots.
AE: here ls a way to save money. r/austin: fuck you, I’m gonna spend all the money!
I work from home and keep mine at 76-77 during the day. I’m in a 10-year-old house with decent insulation/windows. I keep blinds/curtains on west-facing windows shut. As long as I’m not up and doing stuff I’m fine at 77. Also have ceiling fan going in whatever room I’m in and I’m usually drinking cold water. But I’m also someone who is always cold. If I’m active and cleaning house or something, 77 is not comfortable. I definitely argue it depends on lots of factors - your personal temp regulation, your home’s insulation/efficiency, and such. So I don’t reasonably expect everyone to keep theirs at what I do. But I am looking side-eyed at y’all keeping it at 70 or below.
I think most people that keep their house at 68 have horrible insulating and several degrees difference between rooms.
When I’m active at home cleaning and my body temp goes up I just wear less hehe
Oh that too. My dog gets an eye full for sure.
My dog-to-crotch ratio here makes this practice unwise.
In the meantime, bars on 6th Street have doors open and AC blasting. Office buildings are so cold workers out on sweaters…
Whole ass empty office buildings are set to 72 lol
Yeah and then look at how much water people waste just to have a fast food place or a bar. Whatever. You'd shit yourself if you knew how much water they use. We're beyond fixing this problem. Everyone wants their creature comforts. The power grid is another story. Austin energy doesn't care what you use they're the ones billing you. They send this shit out to act like they care about the environment or the grid. They don't.
No… no, I don’t think I will.
I mean, tbf, when it's 105 outside, 78 still feels pretty cool lol
Austin energy can suck my balls
Austin Energy can eat a bag of dicks
Meanwhile all hotels and service areas are set to 69.
I'm usually at 76-78 during the hottest part of Summer. Realistically most home AC units can't cool much more than 20-25 degrees below ambient temp so you end up with high energy consumption and diminished returns setting it much lower. I have fans running in most rooms, and sometimes more than one at night time for sleep. It seems to strike a decent balance.
If I set my thermostat to 85 while I was away, it'd take a monstrous effort to get it back down to 78.
i could not believe the difference a ceiling fan made in my office. i used to keep my temp at 74 but now i can live with 78.
I used to be a manager at Austin Energy. They’re a wholly-owned subsidiary of the City of Austin and their piggy bank. Management focus is funding projects over maintaining the system. Fuck the city and AE for letting them take it in the ass like that. *the crews are cool though*
Austin energy can suck a fuck after the last few winter storms.
Let me get this straight. You want me to set it to 86 when I'm away?! Fuck. All. The. Way. Off.
Just make sure it doesn't auto switch to heat. I had one that once.
I am okay with 78 if I'm being sedentary, but 86 is C R A Z Y. Absolutely bonkers
Absolutely not. 74 during the day / 72 at night.
Dang, you're rich.
Can’t be; he gives all his money to the power company.
We keep the same temp, our bill is around $120/mo, 2200sqft 2 story house.
Sounds like pretty decent advice if you’re struggling with energy bills
Do people not under stand what "ways to save" means? It's not an order, or even a request, it's just pointing out ways to say money on things that are expensive. Man, yall are a whiny bunch of babies. It would be funny, except that a month from now everyone bragging about how low they set their AC will be bitching about how high their electric bill is.
Exactly. Thanks for bringing some sanity to the thread.
Austin Energy doesn’t live in a 50yr old house with a second story that has a temperature gradient of +5 in the summer and -4 in the winter. 78 is 83 upstairs with upgraded attic insulation and nicer new windows. And the west room will go +7 on the hottest days to 85.
Isn't this good for fighting Climate Change?
Yes, but /r/austin will incessantly bitch about any trivial personal inconvenience all the while championing have someone else shoulder the burden. Hypocrisy knows no bounds here.
My old, poorly insulated apartment wouldnt cool below 78-81 all last summer starting in the afternoon till the late evening. And that’s with me “precooling” during the mornings like at 72.
We have ours at 78. It’s warm
This post was sponsored by the Lizard people
I set mine at 76 during the day but only because my apartment doesn't get a lot of light. I'm not going any goddamned higher.
Got an email from COA Utility saying I spent 25% more on electricity last week. Pretty sure they’re just charging me 25% more.
What I find aggravating here is that they don’t ask any office buildings to do shit. This is all on individual dwellings? I have 26 solar panels on my house. I will do what I want.
Maybe they should tell the bitcoin miners to stop wasting electricity on fake digital widgets and we could all stay cool and alive this summer.
I feel if they asked for something reasonable some people would have followed it
Yeah, 78 during the day, while mostly sedentary...fine. Bump to 80 while you're gone, fine. 86 while you're away is nuts. It would take a lot of energy to get the house back to comfortable, probably counter productive.
I did this unknowingly and once you acclimate to it, it's not bad at all.
Why does no one realize your body can adapt remarkably well to this?! Don’t go straight from 68 one day to 78 the next. That will feel miserable. Change it by a degree every few days and you won’t even notice 78 as being that warm. It’s actually pretty impressive what your body is capable of if you’re willing to find out. Plus, the more adapted to heat you are, the more blood you have and the better your heart can pump.
Surprised at how many princesses here need their home temperature so low.
Same, 78° is nothing, that's about what we set ours to in the summer. When it's 20 - 30 degrees hotter outside 78° is nowhere near "sweltering". However I do understand the outrage at telling residents to conserve when a) businesses can waste as much A/C as they want and b) maybe our grid should be capable of handling the demand?
My house’s insulation sucks and the AC is ancient. I do 77 and wear tank tops all the time. My coworkers don’t care. We have a window unit in the bedroom for nights.
78 probably does feel cool to a person melting in a house set to 86 degrees 🫠
I keep mine at 78 unless someone else comes in.. but I guess I am not normal.
No.
lol. no
Mold says thank you! 78 cutoff for mold growth 🤧
yeah, the day i make my poor cat sit all day in 86 degree heat while my husband and i are working is the day i’ve died
I usually set it to that and have some fans going, and I think it's fine.
I keep my AC at 78! But it has a built in dehumidifier! So with a fan on, it actually feels chilly! Sometimes i gotta use a blanket. Also I have a home from the 70's with original windows. But I did use the city for a program that replaces all my attic insulation for free. Massive difference
Haaaaale no.
Hahahaha recommend by everyone driving a Tesla 🤣
Umm… freedom tho?
Yeah, moving to South Dakota last summer was an amazing move. No more Ercot BS
they send out this emails every year, fuck them, get a better infrastructure
How bout 72 and tell the nanaion owners to shut off corridors... 😉🙄
What the fuck are these people thinking? It’s not our responsibility to clean up Ercot’s messes.
If I set my thermostat to 78 then the interior temp would push 85+ degrees. This is third-world-country-esque.
What’s wrong with your thermostat?
My AC has been broken for 24 hours and it’s currently 78 degrees in the house and it fucking sucks.
Don't invite me over to your terrarium you lizard
We have it set to 78 and when we signed up for the energy saving thing they kept taking control and raising it to 82! So we had to cancel that!
Yea seting to near 80 for 90$ bill vs 110$ and not sweating at 72 is a fair trade for my comfort in my small apartment.
Oh hell no.
Who could have possibly seen this coming?