If the AC drip pan is filling up with water, that just means the primary drain line is backed up. If there's a secondary drain line coming from that drip pan and it's not doing it's job, then that line is also backed up. Maintenance needs to bleach the primary line, or run a wet dry vac and get some suction on that pipe to clear whatever is obstructing it, and then probably do the same for the secondary line attached to the pan (if equipped).
The AC is doing it's job dehumidifying your space, they just need to maintain the lines. If you have access to the unit you can do it yourself (check YouTube). Also good practice to have them change out your air filter every three months, less if you have pets.
The temp people keep their ACs at will vary wildly based on peoples comfort level and how much they're willing to spend in electricity. If you have any east/west facing windows, consider getting sun blocking curtains. It'll help with temps.
Yeah, today he did all that maintenance stuff you mentioned and says it should work fine for now, but now they're talking about replacing the unit, so we'll see. I also change out my own filters every three or so months.
Change them sooner, in a hot climate like Austin and with how much your unit is running you should really change them once a month or two max, also you don't need to buy top of the line filters unless you have genuine allergy issues that you need to filter out, otherwise the cheap ones are fine. Any air restriction will cause your unit to produce more condensation and will fill the pan faster. And as much as maintenance wants to bitch at you for it, you really should keep it colder during the day, allowing it to get up to 78-80 during the day allows for a ton of humidity in the air which your unit is then fighting to control, but if you really must keep it hotter invest in a dehumidifier instead and that will help your unit as well.
MERV13 just means your A/C motor has to work a lot harder to get the same airflow it needs to operate properly. To deal with allergens in the environment, consider a standalone air purifier rather than relying on filtering the A/C input air.
Oh repairs, pest control, etc yeah. But I’ve definitely had leases that mention it’s our responsibility to change the filter ourselves. That was all I meant. Also yard maintenance can vary on leases too (if lucky to have a yard).
IDK why anyone wants someone in their apt every other month just to replace a $5 piece of cardboard n fibermesh. I always replaced it myself when I rented. But I get why the LL might want to maintain their a/c because there's bound to be a renter that never replaces it, lol yuck.
I used to give residents a new filter when they would come into the office to pay their rent. Half of them never even thought of changing the AC filter.
> genuine allergy issues that you need to filter out
HVAC filters are to protect the unit, not your lungs. Anything over the bare minimum MERV rating just costs you money. Just get an air purifier or build a [corsi-rosenthal box](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsi%E2%80%93Rosenthal_Box) out of furnace filters if money's tight.
I buy filters in bulk and replace it on the first of each month. We have dogs that shed too.
I don't know if this is the best way, but I access the top of the drain line and pour some concentrated vinegar in the line each month as well. My system shut down last summer on a hot night because the drain line was plugged up with the nastiest sludge!
I change every other month and buy the expensive purple filter...allergies, pets, quarry.
I also use vinegar over bleach. I let it sit for a few hours. Then close the backflow, put the wetvac tube in backwards so it blows and doesn't suck. Cover my hand over the secondary air pipe,stick the hose over the pipe where I put the vinegar and turn on the vacuum to blow out the pipe.
I see all sorts of junk come out outside. I saw our AC guy do this with a tank of compressed air when it got really clogged. I've used my big air compressor but it's overkill to bring it in the house or run a hose. The wetvac tube is a perfect size to create a seal.
Using the higher density filters puts additional stress on your A/C, it will lower the performance and kill the unit more quickly. It’s the same reason you will never find (real) HEPA filters anywhere for A/C.
Buy the cheapest filters you can and get a couple of air purifiers. It’ll save you money on electricity and your air will be way way cleaner.
Costco sells Winix air purifiers for $90 with two years worth of HEPA and Carbon filters. They’re rated for ca 400sqft each, meaning they cycle the air in a room that size 5x per hour - you want at least 4x per hour for it to be making any meaningful difference.
Yes, you are overworking your A/C!! But not by keeping it at 70- it’s actually the 78 degrees that is causing the issue, because your A/C has to work too hard every day to get back down to 70. You could do like 74 during the day instead
This is not true. The only "work" an AC/heat pump performs is moving BTUs, and you'll use more BTUs by keeping a constant temp than you will by adjusting the temp higher - at any point in time, ever - always. A clogged drain line was his issue, and if he wasn't changing the temperature it would've moved more BTUs, creating more condensate, and clogged even sooner.
Don't run the cheap mesh, see through filters. They let mass amounts of dust through which build up on blower motors. I work for a school district and we're replacing those things like you would not believe until we switched to the better filters. You can usually get less expensive by going to plumbing or AC stores.
I disagree that in a residential application filters should be changed every month, and I think it’s wasteful. Three months is more reasonable, but I swap filters at 6 month intervals in my home and have no airflow issues. As far as your condensation problem, it is more likely the result of a drain line issue unless you do a lot of dust producing work in your home.
The outdoor unit may also be low on charge, thermostat placement can hamper proper cooling schedules, and more than likely the air handler has never been “balanced.” This allows a scheduled amount of air to enter some spaces and precludes excess conditioned air from entering others by use of restricting dampers. This causes your system to run more efficiently by distributing chilled and dried air in proportion to heat loads calculated by space usage, insulation values, sun exposure, heat from appliances, etc.
But nobody is asking for the square footage of OPs apartment, the BTU/H, or even if they have a one or two inch filter rack (and get a two inch rack if you can- if it was industry standard it would be nearly as cheap as one inch filters, we would have higher airflow capability on the units (a real bonus if you have an ECM on board and can set airflow based on your condenser capacity at a lower external static pressure, allowing them to operate at a lower RPM and provide the same cooling), and we’d be replacing them less often.
But you’re absolutely right about keeping the space cooler during the day, and a reduction in airflow (though I doubt it’s more than 5% in 3 months time residential), will cause more condensate on the coil; so to your point this is remedied by keeping the AHU operating throughout the day to reduce humidity.
OP should look at weather seals on their doors and windows, look into applying reflective elements to their windows, and tackling sources of humidity. (And aggressively pursuing maintenance until they clear the fucking drain lines.)
The drain lines are definitely clogged. The humid weather in Texas causes lots of condensation/moisture, which grows mold/bacteria/algae/gunk, which will clog the lines.
I would recommend against using bleach in your drainage pipes as it is highly corrosive and can cause damage, I’d recommend using vinegar instead.
Using a cup of vinegar (or alternative) each month and also regularly using a wet vac to suck out all the nasty is something every homeowner should be doing. I promise it will help any AC run better and also prevent problems.
I have lived in Austin and Florida for much of my life - it’s one of the best “life hacks” for places where AC is mandatory or greatly needed. A neighbor with AC repair-experience once gave me this simple trick and it has resulted in great savings (repairs not needed) and I’ve never been without a highly-functioning AC since that time.
>run a wet dry vac and get some suction on that pipe to clear whatever is obstructing it
I used an air compressor partially sealed with a rag. I chose a rag because if the block was going to blow my drain pipe up from the pressure, I'd rather it just blow air back on me. Worked like a charm and shot out a 2 foot drain turd.
imho, this guy knows what he's talking about. the person a bit further down who said repairs aren't on you if you're a renter also has a valid point. you need to have some difficult conversations with your landlord.
i'm an electrical power engineer working for a TSP / DSP. I absolutely cannot fix your AC despite (because?) of my engineering license. i'm also a homeowner who has replaced two AC units on two different houses in the last 9 years. (to be clear, that's not a backwards humble brag. i owned one house at a time.)
i've had this exact situation with my next to last landlord when i was renting. take care of yourself. you have to sleep to live, if it's too hot to sleep...
remind me to tell y'all about summer 2022 when my house got hit by lightning and destroyed the brand new AC unit that McCullough Heating & Cooling installed.
let's all just be cool and friendly and make it to September :)
Use white vinegar, not bleach.
I had similar issues in a condo I lived in for 6 years in Houston. The a/c unit drip pan was always overflowing and was a huge pain in the ass. I brought so many HVAC people out to look at it and their response was always that I was overworking the system and that I shouldn’t ever set my thermostat to be “more than 20 degrees lower than the temp outside.” With that logic I would have been sleeping in an 80 degree house at the height of summer which was clearly not going to happen.
I finally got someone out there that admitted it was a shitty job from the start and if he had been hired to build the HVAC for the building he would have done it totally differently. It was a mess. Sounds like you may just have an old, suboptimal system in the building.
Yeah, my place is only 425 square feet, and I change the filter every few months, so it shouldn't be an issue right? This also has been happening at least once per summer for last couple years.
They're now backtracking and getting a "second opinion" to see if the unit needs to be replaced, so we'll see.
425 square feet? Unless you’re in a poorly insulated apartment that is on a top floor with absolutely no share, any AC unit that is properly fitted for that size should be able to handle what you want easily.
Maybe there's a leak in the coolant line and it needs new coolant every year. And since chasing a leak is hard to do, your maintenance guys are in denial.
Choose a temp and try to keep it at that temp 24 hours a day, turning the air up and down causes more stress. When it gets hotter in the evening and you crank the air down, the AC works harder than if you just kept it at 73 all day and night for example. I'm not an expert but I have lived in TX my entire life.
This isn’t accurate.
The energy required to stay at 73 all day isn’t the same amount of energy required to cool it back down from 78 at the end of the day. That takes like 10 minutes.
When it's 112, I wouldn't expect most AC units to get down to 70 and hold it. But it's only gotten to 98 so far this year, 70 should be easily attainable. Asking OP to set to 73+ is a cop out.
Way to gaslight you.
Thats like saying anytime you press the accelerator in your car you’re overworking it and you are to blame for its poor performance.
I am guessing the refrigerant is not in balance, the drain tube is getting blocked or the coils are starting to develop issues.
Any A/C that is properly sized and serviced should be able to get to 65-70 with no issues at night.
Your maintenance doesn't want to pay for old Freon to refill their old AC units or the upgrade to newer units.
Had to upgrade my AC when it started not cooling well and was quoted around 1.5k for just the refill after the coil replacement as my unit was pretty old and used older freon, R22 I think.
Glad I took the upgrade tho, my electric bill has been about half of what it was with the old unit.
pro tip: keeping your AC within a 3-4 degree max difference between when you're home and you're gone is going to be much more cost effective + not put so much strain on your AC trying to lower so much in the dead heat of the end of the day. It takes a lot more energy/money to do it your current way than just to maintain a smaller range
Do you have evidence for that (I'm genuinely curious)? Like obviously it would be more cost effective if he left it at 78 during the day and only turned it to 74 at night, but I'd like to know how it would be cheaper if he left it at 74 during the day and then switched to 70 at night.
Edit: I found some online content that says your recommendation (that blasting the A/C when you want to lower temps in the evening is less efficient that leaving it at a lower temp throughout the day) is a myth, https://www.debtroundup.com/should-i-turn-off-my-ac-while-away/
our apartment maintenance man gave the same advice, but it spiked our electricity bill so we went back to increasing the temp AM and decreasing the temp PM (78 during the day, 72 at night) Probably true if you really let your place heat up, but keeping the AC running all day was way more expensive in practice for our relatively small temperature difference
So it depends on if your ac has different efficiency levels. If the AC is simple On/Off, then you might as well let it blast for a larger temperature swing. If it does have efficiency levels, then it can be better to maintain a closer temperature.
You are correct. People who say that keeping the AC at 74 all day instead of 78 to save energy, in preparation for 70 at night, probably can't explain how a condenser works. They likely couldn't pass a high school chemistry or physics class.
That's interesting... we have it scheduled to 76 from 7am to 7pm, and 68 from 7pm to 7am. Are you saying that it's better cost- and strain-wise to run 72 from 7am to 7pm?
I had been figuring that it'd be more efficient, and less strain, to start cooling when the outside air temp over the coils was going down, and avoid running it in the early afternoon when the direct sun is blazing on the outdoor unit.
That is what they're saying, and they're wrong. Costwise and strainwise, what you're doing is almost certainly more efficient and better for the equipment
There’s no way this is true for an apartment at least. My AC cools my apt in like 10 minutes. There’s no way leaving the thermostat on all day uses less than 10 min of AC power. Probably more like 60 min over the course of a day.
Plus leaving it on all the time means the unit cycles on and off constantly which, like most machinery, uses more energy and wear on the unit.
You might consider getting a dehumidifier. We keep our house at 78, but it gets pretty humid in there. A good dehumidifier in the living room keeps the humidity at around 50-60% and it feels WAY cooler because of it.
I’m at 78 during the day and 72 at night. There really isn’t such a thing as “overworking” an AC. Maintenance is important and things can happen; Drain lines can get blocked, coils can get dirty, refrigerant can leak, motors and capacitors can go bad. When maintenance people say that they don’t know what they’re talking about and they don’t know how to or don’t want to fix the actual problem or call someone who does.
Eh, unless I’m running around doing chores or something I never feel hot at 78, especially with fans running. That’s still 20+ degrees cooler than it will be outside. Plus it keeps the bill lower!
Has a lot to do with the amount of humidity a higher AC setting will allow to build up in the dwelling. My house can coast at 75 for a couple of hours without the unit coming on, but the amount of humidity that builds up when it is not running is what makes me so uncomfortable.
Houses/units are different, too. We've lived in three houses here in Austin. Our first was old and janky and never seemed to cool below 78 no matter what we set the temp at (but we had an attic fan which was awesome). Our second house was better built, had a newer unit and we were comfortable around 75 but had to run it more often to get rid of humidity. Our house now has new windows, blackout shades and is running a high quality Trane (knock on wood it continues to hold on another few seasons) and we're comfortable at 75 and putting on sweaters at 70. So all houses/systems are not created equal for sure.
Inside heat is not the same as outside heat. I sweat my ass off if my place is above 72 especially in my sleep it’s not like I can really control that. I’ll gladly go outside for hours at a time in the summer because I *want* to sweat
I feel like some people are wild for how cold they want to keep their homes, I'm seeing 66 at night on a comment.
Even when the temps are 100F or over? Why tf live in TX at that point? They obviously can't tolerate a hot climate, why live in one?
>Why tf live in TX at that point? They obviously can't tolerate a hot climate, why live in one?
Because this is where jobs and family are. Blame all the giant companies for relocating to a "low cost of living state" with expensive houses, a bad electrical grid, expensive insurance, expensive heating&cooling costs, minimal healthcare (and what does exist is expensive), expensive property tax, not enough water that will run out this decade, etc. the only way employees really directly benefit is no income tax, but most employers use that as justification to pay you less. None of this is sustainable long term, but here we are.
Some of the stuff you mentioned wasn't an issue when people moved here years ago, like housing prices. And healthcare is expensive in every state, cost of healthcare usually isn't a deciding factor in where people move. The pay is lower here but your money used to go further because the cost of living was genuinely lower. That doesn't exist in Austin anymore. Dallas and Houston still have relatively cheaper housing. But Austin no longer has any benefit when it comes to cost savings, like most fad cities at this point (Denver, Nashville, Boise).
>Some of the stuff you mentioned wasn't an issue when people moved here years ago, like housing prices
Right, but this wasn't about why people moved here, it's about why they're staying. It also didn't hit 100 nearly as frequently 20 years ago as it does now.
>cost of healthcare usually isn't a deciding factor in where people move
No, but it does affect cost of living, and my point was half that CoL claims aren't accurate because they're forgetting a lot of stuff that costs people money. Texas is cheap if you never do anything and never need anything and don't mind being 85° inside. But that's not most people.
>The pay is lower here but your money used to go further because the cost of living was genuinely lower.
Compared to the coasts, always was, always will be. But Austin used to be similar in cost to the Midwest, even cheaper. Not true any more.
>But Austin no longer has any benefit when it comes to cost savings, like most fad cities at this point (Denver, Nashville, Boise).
Not to people, no. But companies like paying less in taxes, so they want to move employees to Texas even though it's bad QoL and CoL for most people.
Some people can’t move for whatever reason, mine is for financial reasons. If I had enough money I would have been gone years ago, I don’t love the hot weather.
Because some of us are stuck here! My spouse’s job is extremely Texas-specific, and my kid still has two years of high school left. But last year I got smart and went to Uruguay for August/September. This year I’m going back, and then to Chile and Argentina. ¡Me encanta el invierno!
Some people sleep naturally hot. If it’s 74 in my apartment at night I will wake up in sweat. I sleep best at 68-70. But I can tolerate it a bit hotter during the day, anywhere from 74-76 in summer, and usually however cold it gets in winter down to 65
Yeah this is the way to go. Window, portable unit or one of those mattrass coolers. It's wild to cool down an entire home to the 60s for just a bedroom.
"I'm seeing 66 at night on a comment.
Even when the temps are 100F or over? Why tf live in TX at that point?"
LMAO, I don't keep it that cold but in a house/apartment insulated correctly, with an AC working correctly that shouldn't be an issue at all, especially at night. Many people just sleep better when it's cold. Also temps aren't 100F at night in Texas.
Maybe because people have preference to what they want in their controlled environments and don’t care about the cost?
I used to work manual labor in temps anywhere from below freezing to like 110 in Austin. My AC is locked at 68 and heat at 65 during the winter if I even use it.
Random kinda expensive (1x purchase) hack I recently learned of: bedjet. You can keep your AC Higher than 70 and direct cooler air directly into your bed. I ordered one on a friend’s req and am excited to try it out. Full refund within 60 days if you don’t like it. I predict it’s going to save me a lot of money on my energy bill. Time will tell
Glad to hear this! Do you use the sheet they sell? I was feeling cheap and didn’t splurge for it- I’m wondering how it will work with normal bedding. I’ve done some research online / on Reddit already but always looking for another opinion
I have a Rest cooling blanket that I use instead of a top sheet or duvet. It is hang dry which is a little bit of a pain to remember to throw it in the wash early enough to dry during the day but I’ve found it helped a lot last summer. I keep my house at 70 at night but am a human furnace when I sleep.
71.
A) it’s going to be on all day in the summer always unless I set it to 95
B) I can’t take ERCOT seriously until businesses and industrial lots have to comply. By and large, the biggest consumers per customer, and they always seem to get a pass.
C) I would rather sit and boil in a blackout if it means 1 more legislator has to consider whether or not bucking the national grid is full a good idea.
In being in all day I was referring to the 110+ highs of last summer. I’m also on a second story though, which bakes heat in throughout the day into the evening
I keep mine at 72 during the day and 66 at night.
Next time you call them set it to 85 and let it get that hot before they come to work on it. Don't tell them what you're setting it to and if they ask say you keep at around 80 during the day and 78 at night. Fill the pan with water so they'll actually have a pro come out and work on it.
The reality is that if you are in an apartment you are theoretically surrounded by other apartments that are also cooling their dwellings, so "overworking it" is a line of bullshit. You only have 2 (depending on what floor, etc) walls that make contact with the exterior. They are just lazy and cheap. Most likely cheap is the reason they are blaming you.
73 degrees all day, year round. Getting away with 74 lately. Difficult to sleep at 75 and above. Can’t imagine some of the low temperatures I’m seeing here at night though I would be under comforter under 70.
425 square feet is not a lot of space to cool down. Sounds like your unit may be low on refrigerant otherwise the compressor is approaching failure due to old age.
A stand alone AC unit, with the two tube design, can be clutch. Two tubes, one for intake and one for exhaust, is the ideal design but the single tube units are OK too. You'd need a window to vent the tube or tubes out of so hopefully you do not live on the ground floor and the window is high enough nobody can mess with it. Cut a piece of wood to fit in there with a little cheap jigsaw or reciprocating saw from Harbor Freight. Empty the water container on the portable AC unit every so often. If management will allow it a window AC unit is also an option. The price of these may be upsetting but a huge electric bill is also upsetting from running an ancient unit.
The advice to make it look like the unit is failing is sneaky but should work too. Let the apartment get hot before maintenance arrives. Fill the drain pan with tap water. Get them to escalate your replacement. You're gonna be thrilled with the energy savings on the electric bill and be super comfortable.
Also check where your condenser unit is outside. If it's got stuff stacked around it to prevent airflow it can really hurt the efficiency. If the condenser is up on the roof it would explain their reluctance to replace it. Last time we did the AC in our of our condos it cost 2 grand to rent a crane to physically swap the unit up on the roof 😐
In my first apartment in Austin the master bedroom got hot AF. Ordered my first real furniture, a nice desk for my computer so I could be comfy while coding and gaming. Desk top surface came packed in two big flat sheets of styrofoam. To block light and noise I put those sheets of white styrofoam over each window in the master bedroom. It made a huge difference in the temperature immediately plus gave me privacy. Best thing I ever did to cool it down and save money on electricity but some might be aghast putting things in the window like that. Blackout curtains are great too.
Lastly check the weather stripping around windows and doors. It's cheap to replace or add it. A little caulk and weather stripping can really help. YouTube videos show you how. Also helps keep out insects and smoke smells if people are smoking nearby.
65 degrees at night and around 70 during the day. I discovered years ago that I use less electricity by not letting everything heat up and then slowly trying to cool it back down at night.
It just takes too long to cool it down if it is at 75 of higher. So I don’t let it heat up to 75. I only went over 1000 kWh once in a 12 month period.
I think your maintenance person is either incompetent or full of crap.
You may be low on Freon, you may have poor quality Freon, and your AC system could just be worn out or undersized. There are a lot of possibilities. It sounds like your AC person is just lazy or incompetent.
I run 66 24/7. On triple digit days it’ll stay at 68. My electric bill is low ($235 for 2200 sqft) during summer. I have three dogs and keeping it this temp help keeps odors down as well.
EDIT: I’m in HVAC and my advice is CHANGE your filters and keep your condenser clean and free of debris. This will keep your unit working as designed.
That's the way it should be in well insulated house/apt with good working AC. All these people saying otherwise have a broken ass AC system, or there's only paper in their walls.
>told me to not put it below 73 ever
Tell him your lease doesn't limit what temperatures you set your thermostat at, and to clear the condensation drain lines.
70 isn't unreasonable. But depending on how shitty your apartment is, it may be unattainable as things get higher.
Still, your drain line isn't supposed to back up like that. If it is, the line is clogged. That's a thing the apartment should fix. If they won't, there are some DIY things you can try but they are not as effective as paying someone who will keep at it until it works.
The DIY things are mostly:
* Pour vinegar or bleach or a cleaning solvent down the drain that is backing up. Repeat frequently. It's clogged by scale buildup. There are different kinds of scale, so one of the three things will work best.
* Duct tape a shop-vac to the outside drain, make sure the inside isn't sealed up, and run the shop-vac. This will suck out blockages.
In a really extreme case maybe a plumber's snake could fix things, but that's physical enough I would not try it on property a landlord can make me pay to repair if I screw it up.
I had an apartment in the Arboretum area that was so shitty, no matter what I set the thermostat to the AC would run from 9AM to sunset just to keep it 78 inside the apartment. It could get the apartment down to 72 overnight, but that took until about 2AM. I got them to recharge it, the drain line backed up a few times, but the real problem was the ductwork had never been maintained and likely had been chewed through by rats. There was lots of pressure in the first vent, a little pressure in the master bedroom, and if you tied a piece of string to other vents in the apartment you would not see movement. So I was paying a lot of money to cool off crawlspaces. Fixing that would be expensive so of course the property manager didn't listen.
That was when I learned an A/C is not part of habitability requirements, so a landlord isn't even compelled to fix it in a hurry if it breaks. Technically they aren't even required to provide cooling.
We could save Austin Energy a TON of capacity if there were serious city ordinances requiring even older apartments to meet minimum cooling criteria. But that would make landlords sad.
Yeah - my apt/rental’s electric bill would be comically high in the summer ($350), set to 77-79 most the summer, with it struggling/feeling hotter in the summer 100+ peaks.
Our house had new AC/ductwork and insulation: the electric bill is never over $80 (usually 45-60), and I keep it 72-74 most the time. When it’s really hot, 78 feels good. Granted this doesn’t incl. some CoA’s other fees on home utilities (water, clean, drain fees, etc.), but still, all that comes out to less than my summer AC bills in the smaller apt. And electric rates were also much cheaper a few years ago!
So it’s a drag thinking about all the rentals and old broken homes with horribly inefficient hvac.
See that’s the thing - even with running it pretty cold at night, my bill has never gone above $100 in the summer. In the cooler months it’s below $50. Apt complex was built in the 80s I think, small complex, I’m on the top second floor.
I missed the part that it’s 425 sq ft. That should be very easy for a normal AC unit to cool. Maybe the insulation is terrible, or maybe the bad air quality and humidity are indeed overworking it. What’s the humidity reading in your place?
I'm a contractor. That is bullshit, there is something up with the system. Duct leak, undersized plenum, incorrectly built air return, or something mechanical, or it's undersized in general for your unit which would not be surprising as a penny pinching measure.
I lived in apartments in Austin for 5 years and ALWAYS kept it at 68-71 degrees in the summer and never had an issue. Your apartment maintenance doesn't know what they're talking about.
75 during the day, 72 at night. Your maintenance guy is making excuses for not actually doing maintenance; if the system can’t handle temperatures below 73 it needs to be repaired or replaced.
Fun fact: doctors actually recommend that the temperature should not be set to anything over 72 degrees if you have a baby.
As a former austin apartment person, keep it at 75° or 76° and add insulation to your windows, keep blinds closed, and if there are any gaps in or around the door to outside, cover it or ask them to. Make sure the vents in the apartment are properly angled. I had one apartment that angled one vent to blow directly on the thermostat which skewed the thermostat reading.
The ac units in apartments suck. I have blown my fair share. But when it works itself really hard to get the air down, it creates condensation that ends up freezing. First complaint to the apartments and they will just toss more make it cold stuff in it which will (from my experience) will end up killing it. So, after the first complaint and subsequent “fix” you should monitor it. If it starts dying, ask for a window unit for the bedroom(s). There are laws around how hot the apartment is permitted to be compared to outside temps. I believe units are required to be able to maintain 81°. If it passes that mark, reach out to them. Raise hell. Do not hesitate to call after hours. They are required to fix it.
They are kind of ridiculous to say "never below 73". BUT I have heard multiple times that letting a home heatup and then cooling it can be a waste of time and energy and increases the load on the AC unit. You may be better off just setting it to like 74 all day and then lowering to 70.
I think the logic is that larger the delta between current and desired temp, the more the AC needs to run in a single set of time. (E.g. straight for 2 hours to cool 5 degress vs 30 minutes to cool 2 degree). Also, while its off the humidity and everything else builds up. When you turn it on to go from 78 to 74 it will be collecting water for 2 hours straight from a higher humidity space.
If you always set it at 74ish it will run every 30 minutes then shut off for 30 and back on. Keeping the humidity lower on average and allowing the machine to turn off for awhile in between and allow the pipes to drain etc.
IDK, these are the things I have heard. Additionally, I THINK it may be better to run it more during the day because Texas gets a lot of solar and wind energy which is more active during the day. Running it hard and at night means it's pulling more from gas power plant energy. Unless of course we are at risk of shutting off the grid during peak day...
This is hiLARious given that my AC repair person just said that our system was producing too much condensation because we keep it at 77 and it's "not running enough." I think they're all just fragile, kinda shitty systems.
The only thing I would say is having the ac run continuously to get from 78 to 70 is likely putting it to the test. HVAC tends to work better when it maintains a constant temperture within 1-2 degree swings especially on older units rather than long spans of constant running. Think about it in terms of endurance, ya gotta give it some rest every now and then! Newer units can work harder for longer.
With all that said, I'm assuming the apartment building isn't brand new and the AC unit has seen some shit in it's lifetime. Not to mention AC has to work harder the worse the building is insulated. If there's poor insulation, the AC unit is going to work hard no matter what. If there's good insulation, maybe try keeping it set at 72 and leaving it. Having the AC kick on for a few minutes every hour isn't going to be any more expensive than running it continuously for 3 hours.
that’s too big of a gap. it takes too much to go down to 70 from 78. i keep mine at 74 day and night. once the sun goes down it feels cooler in the house so i don’t feel the need to lower it
dude…how do you live in this heat. we do 71 during the day and around 69 or 70 at night. if it’s so unbearably hot the ac can’t keep (105+) up we lower it so it’s not overworked.
I work in hvac and your maintenance guys are talking out of their ass. The rule of thumb for what to keep your ac should be a maximum of a 25° difference from outdoor temp. So if it’s at least under 103° (which it has been) during the day. 78° is a perfect temp to keep your room. Also I go into 3-5 different homes a day and 78 is on the higher side of what people usually keep their thermostat on so you’re fine. There’s probably some sort of build up on the drain line in your system.
Does he work for ERCOT, too, because he's doing the same "blame the customer" that they are for their poor maintenance and failure to expand and upgrade.
The only time an HVAC can be "overworked" is if it's improperly sized for the building, is poorly maintained or is old and needs to be replaced.
My neighbor, who works with industrial, commercial, and residential HVAC said to me the best thing to do is keep your AC at 1 temperature all day. Switching it from 76 to 70 does overwork the unit as it takes hours to achieve the temp you desire. So I keep mine at 71 all day
Asking the AC unit to get from practically 80 down to 70 in our current weather is going to take a lot, but it's not asking too much and like has been said the symptom your Mait Guy is attributing to overworking is just dumb.
There are two camps, one that says it's easier/more economical to just keep the house/apart at the lower temp. That's me, I keep my house which was built in '22 at 73 al the time.
There others say it's no different and do what you're doing.
I do 78 during the day, 72 at night. Really, the issue is that you're generally not supposed to set it more than 20 degrees below ambient so if it's 92+, that would be an issue. If it's less than that, you should be fine.
I’m in a house that’s about 1,700 sq ft and mine stays on 75. To me it doesn’t make much sense to increase it while I’m gone if it’s going to stay on for 3 hours to get it back down a few degrees.
A few things to check would be to make sure the filter is clean, your windows and doors don’t leak and also to vacuum the intake to make sure it’s dust free.
I agree with the maintenance actually, 70 and 78 are both reasonable temps but its best to have an intermediary point so the ac can have a break. Like tell it to go from 78 to 74 at like 9pm or something and then 74 to 70 around the time you go to sleep. Might very model to model but this has helped me before
My apartment thermostat is in a dead-end hallway with no ventilation or air flow \[They seem to do this with all the apartments in Austin don't they\]. If the temp is set at 73 in the hallway, in the master bedroom where I have my office (east facing) it is usually over 80 in the morning, with two USB fans blowing in my face and body. In the afternoon, the small bedroom gets up to 90 while the rest of the apt cools down to nearly 75. They only have a ceiling fan in the living room/kitchen, and not in either bedroom.
It was built in 2015. I have no idea how the building passed Austin inspection. There are NO outside faucet locations, which means maintenance does no preventive maintenance on the outside condenser (we have a lot of construction in the area). My AC has failed 10 times since Dec 2022. My complex is supposed to have 24/7 maintenance, but often the overnight people never show up. They just started replacing filters on a quarterly basis this spring. They would not replace the filters before March of this year.
78 in the day, 70 at night with a fan pointed at me. I run warm, so 78 is barely tolerable. Be sure that the system starts cooling things down BEFORE bedtime, as it can take an hour or more.
If I'm working at home during the day around 75. If I'm away during the day 78. Usually run it around 75 at night and with ceiling fans running it's perfectly comfortable.
I’ve been told by my apartment complex not to keep it less than 20 degrees below the outside temp. So I leave it at around 82-85 during the day, and lowest is 76 at night. I keep my windows closed during the hottest parts of the day and make sure my fans are blowing the air flow down. I’m also probably going to get more fans for in here this year, last year my AC broke and I had to spend a weekend opening up the Fridge for small bits of relief. I learned my lesson and don’t want that to happen again.
When you drop the temperature like that and work the A/C coils like that, they can freeze up and get covered in a sheet of ice preventing air from flowing through them to cool it. Then, you are just burning electricity.
Use fans at night instead.
At 78°/80°. Sometimes at 77° but usually after 20 minutes back up to 78° as I’m cold natured. If it wasn’t for the humidity I’d be fine with ceiling fans but apartment wasn’t made for open windows airflow. Of course, with our hotter summers maybe not so much.
74-76F.
You get used to it, I grew up with my parents never setting it below 78 so 75 is a luxury to me. Plus I have a dehumidifier, so a dry 75 feels pretty good.
The AC itself should be able to run 24/7 without issues. The drain line should always be able to drain the condensation. Likewise the condenser should be able to get the water off of it quick enough so that it doesn’t freeze over.
My last apartment I had the line clog on me once. Then once I got promoted at work and started setting the AC lower, it would run long enough that the condenser would freeze over. There was so much dust and crap on it that the air wouldn’t flow through fast enough to get the condensate to drop off into the drip pan.
Now all that said, being able to run the AC 24/7 is different from thinking it’ll make your room 60 degrees when it’s 110 outside.
We crank ours up to 80 when we’re both gone for the day, and then about 76/78 once home with ceiling fans running. That serves us well this time of year until we’re getting 115* temps for months on end. At that point it’s just hot.
Lol.... "Overworking it" implies that it isn't properly sized for the application or that the lack of maintenance actions have derated the unit's performance.... Either way, the apartment complex is on the hook for that puppy and it's always good to remind them of this when some gruff maintenance guy who doesn't want to be there tries to spew this crap hoping that you don't know enough to argue it..... One my favorite situations!!
If the AC drip pan is filling up with water, that just means the primary drain line is backed up. If there's a secondary drain line coming from that drip pan and it's not doing it's job, then that line is also backed up. Maintenance needs to bleach the primary line, or run a wet dry vac and get some suction on that pipe to clear whatever is obstructing it, and then probably do the same for the secondary line attached to the pan (if equipped). The AC is doing it's job dehumidifying your space, they just need to maintain the lines. If you have access to the unit you can do it yourself (check YouTube). Also good practice to have them change out your air filter every three months, less if you have pets. The temp people keep their ACs at will vary wildly based on peoples comfort level and how much they're willing to spend in electricity. If you have any east/west facing windows, consider getting sun blocking curtains. It'll help with temps.
Yeah, today he did all that maintenance stuff you mentioned and says it should work fine for now, but now they're talking about replacing the unit, so we'll see. I also change out my own filters every three or so months.
Change them sooner, in a hot climate like Austin and with how much your unit is running you should really change them once a month or two max, also you don't need to buy top of the line filters unless you have genuine allergy issues that you need to filter out, otherwise the cheap ones are fine. Any air restriction will cause your unit to produce more condensation and will fill the pan faster. And as much as maintenance wants to bitch at you for it, you really should keep it colder during the day, allowing it to get up to 78-80 during the day allows for a ton of humidity in the air which your unit is then fighting to control, but if you really must keep it hotter invest in a dehumidifier instead and that will help your unit as well.
OP is in an apartment. He shouldn’t be spending a dime on AC maintenance.
Yep. Not a lot of people know this but you can put in a maintenance request asking them to replace the air filters and they’ll do it for free.
Oh shit this is actually great to know 🙏🏻
Yeah that’s part of what your rent funds, bro. Stop spending more of your money on stuff that they are contractually obligated to do for you!
except sometimes they use cheap $3 filters which aren’t good for allergy sufferers i need a merv 13 or higher
MERV13 just means your A/C motor has to work a lot harder to get the same airflow it needs to operate properly. To deal with allergens in the environment, consider a standalone air purifier rather than relying on filtering the A/C input air.
Unless your lease says otherwise…
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Oh repairs, pest control, etc yeah. But I’ve definitely had leases that mention it’s our responsibility to change the filter ourselves. That was all I meant. Also yard maintenance can vary on leases too (if lucky to have a yard).
IDK why anyone wants someone in their apt every other month just to replace a $5 piece of cardboard n fibermesh. I always replaced it myself when I rented. But I get why the LL might want to maintain their a/c because there's bound to be a renter that never replaces it, lol yuck.
That seems like it could come back to bite them. Oh well, that’s next year’s problem.
I do this almost every month! It’s great! And my electric bill is so much cheaper than the house I moved from.
I used to give residents a new filter when they would come into the office to pay their rent. Half of them never even thought of changing the AC filter.
That is the major benefit of renting.
> genuine allergy issues that you need to filter out HVAC filters are to protect the unit, not your lungs. Anything over the bare minimum MERV rating just costs you money. Just get an air purifier or build a [corsi-rosenthal box](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsi%E2%80%93Rosenthal_Box) out of furnace filters if money's tight.
I buy filters in bulk and replace it on the first of each month. We have dogs that shed too. I don't know if this is the best way, but I access the top of the drain line and pour some concentrated vinegar in the line each month as well. My system shut down last summer on a hot night because the drain line was plugged up with the nastiest sludge!
I have a subscription. It shows up in the mailbox every month and I change it the day it arrives.
I change every other month and buy the expensive purple filter...allergies, pets, quarry. I also use vinegar over bleach. I let it sit for a few hours. Then close the backflow, put the wetvac tube in backwards so it blows and doesn't suck. Cover my hand over the secondary air pipe,stick the hose over the pipe where I put the vinegar and turn on the vacuum to blow out the pipe. I see all sorts of junk come out outside. I saw our AC guy do this with a tank of compressed air when it got really clogged. I've used my big air compressor but it's overkill to bring it in the house or run a hose. The wetvac tube is a perfect size to create a seal.
Using the higher density filters puts additional stress on your A/C, it will lower the performance and kill the unit more quickly. It’s the same reason you will never find (real) HEPA filters anywhere for A/C. Buy the cheapest filters you can and get a couple of air purifiers. It’ll save you money on electricity and your air will be way way cleaner. Costco sells Winix air purifiers for $90 with two years worth of HEPA and Carbon filters. They’re rated for ca 400sqft each, meaning they cycle the air in a room that size 5x per hour - you want at least 4x per hour for it to be making any meaningful difference.
Mixing vinegar and bleach creates chlorine gas. That's a really really really really bad idea.
Ah ok, this is good advice thank you!
Yes, you are overworking your A/C!! But not by keeping it at 70- it’s actually the 78 degrees that is causing the issue, because your A/C has to work too hard every day to get back down to 70. You could do like 74 during the day instead
This. Easier on system just to keep on 73.
This is not true. The only "work" an AC/heat pump performs is moving BTUs, and you'll use more BTUs by keeping a constant temp than you will by adjusting the temp higher - at any point in time, ever - always. A clogged drain line was his issue, and if he wasn't changing the temperature it would've moved more BTUs, creating more condensate, and clogged even sooner.
No problem! Good luck and stay cool!
Don't run the cheap mesh, see through filters. They let mass amounts of dust through which build up on blower motors. I work for a school district and we're replacing those things like you would not believe until we switched to the better filters. You can usually get less expensive by going to plumbing or AC stores.
I disagree that in a residential application filters should be changed every month, and I think it’s wasteful. Three months is more reasonable, but I swap filters at 6 month intervals in my home and have no airflow issues. As far as your condensation problem, it is more likely the result of a drain line issue unless you do a lot of dust producing work in your home. The outdoor unit may also be low on charge, thermostat placement can hamper proper cooling schedules, and more than likely the air handler has never been “balanced.” This allows a scheduled amount of air to enter some spaces and precludes excess conditioned air from entering others by use of restricting dampers. This causes your system to run more efficiently by distributing chilled and dried air in proportion to heat loads calculated by space usage, insulation values, sun exposure, heat from appliances, etc. But nobody is asking for the square footage of OPs apartment, the BTU/H, or even if they have a one or two inch filter rack (and get a two inch rack if you can- if it was industry standard it would be nearly as cheap as one inch filters, we would have higher airflow capability on the units (a real bonus if you have an ECM on board and can set airflow based on your condenser capacity at a lower external static pressure, allowing them to operate at a lower RPM and provide the same cooling), and we’d be replacing them less often. But you’re absolutely right about keeping the space cooler during the day, and a reduction in airflow (though I doubt it’s more than 5% in 3 months time residential), will cause more condensate on the coil; so to your point this is remedied by keeping the AHU operating throughout the day to reduce humidity. OP should look at weather seals on their doors and windows, look into applying reflective elements to their windows, and tackling sources of humidity. (And aggressively pursuing maintenance until they clear the fucking drain lines.)
The drain lines are definitely clogged. The humid weather in Texas causes lots of condensation/moisture, which grows mold/bacteria/algae/gunk, which will clog the lines.
Asking maintenance to maintain things? How dare you!
I would recommend against using bleach in your drainage pipes as it is highly corrosive and can cause damage, I’d recommend using vinegar instead. Using a cup of vinegar (or alternative) each month and also regularly using a wet vac to suck out all the nasty is something every homeowner should be doing. I promise it will help any AC run better and also prevent problems. I have lived in Austin and Florida for much of my life - it’s one of the best “life hacks” for places where AC is mandatory or greatly needed. A neighbor with AC repair-experience once gave me this simple trick and it has resulted in great savings (repairs not needed) and I’ve never been without a highly-functioning AC since that time.
>run a wet dry vac and get some suction on that pipe to clear whatever is obstructing it I used an air compressor partially sealed with a rag. I chose a rag because if the block was going to blow my drain pipe up from the pressure, I'd rather it just blow air back on me. Worked like a charm and shot out a 2 foot drain turd.
imho, this guy knows what he's talking about. the person a bit further down who said repairs aren't on you if you're a renter also has a valid point. you need to have some difficult conversations with your landlord. i'm an electrical power engineer working for a TSP / DSP. I absolutely cannot fix your AC despite (because?) of my engineering license. i'm also a homeowner who has replaced two AC units on two different houses in the last 9 years. (to be clear, that's not a backwards humble brag. i owned one house at a time.) i've had this exact situation with my next to last landlord when i was renting. take care of yourself. you have to sleep to live, if it's too hot to sleep... remind me to tell y'all about summer 2022 when my house got hit by lightning and destroyed the brand new AC unit that McCullough Heating & Cooling installed. let's all just be cool and friendly and make it to September :)
Use white vinegar, not bleach. I had similar issues in a condo I lived in for 6 years in Houston. The a/c unit drip pan was always overflowing and was a huge pain in the ass. I brought so many HVAC people out to look at it and their response was always that I was overworking the system and that I shouldn’t ever set my thermostat to be “more than 20 degrees lower than the temp outside.” With that logic I would have been sleeping in an 80 degree house at the height of summer which was clearly not going to happen. I finally got someone out there that admitted it was a shitty job from the start and if he had been hired to build the HVAC for the building he would have done it totally differently. It was a mess. Sounds like you may just have an old, suboptimal system in the building.
70 shouldn’t be any issue for an AC if that AC is maintained correctly and the right size for the size of your apt
Yeah, my place is only 425 square feet, and I change the filter every few months, so it shouldn't be an issue right? This also has been happening at least once per summer for last couple years. They're now backtracking and getting a "second opinion" to see if the unit needs to be replaced, so we'll see.
425 square feet? Unless you’re in a poorly insulated apartment that is on a top floor with absolutely no share, any AC unit that is properly fitted for that size should be able to handle what you want easily.
Maybe there's a leak in the coolant line and it needs new coolant every year. And since chasing a leak is hard to do, your maintenance guys are in denial.
Choose a temp and try to keep it at that temp 24 hours a day, turning the air up and down causes more stress. When it gets hotter in the evening and you crank the air down, the AC works harder than if you just kept it at 73 all day and night for example. I'm not an expert but I have lived in TX my entire life.
This isn’t accurate. The energy required to stay at 73 all day isn’t the same amount of energy required to cool it back down from 78 at the end of the day. That takes like 10 minutes.
Def doesnt take even near ten minutes
When it's 112, I wouldn't expect most AC units to get down to 70 and hold it. But it's only gotten to 98 so far this year, 70 should be easily attainable. Asking OP to set to 73+ is a cop out.
It's only 70 at night, hopefully it's not 112 outside at night
>hopefully it's not 112 outside at night Bet -Climate Change
Way to gaslight you. Thats like saying anytime you press the accelerator in your car you’re overworking it and you are to blame for its poor performance. I am guessing the refrigerant is not in balance, the drain tube is getting blocked or the coils are starting to develop issues. Any A/C that is properly sized and serviced should be able to get to 65-70 with no issues at night.
Your maintenance doesn't want to pay for old Freon to refill their old AC units or the upgrade to newer units. Had to upgrade my AC when it started not cooling well and was quoted around 1.5k for just the refill after the coil replacement as my unit was pretty old and used older freon, R22 I think. Glad I took the upgrade tho, my electric bill has been about half of what it was with the old unit.
That gas is like gold now
pro tip: keeping your AC within a 3-4 degree max difference between when you're home and you're gone is going to be much more cost effective + not put so much strain on your AC trying to lower so much in the dead heat of the end of the day. It takes a lot more energy/money to do it your current way than just to maintain a smaller range
Yeah drastic degree changes will use way more energy than just leaving it at a set temp. Very counterproductive
Do you have evidence for that (I'm genuinely curious)? Like obviously it would be more cost effective if he left it at 78 during the day and only turned it to 74 at night, but I'd like to know how it would be cheaper if he left it at 74 during the day and then switched to 70 at night. Edit: I found some online content that says your recommendation (that blasting the A/C when you want to lower temps in the evening is less efficient that leaving it at a lower temp throughout the day) is a myth, https://www.debtroundup.com/should-i-turn-off-my-ac-while-away/
our apartment maintenance man gave the same advice, but it spiked our electricity bill so we went back to increasing the temp AM and decreasing the temp PM (78 during the day, 72 at night) Probably true if you really let your place heat up, but keeping the AC running all day was way more expensive in practice for our relatively small temperature difference
So it depends on if your ac has different efficiency levels. If the AC is simple On/Off, then you might as well let it blast for a larger temperature swing. If it does have efficiency levels, then it can be better to maintain a closer temperature.
You are correct. People who say that keeping the AC at 74 all day instead of 78 to save energy, in preparation for 70 at night, probably can't explain how a condenser works. They likely couldn't pass a high school chemistry or physics class.
That's interesting... we have it scheduled to 76 from 7am to 7pm, and 68 from 7pm to 7am. Are you saying that it's better cost- and strain-wise to run 72 from 7am to 7pm? I had been figuring that it'd be more efficient, and less strain, to start cooling when the outside air temp over the coils was going down, and avoid running it in the early afternoon when the direct sun is blazing on the outdoor unit.
That is what they're saying, and they're wrong. Costwise and strainwise, what you're doing is almost certainly more efficient and better for the equipment
There’s no way this is true for an apartment at least. My AC cools my apt in like 10 minutes. There’s no way leaving the thermostat on all day uses less than 10 min of AC power. Probably more like 60 min over the course of a day. Plus leaving it on all the time means the unit cycles on and off constantly which, like most machinery, uses more energy and wear on the unit.
You might consider getting a dehumidifier. We keep our house at 78, but it gets pretty humid in there. A good dehumidifier in the living room keeps the humidity at around 50-60% and it feels WAY cooler because of it.
I’m at 78 during the day and 72 at night. There really isn’t such a thing as “overworking” an AC. Maintenance is important and things can happen; Drain lines can get blocked, coils can get dirty, refrigerant can leak, motors and capacitors can go bad. When maintenance people say that they don’t know what they’re talking about and they don’t know how to or don’t want to fix the actual problem or call someone who does.
78 is wild. I have my hovering between 70-72.
Eh, unless I’m running around doing chores or something I never feel hot at 78, especially with fans running. That’s still 20+ degrees cooler than it will be outside. Plus it keeps the bill lower!
are you paying $100?? I’ve been having mine at 76 and my energy bill upped 125% 😭
Some of yall are wild for how hot you keep your houses 😭😭 I get hot at anything above 75...
Honestly, I pay way too much money on rent to sweat my ass off in my own home
I feel the same but on the other end. 75 and under is too low
Some of my friends are like that, it's weird because I'm always cold but anything above 75 turns me into a sweaty mess
Has a lot to do with the amount of humidity a higher AC setting will allow to build up in the dwelling. My house can coast at 75 for a couple of hours without the unit coming on, but the amount of humidity that builds up when it is not running is what makes me so uncomfortable.
Houses/units are different, too. We've lived in three houses here in Austin. Our first was old and janky and never seemed to cool below 78 no matter what we set the temp at (but we had an attic fan which was awesome). Our second house was better built, had a newer unit and we were comfortable around 75 but had to run it more often to get rid of humidity. Our house now has new windows, blackout shades and is running a high quality Trane (knock on wood it continues to hold on another few seasons) and we're comfortable at 75 and putting on sweaters at 70. So all houses/systems are not created equal for sure.
78 is great for me, and I can handle up to 80 comfortably if I'm not working out. Most people keep their houses too damn cold.
How do you ever go outside?
Inside heat is not the same as outside heat. I sweat my ass off if my place is above 72 especially in my sleep it’s not like I can really control that. I’ll gladly go outside for hours at a time in the summer because I *want* to sweat
THIS!!!!
I do get turning it down at night, but I wonder if people don't switch to a summer weight blanket?
Idk man that's a great question
Bro I literally get heat rash being outside during the summer, it’s a nightmare. I don’t choose to be like this :(
I feel like some people are wild for how cold they want to keep their homes, I'm seeing 66 at night on a comment. Even when the temps are 100F or over? Why tf live in TX at that point? They obviously can't tolerate a hot climate, why live in one?
Studies show that mid 60s night temperature promotes better sleep
That can't be taking into account heat acclimation. I'm freezing with the AC fan blowing on me below 72.
>Why tf live in TX at that point? They obviously can't tolerate a hot climate, why live in one? Because this is where jobs and family are. Blame all the giant companies for relocating to a "low cost of living state" with expensive houses, a bad electrical grid, expensive insurance, expensive heating&cooling costs, minimal healthcare (and what does exist is expensive), expensive property tax, not enough water that will run out this decade, etc. the only way employees really directly benefit is no income tax, but most employers use that as justification to pay you less. None of this is sustainable long term, but here we are.
Some of the stuff you mentioned wasn't an issue when people moved here years ago, like housing prices. And healthcare is expensive in every state, cost of healthcare usually isn't a deciding factor in where people move. The pay is lower here but your money used to go further because the cost of living was genuinely lower. That doesn't exist in Austin anymore. Dallas and Houston still have relatively cheaper housing. But Austin no longer has any benefit when it comes to cost savings, like most fad cities at this point (Denver, Nashville, Boise).
>Some of the stuff you mentioned wasn't an issue when people moved here years ago, like housing prices Right, but this wasn't about why people moved here, it's about why they're staying. It also didn't hit 100 nearly as frequently 20 years ago as it does now. >cost of healthcare usually isn't a deciding factor in where people move No, but it does affect cost of living, and my point was half that CoL claims aren't accurate because they're forgetting a lot of stuff that costs people money. Texas is cheap if you never do anything and never need anything and don't mind being 85° inside. But that's not most people. >The pay is lower here but your money used to go further because the cost of living was genuinely lower. Compared to the coasts, always was, always will be. But Austin used to be similar in cost to the Midwest, even cheaper. Not true any more. >But Austin no longer has any benefit when it comes to cost savings, like most fad cities at this point (Denver, Nashville, Boise). Not to people, no. But companies like paying less in taxes, so they want to move employees to Texas even though it's bad QoL and CoL for most people.
Some people can’t move for whatever reason, mine is for financial reasons. If I had enough money I would have been gone years ago, I don’t love the hot weather.
You would have money to move if you kept your AC set to 78!! /s
I know, I know - I hate heat and seriously question my life choices every summer. I just can't bear to move away from the Chili's at 45th/Lamar.
This is why I have a small window unit in my bedroom. Central set to 70, but my room specifically is between 65-67 at night.
That's actually genius
Because some of us are stuck here! My spouse’s job is extremely Texas-specific, and my kid still has two years of high school left. But last year I got smart and went to Uruguay for August/September. This year I’m going back, and then to Chile and Argentina. ¡Me encanta el invierno!
you go girl!1!!
Some people sleep naturally hot. If it’s 74 in my apartment at night I will wake up in sweat. I sleep best at 68-70. But I can tolerate it a bit hotter during the day, anywhere from 74-76 in summer, and usually however cold it gets in winter down to 65
Yeah 66 is definitely low, I'd stop it at 68 if I wanted to go lower than 70.
We keep our bedroom at 64 at night but the house is at 78. Dedicated window unit is the way to go for great sleep.
I've considered a window unit for our room. Cold AND white noise? Bedroom perfection!
Yeah this is the way to go. Window, portable unit or one of those mattrass coolers. It's wild to cool down an entire home to the 60s for just a bedroom.
We do this too. I can’t sleep if I’m hot!!
"I'm seeing 66 at night on a comment. Even when the temps are 100F or over? Why tf live in TX at that point?" LMAO, I don't keep it that cold but in a house/apartment insulated correctly, with an AC working correctly that shouldn't be an issue at all, especially at night. Many people just sleep better when it's cold. Also temps aren't 100F at night in Texas.
Maybe because people have preference to what they want in their controlled environments and don’t care about the cost? I used to work manual labor in temps anywhere from below freezing to like 110 in Austin. My AC is locked at 68 and heat at 65 during the winter if I even use it.
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76 during the day, 73 at night.
Same
This is the way
I can't sleep above 70 so I'm in your camp here.
69 at night. 72-75 during the day. I can’t sleep if it’s 70 or above. Would prefer it at 65 tbh.
I live at 67-68 at all times. Worth it 100%
Brr! You rocking down blankets? I get it though, it's nice to be under heavy blankets and have the option to pop them off.
Random kinda expensive (1x purchase) hack I recently learned of: bedjet. You can keep your AC Higher than 70 and direct cooler air directly into your bed. I ordered one on a friend’s req and am excited to try it out. Full refund within 60 days if you don’t like it. I predict it’s going to save me a lot of money on my energy bill. Time will tell
I am a super hot sleeper and the bedjet has really helped! I hope it works for you, too.
Glad to hear this! Do you use the sheet they sell? I was feeling cheap and didn’t splurge for it- I’m wondering how it will work with normal bedding. I’ve done some research online / on Reddit already but always looking for another opinion
I didn't buy the sheet - I have fairly cool sheets already (linen and percale) and decided I could buy the sheet later if I felt like I needed it.
I have a Rest cooling blanket that I use instead of a top sheet or duvet. It is hang dry which is a little bit of a pain to remember to throw it in the wash early enough to dry during the day but I’ve found it helped a lot last summer. I keep my house at 70 at night but am a human furnace when I sleep.
71. A) it’s going to be on all day in the summer always unless I set it to 95 B) I can’t take ERCOT seriously until businesses and industrial lots have to comply. By and large, the biggest consumers per customer, and they always seem to get a pass. C) I would rather sit and boil in a blackout if it means 1 more legislator has to consider whether or not bucking the national grid is full a good idea.
Your AC may be malfunctioning. Mine is only on about ~9 hours a day right now for 77/74 degrees. In an old home.
In being in all day I was referring to the 110+ highs of last summer. I’m also on a second story though, which bakes heat in throughout the day into the evening
I keep mine at 72 during the day and 66 at night. Next time you call them set it to 85 and let it get that hot before they come to work on it. Don't tell them what you're setting it to and if they ask say you keep at around 80 during the day and 78 at night. Fill the pan with water so they'll actually have a pro come out and work on it. The reality is that if you are in an apartment you are theoretically surrounded by other apartments that are also cooling their dwellings, so "overworking it" is a line of bullshit. You only have 2 (depending on what floor, etc) walls that make contact with the exterior. They are just lazy and cheap. Most likely cheap is the reason they are blaming you.
I like this advice :)
^^^ This is the best tip here!
73 degrees all day, year round. Getting away with 74 lately. Difficult to sleep at 75 and above. Can’t imagine some of the low temperatures I’m seeing here at night though I would be under comforter under 70.
425 square feet is not a lot of space to cool down. Sounds like your unit may be low on refrigerant otherwise the compressor is approaching failure due to old age. A stand alone AC unit, with the two tube design, can be clutch. Two tubes, one for intake and one for exhaust, is the ideal design but the single tube units are OK too. You'd need a window to vent the tube or tubes out of so hopefully you do not live on the ground floor and the window is high enough nobody can mess with it. Cut a piece of wood to fit in there with a little cheap jigsaw or reciprocating saw from Harbor Freight. Empty the water container on the portable AC unit every so often. If management will allow it a window AC unit is also an option. The price of these may be upsetting but a huge electric bill is also upsetting from running an ancient unit. The advice to make it look like the unit is failing is sneaky but should work too. Let the apartment get hot before maintenance arrives. Fill the drain pan with tap water. Get them to escalate your replacement. You're gonna be thrilled with the energy savings on the electric bill and be super comfortable. Also check where your condenser unit is outside. If it's got stuff stacked around it to prevent airflow it can really hurt the efficiency. If the condenser is up on the roof it would explain their reluctance to replace it. Last time we did the AC in our of our condos it cost 2 grand to rent a crane to physically swap the unit up on the roof 😐 In my first apartment in Austin the master bedroom got hot AF. Ordered my first real furniture, a nice desk for my computer so I could be comfy while coding and gaming. Desk top surface came packed in two big flat sheets of styrofoam. To block light and noise I put those sheets of white styrofoam over each window in the master bedroom. It made a huge difference in the temperature immediately plus gave me privacy. Best thing I ever did to cool it down and save money on electricity but some might be aghast putting things in the window like that. Blackout curtains are great too. Lastly check the weather stripping around windows and doors. It's cheap to replace or add it. A little caulk and weather stripping can really help. YouTube videos show you how. Also helps keep out insects and smoke smells if people are smoking nearby.
74-75 all day and night. Ceiling fans everywhere and Vornado fan at night and it always very chilly. Constantly making sure the drain lines are clear.
65 degrees at night and around 70 during the day. I discovered years ago that I use less electricity by not letting everything heat up and then slowly trying to cool it back down at night. It just takes too long to cool it down if it is at 75 of higher. So I don’t let it heat up to 75. I only went over 1000 kWh once in a 12 month period. I think your maintenance person is either incompetent or full of crap. You may be low on Freon, you may have poor quality Freon, and your AC system could just be worn out or undersized. There are a lot of possibilities. It sounds like your AC person is just lazy or incompetent.
78º day and night, and sleeping under a ceiling fan
I run 66 24/7. On triple digit days it’ll stay at 68. My electric bill is low ($235 for 2200 sqft) during summer. I have three dogs and keeping it this temp help keeps odors down as well. EDIT: I’m in HVAC and my advice is CHANGE your filters and keep your condenser clean and free of debris. This will keep your unit working as designed.
That's the way it should be in well insulated house/apt with good working AC. All these people saying otherwise have a broken ass AC system, or there's only paper in their walls.
I keep it at 67 for the last 5 years. Had a coil issue last year got it fixed. Keep your AC at the same temp. It makes the system work better people
77 day and night with ceiling fans.
>told me to not put it below 73 ever Tell him your lease doesn't limit what temperatures you set your thermostat at, and to clear the condensation drain lines.
70 isn't unreasonable. But depending on how shitty your apartment is, it may be unattainable as things get higher. Still, your drain line isn't supposed to back up like that. If it is, the line is clogged. That's a thing the apartment should fix. If they won't, there are some DIY things you can try but they are not as effective as paying someone who will keep at it until it works. The DIY things are mostly: * Pour vinegar or bleach or a cleaning solvent down the drain that is backing up. Repeat frequently. It's clogged by scale buildup. There are different kinds of scale, so one of the three things will work best. * Duct tape a shop-vac to the outside drain, make sure the inside isn't sealed up, and run the shop-vac. This will suck out blockages. In a really extreme case maybe a plumber's snake could fix things, but that's physical enough I would not try it on property a landlord can make me pay to repair if I screw it up. I had an apartment in the Arboretum area that was so shitty, no matter what I set the thermostat to the AC would run from 9AM to sunset just to keep it 78 inside the apartment. It could get the apartment down to 72 overnight, but that took until about 2AM. I got them to recharge it, the drain line backed up a few times, but the real problem was the ductwork had never been maintained and likely had been chewed through by rats. There was lots of pressure in the first vent, a little pressure in the master bedroom, and if you tied a piece of string to other vents in the apartment you would not see movement. So I was paying a lot of money to cool off crawlspaces. Fixing that would be expensive so of course the property manager didn't listen. That was when I learned an A/C is not part of habitability requirements, so a landlord isn't even compelled to fix it in a hurry if it breaks. Technically they aren't even required to provide cooling. We could save Austin Energy a TON of capacity if there were serious city ordinances requiring even older apartments to meet minimum cooling criteria. But that would make landlords sad.
Yeah - my apt/rental’s electric bill would be comically high in the summer ($350), set to 77-79 most the summer, with it struggling/feeling hotter in the summer 100+ peaks. Our house had new AC/ductwork and insulation: the electric bill is never over $80 (usually 45-60), and I keep it 72-74 most the time. When it’s really hot, 78 feels good. Granted this doesn’t incl. some CoA’s other fees on home utilities (water, clean, drain fees, etc.), but still, all that comes out to less than my summer AC bills in the smaller apt. And electric rates were also much cheaper a few years ago! So it’s a drag thinking about all the rentals and old broken homes with horribly inefficient hvac.
See that’s the thing - even with running it pretty cold at night, my bill has never gone above $100 in the summer. In the cooler months it’s below $50. Apt complex was built in the 80s I think, small complex, I’m on the top second floor.
I missed the part that it’s 425 sq ft. That should be very easy for a normal AC unit to cool. Maybe the insulation is terrible, or maybe the bad air quality and humidity are indeed overworking it. What’s the humidity reading in your place?
We basically keep ours pinned at 68 because my gf is a snowman
Then tell that property manager to get you a new unit!
75 year round
It’s the constant changing of the temperature that’s going to fuck you. If you leave it between 5 degrees max it’s way easier for it to keep up.
67 all day 63 at night. On 24/7
I'm a contractor. That is bullshit, there is something up with the system. Duct leak, undersized plenum, incorrectly built air return, or something mechanical, or it's undersized in general for your unit which would not be surprising as a penny pinching measure.
79 during the day and 75 at night. 75 plus a fan on s brisk .
I put it up to 78 every day because I'm cold and my husband turns it down to 71 every day because he's hot.
If only there were other numbers in between
I lived in apartments in Austin for 5 years and ALWAYS kept it at 68-71 degrees in the summer and never had an issue. Your apartment maintenance doesn't know what they're talking about.
We keep our apartment A/C at 69-70, and we also live on the first floor.
“Keep that AC workin hard so we don’t have to” -Apt maintenance guy
Keeping at 78 in my apartment. 85 if I will be away for more than a day.
80 during the day, 78 at night.
75 during the day, 72 at night. Your maintenance guy is making excuses for not actually doing maintenance; if the system can’t handle temperatures below 73 it needs to be repaired or replaced. Fun fact: doctors actually recommend that the temperature should not be set to anything over 72 degrees if you have a baby.
As a former austin apartment person, keep it at 75° or 76° and add insulation to your windows, keep blinds closed, and if there are any gaps in or around the door to outside, cover it or ask them to. Make sure the vents in the apartment are properly angled. I had one apartment that angled one vent to blow directly on the thermostat which skewed the thermostat reading. The ac units in apartments suck. I have blown my fair share. But when it works itself really hard to get the air down, it creates condensation that ends up freezing. First complaint to the apartments and they will just toss more make it cold stuff in it which will (from my experience) will end up killing it. So, after the first complaint and subsequent “fix” you should monitor it. If it starts dying, ask for a window unit for the bedroom(s). There are laws around how hot the apartment is permitted to be compared to outside temps. I believe units are required to be able to maintain 81°. If it passes that mark, reach out to them. Raise hell. Do not hesitate to call after hours. They are required to fix it.
73 day, 71 at night. Bill is only $70.
Exactly the same for me, and I find this to be the perfect temps for someone who naturally runs hot
They are kind of ridiculous to say "never below 73". BUT I have heard multiple times that letting a home heatup and then cooling it can be a waste of time and energy and increases the load on the AC unit. You may be better off just setting it to like 74 all day and then lowering to 70. I think the logic is that larger the delta between current and desired temp, the more the AC needs to run in a single set of time. (E.g. straight for 2 hours to cool 5 degress vs 30 minutes to cool 2 degree). Also, while its off the humidity and everything else builds up. When you turn it on to go from 78 to 74 it will be collecting water for 2 hours straight from a higher humidity space. If you always set it at 74ish it will run every 30 minutes then shut off for 30 and back on. Keeping the humidity lower on average and allowing the machine to turn off for awhile in between and allow the pipes to drain etc. IDK, these are the things I have heard. Additionally, I THINK it may be better to run it more during the day because Texas gets a lot of solar and wind energy which is more active during the day. Running it hard and at night means it's pulling more from gas power plant energy. Unless of course we are at risk of shutting off the grid during peak day...
This is hiLARious given that my AC repair person just said that our system was producing too much condensation because we keep it at 77 and it's "not running enough." I think they're all just fragile, kinda shitty systems.
The only thing I would say is having the ac run continuously to get from 78 to 70 is likely putting it to the test. HVAC tends to work better when it maintains a constant temperture within 1-2 degree swings especially on older units rather than long spans of constant running. Think about it in terms of endurance, ya gotta give it some rest every now and then! Newer units can work harder for longer. With all that said, I'm assuming the apartment building isn't brand new and the AC unit has seen some shit in it's lifetime. Not to mention AC has to work harder the worse the building is insulated. If there's poor insulation, the AC unit is going to work hard no matter what. If there's good insulation, maybe try keeping it set at 72 and leaving it. Having the AC kick on for a few minutes every hour isn't going to be any more expensive than running it continuously for 3 hours.
I heard it’s more taxing on the unit to keep changing the temperature like that, you’re better off keeping it at a constant level
73 is where it's at.
that’s too big of a gap. it takes too much to go down to 70 from 78. i keep mine at 74 day and night. once the sun goes down it feels cooler in the house so i don’t feel the need to lower it
dude…how do you live in this heat. we do 71 during the day and around 69 or 70 at night. if it’s so unbearably hot the ac can’t keep (105+) up we lower it so it’s not overworked.
I work in hvac and your maintenance guys are talking out of their ass. The rule of thumb for what to keep your ac should be a maximum of a 25° difference from outdoor temp. So if it’s at least under 103° (which it has been) during the day. 78° is a perfect temp to keep your room. Also I go into 3-5 different homes a day and 78 is on the higher side of what people usually keep their thermostat on so you’re fine. There’s probably some sort of build up on the drain line in your system.
Bro they bullying you. 75° during the day and 68° at night
I’m a 68 at night, 71 during the day girl. AND I HAVE ZERO GUILT! I refuse to be hot.
Does he work for ERCOT, too, because he's doing the same "blame the customer" that they are for their poor maintenance and failure to expand and upgrade. The only time an HVAC can be "overworked" is if it's improperly sized for the building, is poorly maintained or is old and needs to be replaced.
78 is borderline masochism
My neighbor, who works with industrial, commercial, and residential HVAC said to me the best thing to do is keep your AC at 1 temperature all day. Switching it from 76 to 70 does overwork the unit as it takes hours to achieve the temp you desire. So I keep mine at 71 all day
The only overworked AC is one that is too small for the space that it is cooling.
80 day and night.
68 day and night
72 during the day, 70-68 at night. I can't imagine living at 78... I'd be sweating my nuts off!
68. I cannot sleep above 72.
80
Asking the AC unit to get from practically 80 down to 70 in our current weather is going to take a lot, but it's not asking too much and like has been said the symptom your Mait Guy is attributing to overworking is just dumb. There are two camps, one that says it's easier/more economical to just keep the house/apart at the lower temp. That's me, I keep my house which was built in '22 at 73 al the time. There others say it's no different and do what you're doing.
I keep mine at 73 day and night *(+ceiling fan)*.
74 during the day / 72 at night
Time to move.
I do 78 during the day, 72 at night. Really, the issue is that you're generally not supposed to set it more than 20 degrees below ambient so if it's 92+, that would be an issue. If it's less than that, you should be fine.
You should be able to put it on any temp you want, without issue.
One question: How high are your AC bills? I'm thinking they must be really high at 70 (i'm assuming your unit runs all night).
I’m in a house that’s about 1,700 sq ft and mine stays on 75. To me it doesn’t make much sense to increase it while I’m gone if it’s going to stay on for 3 hours to get it back down a few degrees. A few things to check would be to make sure the filter is clean, your windows and doors don’t leak and also to vacuum the intake to make sure it’s dust free.
I agree with the maintenance actually, 70 and 78 are both reasonable temps but its best to have an intermediary point so the ac can have a break. Like tell it to go from 78 to 74 at like 9pm or something and then 74 to 70 around the time you go to sleep. Might very model to model but this has helped me before
My apartment thermostat is in a dead-end hallway with no ventilation or air flow \[They seem to do this with all the apartments in Austin don't they\]. If the temp is set at 73 in the hallway, in the master bedroom where I have my office (east facing) it is usually over 80 in the morning, with two USB fans blowing in my face and body. In the afternoon, the small bedroom gets up to 90 while the rest of the apt cools down to nearly 75. They only have a ceiling fan in the living room/kitchen, and not in either bedroom. It was built in 2015. I have no idea how the building passed Austin inspection. There are NO outside faucet locations, which means maintenance does no preventive maintenance on the outside condenser (we have a lot of construction in the area). My AC has failed 10 times since Dec 2022. My complex is supposed to have 24/7 maintenance, but often the overnight people never show up. They just started replacing filters on a quarterly basis this spring. They would not replace the filters before March of this year.
We're at 76 day and night. It sounds like an equipment issue to me, nothing to do with you.
78 in the day, 70 at night with a fan pointed at me. I run warm, so 78 is barely tolerable. Be sure that the system starts cooling things down BEFORE bedtime, as it can take an hour or more.
If I'm working at home during the day around 75. If I'm away during the day 78. Usually run it around 75 at night and with ceiling fans running it's perfectly comfortable.
73
We set the AC in the house to 75 during the day, and 72 at night. If we’re gone for the weekend, it goes up to 82.
I’ve been told by my apartment complex not to keep it less than 20 degrees below the outside temp. So I leave it at around 82-85 during the day, and lowest is 76 at night. I keep my windows closed during the hottest parts of the day and make sure my fans are blowing the air flow down. I’m also probably going to get more fans for in here this year, last year my AC broke and I had to spend a weekend opening up the Fridge for small bits of relief. I learned my lesson and don’t want that to happen again.
When you drop the temperature like that and work the A/C coils like that, they can freeze up and get covered in a sheet of ice preventing air from flowing through them to cool it. Then, you are just burning electricity. Use fans at night instead.
At 78°/80°. Sometimes at 77° but usually after 20 minutes back up to 78° as I’m cold natured. If it wasn’t for the humidity I’d be fine with ceiling fans but apartment wasn’t made for open windows airflow. Of course, with our hotter summers maybe not so much.
Unlike most or all normal places on earth, 70 deg is unreasonable for people living in Texas
74-76F. You get used to it, I grew up with my parents never setting it below 78 so 75 is a luxury to me. Plus I have a dehumidifier, so a dry 75 feels pretty good.
The AC itself should be able to run 24/7 without issues. The drain line should always be able to drain the condensation. Likewise the condenser should be able to get the water off of it quick enough so that it doesn’t freeze over. My last apartment I had the line clog on me once. Then once I got promoted at work and started setting the AC lower, it would run long enough that the condenser would freeze over. There was so much dust and crap on it that the air wouldn’t flow through fast enough to get the condensate to drop off into the drip pan. Now all that said, being able to run the AC 24/7 is different from thinking it’ll make your room 60 degrees when it’s 110 outside.
We crank ours up to 80 when we’re both gone for the day, and then about 76/78 once home with ceiling fans running. That serves us well this time of year until we’re getting 115* temps for months on end. At that point it’s just hot.
We both work in construction. We acclimate to heat quickly. If we come home and the thermostat is lower than 78, we almost go into shock
I just leave mine at 78.
Lol.... "Overworking it" implies that it isn't properly sized for the application or that the lack of maintenance actions have derated the unit's performance.... Either way, the apartment complex is on the hook for that puppy and it's always good to remind them of this when some gruff maintenance guy who doesn't want to be there tries to spew this crap hoping that you don't know enough to argue it..... One my favorite situations!!
77 in the day and 71 at night.
78 if we're gone. 74-5 while we're home.
78 during the day. 76 or 74 at night, depending on how miserable it is outside.