When using the air-conditioning At home one of the most common doubts is related to the temperature to set the thermostat atsince there are those who say that it is better to set the lowest setting that the device allows and others that it is better to set a higher setting to save energy.
We have already seen on other occasions that the ideal temperature inside the house will depend on multiple factorssuch as who lives there, whether we are very cold or hot, the age of the inhabitants, the ambient humidity, the time we are going to spend inside, etc.
Lowering the temperature to 17ºC: a waste of energy
Thus, taking into account standardized criteria of thermal environment ergonomics of the RITE (Regulation of Thermal Installations in Buildings), the comfort temperature in a closed environment As it is a home and “passive” activitythat is, when we are not doing any physical activity, it is in summer between 23°C and 25°C.
If we go below these 23 degrees the air will be drier and in addition energy consumption will increase unnecessarily and with it the expense at the end of the month. In fact, the general calculations for the energy cost for every degree we lower the temperature with respect to the optimal value can This could mean an increase of between 5% and 10% in electricity consumption in our equipment..
But there is also a factor that we do not usually take into account and that becomes important when we select a temperature value that is too low, like the classic ones. 17 ºC or 18 ºC which are usually the lowest numbers that many remote controls support.
The thing is that, if we choose these values and the temperature of the room and outside are very high, it will be very difficult for the equipment to reach them, so it is likely that always running at full power to try to reach them, often without success.
If our air conditioning is relatively modern and has inverter technology, we will not be able to take advantage of its benefits either, since it will not be able to enter the “cruise” operating cycle where it is able to lower the engine power when reaching the target temperature and It will always be working at 100% since it will be very difficult for it to reach 17ºC.
In fact, it is advisable that there is no difference of more than 10ºC between the temperature inside the house and the outside, both so that the machine’s performance is optimal and so that we do not notice a big difference when we leave the house. Therefore, to have those 17ºC inside the house, it would have to be 27ºC outside, a temperature at which many of us would probably not turn on the air conditioning.
And, don’t we achieve anything positive by choosing that low temperature of 17ºC? Well, yes, we do. cool the room down firstbecause we make the equipment work at 100% for a longer time, which can be a good idea if we want to cool quickly, but it is convenient to later select a more intermediate value such as 24 or 25ºC to allow for a reduction in the electrical consumption of appliances.
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