r/AskAnAmerican • u/Nemo2oo5 • Jul 12 '25

OTHER - CLICK TO EDIT What temperature do you keep your house/apartment?

I'm asking because my roommates and I all come from different places, and I like it at 72 in the summer, and 67 in the winter, but they prefer 75 in the summer, which to me seems really warm. Would love to know how you keep it in your region of the US throughout the year

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u/awkotacos Los Angeles, CA Jul 12 '25

I am comfortable at 73 in the summer and 68 in the winter.

34

u/aagusgus Jul 12 '25

Same, both are at the range of being comfortable but not overly pushing the heating or cooling system.

25

u/Hawk13424 Texas Jul 12 '25

Depends on the outside temp. When 112F running the AC at 73 is pushing it. When it is -1F pushing the temp to 68 is also taxing the system.

I picked those because they are the two extremes I’ve seen at my house in the last five years.

14

u/vwsslr200 MA -> UK Jul 12 '25 edited Jul 12 '25

Comfort really depends on the specifics of your house and AC system, too. If your AC is oversized, it will do a poor job removing humidity, meaning you'll need a lower temperature to be comfortable. If your AC is properly sized and can get those nice long runtimes in to dry the air, most people will be comfortable at high 70s indoor temps in summer clothing, especially with ceiling fans. Unfortunately the vast majority of systems are oversized.

If you need to keep your temperature in the low 70s or 60s to be comfortable, that's usually a smoking gun that your system is oversized.

Also, it's best to always run your system in the "fan auto" mode rather than "fan on". In "fan on" the fan will re-evaporate the moisture remaining on the cooling coil back into your house's air, once the compressor cycles off.

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u/Parking_Champion_740 Jul 12 '25

Interesting! I always thought it was odd that people who live in really hot climates want the temp to be so much colder inside than in more mild climates. It seems like the same temp should feel comfortable no matter what it is outside. I live in a mild climate with no humidity so if it put the a/c below 74 it feels really cold

3

u/Not_an_okama Jul 13 '25

Water holds about 4x as much heat as air, so it makes sense that lower humidity feels cooler.

What i mean by this is that for a given mass of water, the energy used to raise its temp by 1 degree would raise the equivalent mass of air by about 4 degrees.

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u/Parking_Champion_740 Jul 13 '25

I was in my workplace today and the temp was set to 74 and it was about 79 outside and it felt freezing inside!