First time experiencing real fall/winter - What to do with AC/heater?

[DrMoneyTails]

Hello,

I have spent the majority of my life in Florida.
We moved to Colorado this past summer; and we are renting a condo.

Needless to say, I have know idea what it is to have four different seasons.
Summer here was great, very similar to what we are used to (minus humidity and minus the beach). We kept our AC at 78 and used a fan to try to keep costs down.
Now that fall is here, the temperature is dropping and we are starting to buy only what we truly will use in terms of warmer clothes.

But I have no idea what to do with the AC. It is not cold enough that we need the heater on, but it is no longer warm enough that the AC ever kicks in.
Should I turn it off? Should I leave it at 78? When should I switch to heat mode?
Any other tips on how to improve our energy utilization?

[Travis]

This might be best moved to Ask a Mustachian section, but I'll take a stab.  I just moved from Colorado Springs and I we turned on the A/C maybe twice during the summer. It helped that our house was oriented for great breezes and we had ceiling fans.  In the winter we heated up the house to 63 degrees, but usually only ran it during the morning hours and let the house get cold while we were working.  We kept it to 55 or turned it off at night. Depending where you are in CO, from November to March the daytime temp won't rise above freezing.  Some folks with homes in great locations have figured out how to harness some daytime winter light to warm the house for a few hours, but I never mastered that. Saving energy can be tricky during the winter, and is largely dependent on your personal tolerance for cold.

[kbray003]

I live in Atlanta and it's an exciting time of year when you can take a break from running your AC during the transition into fall.  It's also exciting when you can take a break from running heat when you transition into spring.  We do not normally turn either off, because the temperature outside can be fairly volatile (one day hot, next day cool).  For fall, we just set the temperature higher than where we normally keep it so that it never really turns on.  Then adjust as necessary.  Opposite for spring: set temperature lower than what you normally would so that heat never turns on.  You can turn it off though.  We like to open windows to bring the fresh, crisp fall air into the house.  Same for spring when we are excited for warmer outside air.  You'll know when you need to turn your heat on.  But most likely you'll go back and forth between AC and heat a little before winter actually sets in.  Same for spring.  The temperature can be pretty crazy in the south.  Back and forth.  You'll get used to it after a while and just know what to do. 

[BTDretire]

 I'm in Florida and run the air at 78*, however it is now starting to cool a bit, but more important, the humidity has dropped. Now the house can be to cool at 78* because the house humidity is low at about 40%. So I have bumped it up to 79* on a few days.
  Here in  N. Florida there will be a few times when we will switch from air to heat and then have to switch back to the air over of couple weeks. Then it's all heat with the thermostat at 68*.
 You may need to something similar.

[MilesTeg]

Hello,

I have spent the majority of my life in a tropical latin american country until moving to Florida, where I spent the last 8 years.
We moved to Colorado this past summer; and we are renting a condo.

Needless to say, I have know idea what it is to have four different seasons.
Summer here was great, very similar to what we are used to (minus humidity and minus the beach). We kept our AC at 78 and used a fan to try to keep costs down.
Now that fall is here, the temperature is dropping and we are starting to buy only what we truly will use in terms of warmer clothes.

But I have no idea what to do with the AC. It is not cold enough that we need the heater on, but it is no longer warm enough that the AC ever kicks in.
Should I turn it off? Should I leave it at 78? When should I switch to heat mode?
Any other tips on how to improve our energy utilization?

First: It's Colorado, which means it could be summer weather or winter weather in the fall or spring (day to day, sometimes hour to hour). You need to prepare your home both for high heat, and extreme cold (i.e. a hard freeze).

The best thing to do is set your thermostat to "auto" (if you have it). This should allow you to choose a temp range that will use both your A/C and heater as necessary. This time of year I set ours to 55-85 24/7. ON average, the house will stay in the 65-75 range this time of year without any heat or A/C, but there are extremes. If it's programmable you can program it if you are more sensitive to temp changes than we are.

If you don't have a thermostat with auto mode and programming, it's a good investment.

P.S.: Don't forget to blow out your sprinkler system (if you have it) before a hard freeze! Check your local news/weather/climate info for when that is. Around here (northern front range area) first freeze is around the first week of Oct, with hard freezes by late Oct early Nov. We blow ours out around Oct 15, but watch the weather for a hard freeze starting around now.

[Sibley]

I live in the Midwest, so we get really cold winters.

Turn it off and open/close your windows as needed. In fact, I only turn my AC on when it's hot/humid enough that I'm uncomfortable, or there's an air quality issue that is causing problems. Play a game with yourself on how long you can hold out until turning on the heat. (for that matter, why has your A/C been on all this time? sounds like you've never adjusted to the actual temp outside. Facepunch. Start now.)

General cold weather info since you're new to it:
Sleeping is best accomplished, biologically, with a cool room temp and warm blanket. Layers are typically best so you can adjust for a wider variety of temperatures. IE: Get a light weight blanket (you might want it now), a medium weight one, and a heavier one. Depending on the temp, swap blankets, or put on 2 (or all 3) for comfort.
For clothing, multiple layers are better than one really heavy one. When it's really cold out, I may be wearing up to 4 layers outside, and 2-3 inside. You'll be warmer and can keep the thermostat set lower too.
Most heat loss is through the head, so get a warm hat.
Mittens are warmer than gloves.
Heat people, not spaces. Get some blankets and put them on the couch/chairs. If you're cold, it's right there.
If you're cold, put on more clothes. Kids in particular are bad about this. They'll complain they're cold while wearing a tshirt and no socks. And leave the door hanging open. (My winters growing up where a constant refrain of "go put on more clothes if you're cold" and "close the door!")

Ensure that any pets have a nice warm bed to sleep in too, they'll arrange themselves from there. They may decide that your bed is the best, which is just added warmth for you.

[MilesTeg]

I live in the Midwest, so we get really cold winters.

Turn it off and open/close your windows as needed. In fact, I only turn my AC on when it's hot/humid enough that I'm uncomfortable, or there's an air quality issue that is causing problems. Play a game with yourself on how long you can hold out until turning on the heat. (for that matter, why has your A/C been on all this time? sounds like you've never adjusted to the actual temp outside. Facepunch. Start now.)

General cold weather info since you're new to it:
Sleeping is best accomplished, biologically, with a cool room temp and warm blanket. Layers are typically best so you can adjust for a wider variety of temperatures. IE: Get a light weight blanket (you might want it now), a medium weight one, and a heavier one. Depending on the temp, swap blankets, or put on 2 (or all 3) for comfort.
For clothing, multiple layers are better than one really heavy one. When it's really cold out, I may be wearing up to 4 layers outside, and 2-3 inside. You'll be warmer and can keep the thermostat set lower too.
Most heat loss is through the head, so get a warm hat.
Mittens are warmer than gloves.
Heat people, not spaces. Get some blankets and put them on the couch/chairs. If you're cold, it's right there.
If you're cold, put on more clothes. Kids in particular are bad about this. They'll complain they're cold while wearing a tshirt and no socks. And leave the door hanging open. (My winters growing up where a constant refrain of "go put on more clothes if you're cold" and "close the door!")

Ensure that any pets have a nice warm bed to sleep in too, they'll arrange themselves from there. They may decide that your bed is the best, which is just added warmth for you.

This is good advice, especially the layered clothing. That's really important in Colorado due to the high variability of temperature during the day. If I had a dime for every time I've seen transplants sweating in their their sub zero rated parkas on a 55 degree November day because all they have underneath is a t-shirt...

[Car Jack]

Here's my simple matrix:

Are you too hot?:  yes: turn on the AC.   no: keep everything off.
Arre you too cold?:  yes: turn on the heat.  no: keep everything off.

I live in New England.  anything over 70 is too hot.

[Morning Glory]

Turn it off and open the windows. We actually haven't used AC at all this year, although we were tempted a couple of days ago when we had our first 90 degree day. Our house is shaded by lots of tall trees, and we put fans in the windows at night and turn them off during the day, so it actually only got to about 80 in the house.

When it starts to get cold at night, we close the windows at night and open them during the day. We generally don't use heat until daytime temps drop below 60. We keep our central heat around 60 but use the gas fireplace in the living room when we are awake. My mom brings her electric blanket when she comes to visit.

Sometimes the lack of humidity can actually get uncomfortable. I mitigate this by drying clothes on racks in my bedroom during winter. I also skip the "dry" cycle on my dishwasher and just leave it open to dry.

+ 1 on draining any outdoor taps/sprinklers before you get a hard freeze

[FallenTimber]

I'm in Colorado as well and don't have any A/C in our house. Our house is 140 years old and built with logs that insulate surprisingly well. Even on 100 degree days, it stays below 75 in the house. My folks house, on the other hand, is only 30 years old and it gets unbearable without their window unit A/C running. So each house is completely different from the next. You'll just have to learn your own home and see where you're at. I doubt you'll need A/C again until next June, though. The programmable thermostat sounds like a well-worthy investment if that's an option for you.

I will give a big +1 on the electric blanket. It's very cheap to run and you can crank it on an hour before bed and have a nice cozy bed to climb into. Our house only has a wood burning stove to heat the entire house, so the living room gets up to 80 degrees but the bedrooms are lucky to ever exceed 50 degrees between January - March. So the electric blanket is a must to keep the wife happy.