Do you have any schedule or rules regarding your air conditioning use?

Kansas here. We get extremes. We can get -20 in the winter, 115 in the summer.

It gets hottern hell here in the summer. It’s a little frustrating because using the AC really jacks up the utility bill and I’m a money saving freak.

All of my adult life, as a general rule of thumb, I don’t turn it on until July 1. It starts getting hot during the day in May and June, but I’m able to trap enough cool air in the house from the night, that I can keep the house cool without using the AC.

Since I bought this house, in 1998, it’s been even easier because
A) it’s surrounded by towering maples and oaks, that provide shade and
B) we have an attic fan.

So I am able to “tough out” a couple of hours of “hot” during the late afternoons of May and June, knowing that it will soon be cool enough to hit the attic fan, and all will be well. Great sleeping too, with the nice, cool breeze flowing over you.

In the morning, first thing, I turn the fan off and slam all the windows shut.

There have been a couple of times, when the kids were in high school, that I came home from work, on a hot day in June, walked into a house that was so nice and cool that I yelled at the kids for turning on the AC….which they hadn’t.

So, are you strict about using your AC (or heater) or do you just use it whenever, however?