William Skipper and others discuss why air conditioning struggles in extreme heat and humidity. Above 95°F, AC hits capacity limits and homes often won't reach their thermostat setpoint. Avoid large temperature setbacks when you leave, or your system will run all day trying to catch up.
Questions this episode answers
Above 95°F (units are designed to handle 95 degrees and below).
They referred to 'latent cooling' as dehumidification.
Keep changes within about 3 to 5 degrees.
Chapters
Today we're talking about why it's so hot outside. My temperature in the house is not coming down. So let's just say it's 100 degrees outside and I have my thermostat inside set to 68. And it's never getting to 68. Why is that?
I don't wanna tell you how to.
Feel.
How to live your own life.
In the hotter times of the year that we got right now where we, or you're heading into right now where we've got a lot of humidity, that unit has to do a lot of latent cooling. And for those that don't understand what latent cooling is, that's simple word of that is dehumidification. We're having dehumidified a lot before we can change the actual sensible temperature, which is what you read on the thermostat. And if we raise that any more than that and the humidity in the house is getting higher and higher, that unit's having to overcome that humidity before it overcomes the, the temperature. And a lot of times you'll find that unit, your temperature start going backwards instead of upwards because it can't overcome the heat. It's just continuous heat. And it can't dehumidify fast enough to get the sensible down to where you start changing the temperature to get back where it's at. So you have a lot to play into. Especially in this area in the south with the humidity, it puts a toll on that system and you really want to keep it within 3 to 4, 5 degrees is the most I would ever want to see anybody change the temperature up or down.
Yeah, I would, I would agree with that. Because especially when they get home at, you know, 5, 36, you know, you coming off the hardest part of the day and you're trying to, you know, yank it down to get comfortable. And then if you start cooking dinner or adding heat to the house because you're cooking dinner or drying clothes, it's just going to make everything start stacking up.
Yeah. Not only, not only are you, are you coming in and cooking dinner, but exactly what you're saying, you got everybody coming in, so the doors opening and closing and opening and closing and opening and closing.
My temperature is climbing in the afternoon. It won't reach set point. Well, one reason is the unit is not designed to handle that kind of extreme heat. They're designed to handle a temperature 95 degrees and below. So once you go above 95, you're.
Out of this capacity.
So you will start to see in the afternoon, that temperature starts climbing. Most of the time it's within 3 to 4 degrees of your set point. You got it on 72. You might see it late in the afternoon. Get up. 76, 75, 77. That's normal with this heat. Now, as the temperatures start to fall outside, you will start to see that unit bring it back down and get within your range.
Great tip for you. Almost made. I almost made this mistake this morning with these really hot temperatures this week in the hundreds. When it's really hot. Do not, do not set your temperature on a thermostat back when you leave. Leave it on the set point you want because it's not going to get to. It's going to struggle. It's going to struggle this time of year with the heat and the humidity. It's going to be 100 this week. It's going to struggle. So you don't want to set it back and put it behind when you want. When you get home and you want to be 75, 74. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen maybe until it gets dark, if then. So do not set the temperature back and get it behind. You know, when you leave, set it at one set boiling temperature.
I don't want to tell you how it feel, how to live your own life, but babies burning out behind the.
Wheel.
And I need you to drive. Yeah, you can do this alone.
