Updated at: 16-11-2022 - By: Sienna Lewis

At times, you may be tempted to leave your air conditioner running all day long on sweltering hot summer days. However, did you know that having your air conditioning on all day might cause your AC to wear out faster and create an increase in your electricity bills? The myths surrounding leaving your air conditioner on all day are addressed in this article.

Is It Safe To Leave Air Conditioner On All Day?

Although leaving your air conditioner on all day is technically safe, it is not always the best idea. Why? In order to increase your utility bills and decrease the life expectancy of your air conditioning device.

You can be doing more harm than good by running your air conditioner 24 hours a day, seven days a week:

Your Air Conditioner Isn’t The Right Size For the Room

Just keep in mind that using your air conditioner all day will raise your electric bills because of the decreased efficiency of the electricity. If your air conditioner is too large or too tiny for your home, you may experience this problem.

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If your air conditioner isn’t able to reach the temperature you set as quickly as you’d want, it’s too small, and you’ll have to run it more often. A unit that is too large will run continuously, while a one that is too small will struggle to chill your house. In either scenario, your air conditioner will degrade more rapidly.

To ensure that your new air conditioner will provide the cooling capacity your home requires, have your air conditioner installer perform a precise cooling capacity calculation. Consider the layout, insulation, and the amount of heat-generating appliances in your house when determining this value.

Your Air Conditioner Isn’t Placed In The Correct Position

Isn’t it amazing how much of an impact the position of your air conditioner has on its efficiency? You might think it’s convenient to position a large air conditioner in an unoccupied area of your home, but this really makes your air conditioner work harder to cool your entire home.

Clear any foliage that could obstruct airflow before installing an air conditioner outside your home. This additional room is required by your external air conditioning equipment in order to adequately circulate air throughout your house.

You Don’t Run Your Air Conditioner Often Enough

Although operating an air conditioner all the time isn’t ideal, it’s also a good idea not to leave it running for long periods of time. Mold can form in your air conditioner if you leave it running all the time. Use your air conditioner for a few minutes each day during the summer.

Your Thermostat Is Set Incorrectly

Lowering the temperature of your air conditioner will not result in a speedier cooling of your space. Avoid overworking your air conditioner by gradually lowering the thermostat’s setting.

You’re Not Making Use of Ceiling Fans

Adding a ceiling fan to your home will help your air conditioner reach even more people. Using fans instead of air conditioning will save you money in the long run.

How Long Should Air Conditioner Run To Cool A House?

You should be able to cool your home in 15-20 minutes if you have the right size air conditioner. Depending on the weather, it may take longer to get to your ideal temperature if it’s extremely hot or humid.

If your air conditioner operates for more than 20 minutes without lowering the temperature in your home, it may be too small for the area it’s supposed to cool. You’ll need to increase the size of your air conditioner in this situation.

Your home will be cool in about ten minutes or less if you use an air conditioner that is too large for your room. A speedier cooling time may sound appealing, but in practice, this means that your air conditioner won’t be able to efficiently reduce humidity levels, leaving you sweaty and miserable. Worse worse, your air conditioner will grow overworked and require additional maintenance.

A Quick Checklist: Factors That Impact How Long Your Air Conditioner Runs

  • If it’s hot outdoors, you’ll have to run your air conditioner for longer to get the temperature you want.
  • When you lower your thermostat setting in the summer, your air conditioner will have to work harder to get to your desired temperature.
  • Measure the size of your air conditioning unit
  • Your air conditioner’s health – When you take care of your air conditioner, it will last longer and run more efficiently. The converse is true with a neglected air conditioner. It won’t be able to keep your house at the temperature you want, and it will take a long time to get there.
  • Your home’s size – Air conditioners that are smaller in size will take longer to cool a large property.
  • Your home’s insulation – A lack of quality insulation means much of your cool air is actually leaking outside. You’ll have to use your air conditioner more frequently and for a longer period of time to cool off your home as a result.

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As a result, how can you save money on your power bill while also keeping your house cool and inviting? You can save energy by limiting the cooling of your air conditioner to simply the rooms you’re using right now and closing the rest of the doors. If you raise your thermostat a few degrees, your air conditioner will have more time to reach the desired temperature and you’ll spend less money on power.

Air Conditioner and Room Size in the Experiment

The 1.5 HP Daikin inverter wall air conditioner is what I’m using. For the past three years, I’ve been making use of it. The following is the data sheet:

Of course, as an HVAC expert, I know exactly how big or small an air conditioner should be. On the basis of my bedroom’s cooling capacity calculations, I’d chosen this air conditioner. The layout of my bedroom is as follows:

My bedroom has a total space of 170 square feet and a ceiling height of 10 feet (measured from finish floor level).

The normal ceiling height in Malaysian homes is between 9 and 10 feet.

The amount of time it takes for an air conditioner to cool a space depends in part on the height of the ceiling. A room with a high ceiling has a greater volume of air and hence more heat and moisture than a room with a lower ceiling. As a result, rooms with high ceilings typically demand larger cooling systems. In addition, a room with a high ceiling required a longer cooling time from an air conditioner.

Although the height of a room’s ceiling has an impact on the amount of time it takes for an air conditioner to cool it, other elements like the size of the room and the area of the windows have a greater impact. The air conditioner can also be installed at an optimal height if your ceiling is quite high.

In order to give you an idea of how long an air conditioner will take to cool a space, I’ll demonstrate the size of the window. For obvious reasons, a room with large windows will take longer to cool down with the same air conditioner since more heat will be allowed to enter the room.

Curtains reflect a portion of the sun’s rays and keep a room cooler by limiting heat input via the windows. If you keep the drapes closed in areas where sunlight is pouring in strongly, you can keep the room cooler and lower the amount of energy your air conditioner is using.

Additionally, it has been reported that dark-colored drapes retain heat better than light-colored ones. As a result, light-colored drapes will help keep your space more comfortable in the summertime. But I haven’t tried it out yet.

Setting the Conditions for My Experiment

The length of time it takes an air conditioner to cool down a space depends on a variety of factors. As many situations as I could think of in order to get a meaningful result, I ran my experiment.

Air Conditioner Cleanliness

However, the air filter in my air conditioner’s indoor unit is quite clean despite the fact that the fan blower is full of dust. The air conditioner’s flow of air is irregular because of a filthy fan blower. Occasionally more, Occasionally less. When the airflow rate changes, I can hear a noticeable difference in noise. As a result of this, I think it’s time for an air conditioner servicing.

In addition, my air conditioner’s exterior unit has enough of ventilation. I don’t use any kind of mechanical ventilation, and the space is adequate.

Doors, Windows and Shading of the Room

The doors to both my bedroom and bathroom are locked, so I can’t get in or out. Curtains have been partially opened to bring in some light, which I suppose most people do. Additionally, the openings for the doors and windows are clearly visible for anyone who want to make a direct comparison.

Weather and Outside Temperature

Test results are obviously influenced by environmental conditions. It takes the air conditioner less time to chill the room while it’s raining because the outside temperature is lower and the room is likewise cooler. Therefore, before I put on the air conditioner, I need to record the outside temperature and humidity.

The weather has remained quite steady during my experiment. Only a brief stretch of cloudy skies characterized the dramatic change in the weather.

Fixed Variables

A number of variables need to be controlled during the experiment in order to ensure that the results are not influenced by them. the things that have remained constant throughout the experiment are listed here.

  • During the experiment, no doors or windows were opened.
  • Except during the latter section of the trial, the curtains remain open at 50%.
  • The temperature was set to 24°C with the remote controller in cooling mode.
  • There was just one laptop in the room, which belonged to me.
  • This first-floor room has a typical brick wall.
  • A ceiling fan is not present.
  • There’s no wiggle room here.

Procedures and Time Stamps of the Experiment

All systems go and I begin my experiment. The following is the recording of my findings:

  1. RH 75%, 30°C – 11:47 a.m. Clock TURBO MODE allows you to see how well the air conditioner performs at maximum volume, which is how I generally operate it.
  2. RH 68 percent, temperature 28 degrees Fahrenheit, I’m at ease – Clock 11.58am Although I don’t have the sensation of being in an air-conditioned environment, the lower humidity does make me feel more at ease (no more feeling sticky).
  3. At 12:07 p.m., I turn off Turbo Mode and increase the fan speed to its maximum setting, which I leave at for the remainder of the time.
  4. At 12:25 p.m., the temperature was 26 degrees Fahrenheit and the relative humidity was 52%. Now that I’m in this room, I feel like I’m in an air-conditioned room, but not as cold as when I’m in a shopping mall.
  5. RH 47%, 26°C; I set the thermostat to 16°C; I tried to drop the temperature as much as possible while keeping the air conditioner working at maximum capacity.
  6. Close all the curtains since I assumed it would assist drop the temperature further. The clock reads 12:47 p.m. and the RH is 45 percent.
  7. At 1:09 p.m. local time, the relative humidity is 45 percent, and the temperature is 25 degrees Celsius. Both the RH and the temperature remained constant.

The edited video is here:.

Result

So, how long does it take my air conditioner to cool down my home? The final outcome:

My Takeaways

If you have an air conditioner that’s not brand new and flawlessly clean, my experiment and test results will serve as a good guide. I feel it accurately reflected the lives of the vast majority of people. Furthermore, this experiment illustrated the results of a “nearly worst-case situation” because of the air conditioner’s below-average cleanliness.

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In addition, the experiment’s findings indirectly suggested that the room’s air conditioner is the proper size (i.e. not too little or too large). There are many additional things to consider when measuring an air conditioner for a 170 sqft room, thus it does not mean that all air conditioners for this area should be sized the same.

For those who haven’t cleaned their air conditioners in a while, this experiment serves as a reminder of the need of doing so. My bedroom normally gets 24°C in 30 minutes or less after I finish servicing the air conditioner.