Did you know that Heating and Air Conditioning equipment can malfunction when the outside temperature goes above 95 degrees? A vast majority of systems are built to cool 15 to 20 degrees lower than the temperature outside.
So, if the people I was with and I hit triple digits, it means that our air conditioning equipment will not be able to cool our properties efficiently and will continue to run in much longer cycles. In such a situation, most people would turn the thermostat down, however that is doing more harm than good if we’re being honest. In fact, if you turn down the temperature on the thermostat, the component will be forced to work much harder, which could then cause it to become less efficient and it can also create a malfunction. Last Summer, when the temperatures were completely tepid outside, my a/c equipment broke down! At that point, the people I was with and I were seeing temperatures hovering around the triple digit mark. I try my best to adhere to the instructions provided by the Department of Energy! They request keeping the thermostat set to 70 degrees when you are at your property and at 72 degrees when the property is totally empty. The only time I deviate from the recommended temperatures is when I go to sleep during the night hours, where I set the thermostat to 67 degrees. I have tried other temperatures in between, however they are never comfortable enough to sleep in. Anyway, given that I run my HVAC equipment conservatively, I was totally caught off guard when it malfunctioned! But at least I know now that a/cs tend to malfunction when it’s severely overheated outside. And that’s because the equipment is designed that way.