To Adjust Or Not To Adjust? How To Deal With Hot Temperatures In Your Home

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - There are a lot of opinions about the way to handle hot temperatures inside your home.

Set it and leave it? Or, adjust as the temperatures rise and fall?

The opinions of everyday people and experts alike are decidedly mixed.

"I put it on for a little bit and when it cools down, turn it off," said Eric Edgar of Monroeville.

"I keep it set on 70 and I have a ceiling fan and a lot of fans running when I'm home," said Jessica Hention of Ross Twp.

KDKA's John Shumway also checked with Duquesne Light to see what they recommend for thermostat usage and Hollie Getiner told him to set it and leave it.

"If you have it running steadily, that's better than if you have it low and then when you turn it back on, you want to get cool fast, it's going work a little harder," she said. "A good temperature would be 78. Between 2 and 6 is when we really see the heaviest load. That's when you are feeling the heat, the sun is beating down, and so the system is working extra hard then. If you turn your air up, say you have it at 73, and you turn it up to 78, that's going to help the load on the system."

With all of that in mind - is 78 too hot for the house?

"Not when you walk outside and then walk back in," said Getiner.

She also recommended closing the blinds and not to cool unused rooms.

When you ask HVAC professionals, they are firmly on the side of set it and leave it.

"Go to your thermostat, there's a switch that says 'fan' or 'automatic,' turn it on, turn the thermostat down to 72, because it isn't going to get any lower than that," said Rocco Florio of AirPro Heating and Cooling.

But...will that get the house down to 72?

"It could all depend on how your air conditioner is sized," Florio said. "There really is no air conditioner sized to take and accommodate these temperatures at this time but it will make a difference. If you have a two-story house, and I know the bedrooms will get hotter. You want all the registers on the first floor and basement, make sure they are closed. Only keep the kitchen and family room open, everything else on the first floor and basement closed and let it work upstairs and fall down. Cold air falls."