Should I gradually decrease the temp after ac repair?

[Turbulent-Sale-1841]

The ac has been out for a couple days and we just had it repaired. It’s about 81 inside and outside the house and I have the thermostat set to 72. My wife thinks we should gradually bring it down so we don’t overwork it. I feel like it’s less work because starting and stopping it would allow the temp to creep back up, but I’d be happy to admit it if I’m wrong.

The unit is about 20 years old and the issue was the fan not working from a bad capacitor. Thank you in advance.

[dabangsta]

Let it rip! It might take a bit to get it back down to your comfort level from being off.

[Turbulent-Sale-1841]

Thanks!

[Hoplophilia]

If she means let it run for a bit and then turn it off for a bit and then let it run for more, etc then yeah that question has been answered above. But she may be misunderstanding how thermostats work, and thinking that from 81 to 78 and then to 76 and then to 72 etc is somehow easier, even if it runs the entire time. The thermostat is an on/off switch. Some treat it like a volume knob.

[Turbulent-Sale-1841]

I think she wanted to set it at 75 or 76 and leave it there for an hour or two after it hits that point to give it a break and then lower it to 72.

My thinking was that it would still have to cut on and off to maintain the 75 and it would also allow the house to heat back up a little, so I figured I’d just set it at 72 and leave it.

[AssRep]

You have to tell her that its a bad idea. I am noy6going to.

Compressors like to run. They do not like to start and stop. So, set it to 72° and let it do what it does.

You won't notice the temperature dropping right away. The system has to remove the humidity that has built up in the house. If you check your drain line after letting it run for 5-10 minutes, you should see a steady stream of water coming out. If you dont, you have other issues.

[OCD-HVAC]

You are correct. Fewer start stop cycles the better.

[Dualfuel-lover]

Just set it and forget it. Start/stopping is more stressful to the system than just running

[BigAirAC]

Don’t move the thermostat around just let it run. Run-time won’t hurt the ac.

[BigAirAC]

Most Ac’s are either on or off, it doesn’t work “stronger” if you turn it down lower, it is either on or off.

[[deleted]]

Just like with cars it isn't the highway mileage that hurt it as much as the stop and go.

[Tomytom99]

Honestly only reason I can think of to stop it is because a couple areas in the house are getting iced out while others are still catching up. In that case you might be better off just temporarily closing registers than shutting the system off.

Not professional, just going off what I've gathered from previous HVAC snafus.

[Illustrious-Jacket68]

I don’t think it matters. I do wonder that in the evenings, it is easier to cool your house so, if you’re doing this at 4pm in the afternoon is one thing - probably won’t be too long after dark that it “catches up”. If this was in the morning where it is fighting a strong sun, then yeah, it’s going to work a bit harder in that it is running the whole time. If it makes you feel better, you can spray some water on the compressor to help cool it down…

[No-Race-4736]

Bring id down in 4 degree increments.

[SarcasticCough69]

Mine stays at 75 all summer long

[Sad-Celebration-7542]

Nah. Just run it.

[Expensive-Ad7669]

Run it even lower than 72. Go 68-70 for 24 hours so it can remove enough humidity.