How Long Should an Air Conditioner Run in the Summer?

June 13, 2022

It’s summer again, which means that it’s time for you to prepare your air conditioner to keep you feeling cool and fresh. If you’re a new homeowner, you might be wondering “How long should I have my air conditioner running in the summer?”

This is actually an important, practical question, especially if you’re in charge of paying your own bills. While you were living with your parents as a kid, you most probably did not have to think about this, because the responsibility falls on your parents. 

Now that you’re living on your own, or have started your own family, then you definitely would want to know the answer to this question yourself.

The Ideal AC Run Time

How many hours should my air conditioner run per day? According to professionals, the ideal running time for an AC unit is 15-20 minutes at a time — this should be just enough to cool your home in mild temperatures.

What most people don’t realize is that air conditioners are supposed to stop running automatically once the room has already been cooled to your preferred temperature. It’s not necessarily continuously running in the same way a fan works.

When you turn on your AC, the compressor kicks in and works on getting your space cooled. Once that’s accomplished, the compressor will shut off, but not turn off the AC unit. So when the temperature outside suddenly increases, thus warming up the interiors, for example, the compressor can just kick right back on to neutralize the rising temperature. It can do so since the AC is still turned on anyway. 

Preparing for Summer

It’s highly recommended that you get your HVAC unit cleaned and prepared for the upcoming summer season before it even hits. Sometimes, you don’t realize that there’s already a problem with the unit, and the only time you realize it is when you try to use it already. By that time, however, it would have already been too late, and you would have to withstand the summer heat without any relief from your AC.

You can, however, prevent that scenario from happening. As long as you get your HVAC unit cleaned and repaired if necessary before you even begin to really need it, you should have a cool and breezy time in the summer. 

That’s why you should get in touch with a professional HVAC repair company. Leaving it in the hands of amateurs (including your DIY-loving self) could end up doing more harm than good for the unit. So call a pro as early as possible. 

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