It’s possible that what you don’t know about your air conditioner is costing you more. Especially when it comes to deciding between the AUTO and ON settings on your thermostat. Your comfort and utility cost will be affected if you make an informed selection about these settings.
Defined AUTO and ON
Let’s start with the fundamentals. There are two major thermostat operation modes on all single-stage air conditioning systems: AUTO and ON. (The term “single-stage” refers to the air conditioner’s ability to only run at one speed.) Either it’s on or it’s off when it comes to cooling your home.)
A compressor, often known as a fan, motorize component of an air conditioner that pumps warm or cooled air around your area. When the temperature reaches the thermostat’s set point, both the compressor (the portion that cools/warms the air) and the fan (the portion that propels the conditioned air) cycle on and off simultaneously when the air conditioner is set to AUTO. After your air conditioner turns on, even when the cooling or heating cycle is turned off, the fan continues continually.
Let’s move on to the advantages and disadvantages of AUTO and ON now that we’ve covered the nuts and bolts. Let’s start with energy efficiency.
AUTO vs. ON
- AUTO consumes less energy than ON.
Because the fan is continually operating, the ON setting consumes more energy than the AUTO option. Using the ON option, according to one Torrent power expert, would force the fan to operate 200 hours longer each month in a home where the air conditioner would ordinarily cycle off 30% of the time. The homeowner would have to pay an extra Rs.600 per month as a result of this.
- AUTO Controls Humidity Better Than ON
In Sarasota and Charlotte counties, humidity control is an important feature of air conditioners. The effectiveness of your air conditioner’s dehumidification is influence by the AUTO and ON settings.
Consider how beads of condensation develop on a glass of cold water on a hot day to understand how your air conditioner removes humidity from the air. Similarly, air flows across the cold surface of the evaporator (interior) coil during the cooling cycle of your air conditioner, causing moisture to gather and create droplets.
These moisture droplets trickle into the drain pan and run out of your home when the system cycles off and the coil begins to warm up in AUTO mode. When the cooling cycle turns off in ON mode, however, the fan continues to run. As the coil warms up, the air passing over it evaporates part of the moisture, allowing it to return to your house.
As a result, AUTO mode outperforms ON mode in terms of dehumidification. However, it’s crucial to remember that the thermostat setting isn’t the only thing that influences. How efficiently your air conditioner eliminates humidity. Other considerations come into play as well. Such as the size of your air conditioner in relation to the size of your home.
- Compared to AUTO, ON improves air filtration and circulation.
ON has the upper hand when it comes to air filtering. When the blower turns on, it continuously circulates air through your AC filter. This permits the filter to capture more allergens such as dust, pollen, dander, and other particles. Some whole-house air filtration systems are more effective when there is constant air movement.
Of course, higher filtering necessitates more frequent filter replacement or cleaning. However, if you are worried about indoor air quality for health reasons, this is simply a minor disadvantage.
- ON Can Assist You in Maintaining a Consistent Temperature in Your Home
Furthermore, in ON mode, the enhanced airflow might help to reduce hot and cold areas in your rooms. The air circulation may also help you stay more comfortable in between your air conditioner’s heating and cooling cycles. Ceiling fans or portable fans can, of course, provide a similar effect.
- Variable-speed systems combine the advantages of both AUTO and ON modes.
Consider updating your single-stage air conditioner to a variable speed system to get the benefits of both the AUTO and ON settings. Variable speed systems modify airflow and cooling on the fly to maintain a constant temperature, removing temperature fluctuations between cooling cycles. This implies the system is virtually always on, but it is also very energy efficient. It can run at a lesser capacity and does not cycle on and off as frequently. As a result, speed control air conditioners may provide continuous filtration, adequate humidity management, and consistent temperatures while also being extremely energy efficient.
