u/kezfertotlenito

Was in the middle of cooking dinner yesterday when I realized the A/C was seriously struggling (ended up being low on freon, it's fixed now). Checked the coils, they were a sheet of ice, so I turned the whole thing off. It wasn't THAT hot out (maybe around 76?), so I thought things would be ok.

I noticed the A/C was on the fritz because it was set on 77 and it was up to 79. Had to finish cooking, by the time I was done it was up to 84 :( The oven was only on for maybe 45 minutes.

I have always read that you should avoid cooking while the A/C is running because of the heat it generates, but I never had the effect demonstrated so clearly. A 7 degree temp differential that your A/C has to fight against? That's going to raise your bill. AND IT WASN'T EVEN HOT YESTERDAY. Imagine when it's 100 degrees out!

So now I'm really brainstorming how to keep that heat out of the house this summer. My thoughts:

• use the grill more. sucks to stand outside in the heat and cook though. (Maybe sell it as a treat and get the husband to do it.)

• use appliances like crockpot, instapot, etc more. they generate way less heat (and use less electricity). If using a pressure cooker, take it outside to vent.

• consider cooking early in the morning and then reheating for dinner? or just cooking a couple days a week and eating leftovers in between. We are already pretty good about this. I usually end up doing 3 or 4 "big cooks" in a week.

• cold dinners. We are big bean salad / cowboy caviar fans around here (still gotta cook the beans somehow though). Sandwiches are also a good cold option.

• the dishwasher seems to generate a lot less heat, but it's still probably a good idea to run it overnight instead of during the day (probably cheaper electricity too)

• luckily my clothes dryer is down in the garage and well-vented but running that overnight instead of during the day is also a good idea!

How do y'all help your A/C work efficiently when everything inside the house seems determined to heat things up?