What would you do - in Europe for six weeks: leave my air conditioner on?

Why waste the money cooling a house where no one is home? unless you have houseplants that would die because it was too hot? leave all your shades closed. Why worry about stuffy when no one is home? When you get home you might "suffer" for a bit while the air comes back on. My vote is to leave it off, and unplug appliances you don't need. the toaster oven, lamps, etc. Keep a light on with a timer so it looks like you are home at night (until your regular bed time) do all the things you need to do before leaving, cancel the paper, hold your mail. Have a trusted neighbor or relative look in at your place once a week if possible. how long would it take for the stuffiness to go away? Shouldn't be more than an hour or so for the air to start working again once you get home! Sounds like you have a fantastic trip planned...so enjoy!

Central air? Leave it on, but set the themostat at about 79 or 80 If it is a window unit- leave it off. We renently had Time-Warner's Intellegent Home System installed at our house. Included with the great security system is a themostat we can monitor from our smart phones or laptops or ipads. We can change the temp anytime! We can also turn on or off certain lights (they are set to specific times, but we can over-ride that or change it anytime). We can check the cameras at anytime, too.
If your cable company, or any security companies offer this, it would be worth the money to add it to your house. It has eased our minds when we are away.

In Georgia with high humidity, I would set it to 80, maybe 82 and leave it on. It run a bit but enough to pull out some of the humidity. High humidity and heat could cause some problems.

With that humidity I'd absolutely leave the A/C on! (Not absolutely necessary, but) Is there anybody you trust with a key who could check on the house? They could also catch broken pipes, etc...Just set your thermostat higher than usual - just low enough to ward off mildewy linens, sweaty windows, etc. You know the drill...and be thankful you're not leaving in August ;-)

I agree, leave it on. Set it up high enough that it won't run all the time but the heat and humidity is bad for a lot of things around the house.

It's really not a stuffiness issue, it's definitely the humidity issue. Even now since the days have been cooler, I'm leaving the air off for a bit but I can feel the stickiness on the staircase and smell it in the rug! For that amount of time and that time of year set it at 78 or so. It should run for a few hours a day and dry things out enough to keep the mildew down.

Anna, Given the length of time you'll be away, it would be a good idea to arrange for someone to check your home periodically. Many home insurance policies require that, but you'll have to check regarding the specifics of your policy. Is your air conditioner capable of shutting completely off (ie: no fan) when the "set point" is reached? That might be a way to save some money in operating costs? If you adjust the set point to perhaps 85?F (or so) that should minimize the operation while still keeping the humidity at an acceptable level. Toni, The security & home automation system you described is a great thing to have when travelling! Hopefully you have a decent data plan on your Smartphone so that you can access it while you're away without racking up huge roaming bills. Cheers!

A friend has the security system app, and turns everything off when she leaves but restarts it the day she flies back, and by the time she's in the house, it's habitable again (she's in Miami). I don't have the app so I just turn everything off (except timer and light) and deal with the heat when I get back (but I live in Toledo now).

Agree with all the others; leave the AC on at a temp (82 to 85) that will allow it to keep the house from getting mouldy but still allow it to cut off occasionally. Your other concern should be water. All of our home damage while we've been gone was due to water. One time the tube that carries water for the ice-maker into the back of the fridge developed a hairline crack in it and leaked the whole time we were gone. What a mess! Another time, the city was doing work on the water line outside at the street, and when they turned the water back on for the whole neighborhood, the pressure was way higher than normal, so it damaged the pressure valves on our water heater and caused a massive leak from that in the basement. Turn off your water at the street when you leave home. You can do this yourself if you live in a house and not an apartment building or condo.

On top of issues mentioned if you have a computer it can be damaged in exteme heat we have had that happen before so good to keep it low but on

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. Karen is right, it's not the heat alone, it's the high humidity we're dealing with in Atlanta (think sauna). Even set at 82, the air would probably run nonstop all day, or keep cutting on and off, which is even worse, energy consumption wise. I'll probably leave it on, set higher than 82. Neighbors will keep an eye out but the trusted friend with the key is scatterbrained and would probably leave it for a week or more set at 70, ergo my dilemma. Toni, your system sounds awesome. I'll check with my security company if they offer something similar; probably not or they'd advertise it....Thank you again, you helped make up my mind.

Anna, It really should not run non stop set at 82. I leave mine on in that range every time I leave my Atlanta home and I can tell by the bills it is not running non stop. If it is you may have other problems. But I would not leave it off...mold is not a good option :)

Cancel the newspaper? Maybe not. Friends of mine just "happened" to have their apartment burgled (7th floor penthouse in a large condo complex) twice in a row when they were abroad. Since then, they do not cancel the paper, but have their neighbor pick it up every day and recycle it. Not one burlary attempt since then, and they go away a couple of times a year. Was it someone in the newspaper office, the delivery person, or coincidence?

I second the notion on turning off the water. We have heard horror stories about water leaks. We turn our water off any time we will be gone 2 days or more. If gone more than 2 days, we also trip the main breaker for the water heater. I don't know how long it would take for the water to evaporate out and damage the water heater, but we will never find out, it is a no brainer to shut it off. Dan

Being from Texas, I know about the heat and humidity. We just went away for a week and left our central air on. I set the thermostat to 85. When we got home it was warm, but not humid. We will be gone for two weeks in July, when our average temps. will be in the high 90's. I plan to leave thermostat at 85 once again. Sure, it will run, but at least there won't be mold, dead plants, and melted candles.

With the southern Indiana heat and humidity, we leave the thermostat at 85 for however long we are gone. Had a friend in the LA San Fernando Valley whose paint peeled off the walls when the house was sealed up in summer with no air circulation. Thanks for the info on turning off the water!

With a programmable thermostat, I usually set mine for 80 degrees if we are gone in the summer. It only takes about 10 minutes for the house to cool off once we return, even when it's over 100 outside.

I don't mess with the thermostat, but I do turn the hot water tank off (throw the breaker). Why would you want to pay for electricity to keep re-heating the same water when no one is there to use it? In fact, I do that even if only gone for a few days.

If central air, than, yes, absolutely leave it on. Most people who live in warm/humid climates do this. My parents, for example, live in S. FL in the winter, up north in spring & summer. When gone from FL for around 5 months, the thermostat in their home is set higher than it would be when they're there (in low-mid 80s), but it's absolutely left on. In hot/humid climates, like S. FL and Atlanta, it's imperative you do this; if you didn't, then things would get moldy, certain items could get warped or cracked (such as paint), etc. and fixing items like that could be much more expensive than the price of leaving the AC on for a few weeks, or even months! Just set the thermostat higher (so that, to your point, it DOESN'T cost a fortune!),; again, low-mid 80s should do it, and you, and your house (!) will be fine. Have a great 6 weeks in Europe; sounds awesome!