# If you want it to be colder, do you turn the air conditioner up or down? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817 "2018-07-12T22:40:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/1 "2018-07-12T22:40:46Z")
Based on a conversation with wife, I’m curious what the rest of the dope thinks. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/2 "2018-07-12T22:42:01Z")
You turn the thermostat down and the fan/blower up. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/3 "2018-07-12T22:48:21Z")
Lower numbers=cooler air! ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/4 "2018-07-12T22:56:38Z")
If you’re turning your air conditioner up or down, then turning it up makes things colder and turning it down allow them to get warmer. I don’t adjust my air conditioner directly. I have a thermostat that does that for me. I don’t turn my thermostat up or down; that doesn’t make sense. I set it to a goal temperature and turn on the heat or AC, at which point it runs at constant intensity until it likes the temperature, then (intermittently) stops. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/5 "2018-07-12T23:08:14Z")
Because of internal conflict I deliberately skid this and ask about turning the\* temperature\* up or down. ---
**Author:** ![HowSoonIsThen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@HowSoonIsThen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HowSoonIsThen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/6 "2018-07-12T23:49:50Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > You turn the thermostat down and the fan/blower up. This is the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![HowSoonIsThen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@HowSoonIsThen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HowSoonIsThen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/7 "2018-07-12T23:52:05Z")
If I was driving and someone asked me to turn the air con down, I’d turn the fan down. So the temperature would technically remain the same, but we’d probably feel warmer with less air on us. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/8 "2018-07-12T23:55:17Z")
Cold, down and warm, up ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/9 "2018-07-12T23:55:29Z")
Up. Down would make it blow less hard, and be warmer. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/10 "2018-07-13T00:10:04Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > You turn the thermostat down and the fan/blower up. > [@Ruken](#): > > Because of internal conflict I deliberately skid this and ask about turning the\* temperature\* up or down. > [@HowSoonIsThen](#): > > If I was driving and someone asked me to turn the air con down, I’d turn the fan down. So the temperature would technically remain the same, but we’d probably feel warmer with less air on us. I agree with all of these. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/11 "2018-07-13T00:45:23Z")
If I want it colder in my house, I press the down arrow on my thermostat. If I want it warmer in my house, I press the up arrow. Even though we are pressing buttons and not turning a dial, we say “turn it down” for colder or “turn it up” for warmer. ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/12 "2018-07-13T00:55:30Z")
I turn it down on my house and up in my car. Likely due to the fan/thermostat difference aforementioned. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/13 "2018-07-13T01:01:28Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Even though we are pressing buttons and not turning a dial, we say “turn it down” for colder or “turn it up” for warmer. That’s what we say generally, but it’s specifically tied with the implied “turn the thermostat…” Ie, “ It’s hot in here, can you turn it (the thermostat) down” However if someone were to specifically say “can you turn the air conditioner up” it unquestionably means make it colder ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/14 "2018-07-13T01:57:31Z")
Most air conditioners these days have a thermostat that allow you to set the desired temperature. As such, it makes sense to refer to it as turning the air conditioner down–since you are reducing the numbers. On the other hand, the older models might simply have a setting that increases or decreases the amount of time the air conditioner is blowing cold air. On those, it makes sense to say that you are turning them up. Since the former are more common than the latter these days, I go with turning it down, even if I’m using an older air conditioner. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/15 "2018-07-13T02:00:09Z")
We turn the a.c. up up to make the temperature go down. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/16 "2018-07-13T03:08:17Z")
I say turn the temp up/down, not turn the AC or themostat up/down. IMO if the phrase is unclear, I change it, not create an exception and hope we all remember it. Turn up the TV, needs no help. Turn up the AC? Unclear. PS I’ve been running into many people the last few years that use any old word/made up word and insist “Everybody knows what I mean, it’s how I talk”:smack: like it’s a style choice. One doofus said (as a threat of violence) he would “facilitate me to the floor”:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/17 "2018-07-13T03:29:05Z")
It’s all arbitrary. So when I want it to be colder, I turn the air conditioner inwards. Okay, seriously, I turn it up. You’re increasing the level of work your air conditioner is doing, so it’s “going up”. Same thing with a furnace. When you turn that up, you’re increasing the level of work it’s doing. So both machines are going up even though they are producing opposite results. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/18 "2018-07-13T03:39:40Z")
On a related note, English speakers talk about the future being in front of them and the past being behind them. Which makes no sense when you think about it literally. The past and the future aren’t locations. You can’t reach out your hand and touch the future or lean back and be in the past. But apparently the metaphor linking the future with being ahead of us and the past being behind us is a common one and most languages use it. But it’s not universal. I once read about a tribe in South America and in their language they spoke about the past being in front of them and the future being behind them. And when they were questioned about this, they were able to give a surprisingly logical explanation. We know what’s happened in the past but we don’t know what will happen in the future. And we can see things that are in front of us while we can’t see what’s behind us. So it made sense to these people that the past, which we know about, is in front of us where we can “see” it and the future, which we don’t know about, is “unseen” behind our backs. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/19 "2018-07-13T04:06:11Z")
“Turn it up” = “Increase the power”. Which, for an AC unit, increased power makes for colder air. So turn it up to get cold. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/20 "2018-07-13T04:38:29Z")
I adjust the temperature. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817.md?page=2)