# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/41 "2018-07-14T15:04:01Z")
The modern thermostat is a closed-loop controller. You tell the thermostat what the _set point_ temperature is. This is the temperature you want the room to be. As an example, if you set the set point temperature to 72 °F, the thermostat will actively control the air conditioner (by turning it on off on off on off…) so that the temperature is at (or around) 72 °F. How does it actually do that? The air conditioner is always measuring the actual air temperature, and comparing it to the set point temperature. This is an oversimplification, but if the actual air temperature is greater than the set point temperature, it applies power to the AC compressor and it blows out cold air. If the actual air temperature is lower than the set point temperature, it turns off the AC compressor and it does not blow cold air. (In reality there is a non-zero “bandwidth” around the set point temperature. As an example, if the set point temperature to 72 °F and the bandwidth is 2 °F, the compressor will kick on when the temperature is greater than 73 °F and kick off when the temperature is less than 71 °F.) As some others have said, “turning up” the air conditioner can have two meanings: 1. Increasing the set point temperature (e.g. from 72 °F to 73 °F) thus making the room slightly _warmer_. 2. Increasing the power consumption of the air conditioner. This is achieved by decreasing the set point temperature (e.g. from 72 °F to 71 °F) thus making the room slightly _colder_. Therefore, when someone says they want you to “turn up” the air conditioner, you should ask them if the want the room warmer or colder. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/42 "2018-07-14T15:20:32Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > Now to solve the problem of the past tense of “blow dry” This is only a problem if you spell it “blow dry”. Spell it “blow-dry” and “blow-dried” becomes completely unproblematic. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/43 "2018-07-14T18:29:56Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Based on a conversation with wife, I’m curious what the rest of the dope thinks. This comes up in conversations at my house also. I clicked None of the Above. 🙂 Here’s a loosely related question: When you want to turn on the A/C, or a light, by changing the position of an ordinary wall switch, do you ‘Open’ the switch or ‘Close’ it? (Assume your language lacks the terms ‘turn on’ and ‘turn off.’) . ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/44 "2018-07-14T19:49:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > At least most air conditioner controls are clearly marked. What gets me are refrigerators. Those are usually marked 1 to 10, with the “explanation” of “10 = max, 1 = min”. Well, yes, I was awake in 1st grade math, but is 1 the minimum temperature, or the minimum amount of refrigeration? I’m glad I’m not the only one; first time my parents went away and left me at home for a few days by myself, the fridge started freezing things and I pretty near had a breakdown trying to work out which way I needed to turn the dial… ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/45 "2018-07-14T21:28:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > At least most air conditioner controls are clearly marked. What gets me are refrigerators. Those are usually marked 1 to 10, with the “explanation” of “10 = max, 1 = min”. Well, yes, I was awake in 1st grade math, but is 1 the minimum temperature, or the minimum amount of refrigeration? 1 means minimum amount of refrigeration. If you turn it to 10, you’ll usually find that it eventually begins to freeze things left on the top shelf of the refrigerator. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/46 "2018-07-14T21:59:08Z")
_Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment seat; But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!_ On the temperature thing, I have to disagree with anyone thinking **up is down** and **down is up** … What color is the sky in your world? You want it colder, Turn it Down. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/47 "2018-07-14T22:24:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. While that’s certainly consistent, the reason this is a question at all is the disconnect between temperature and whether the machine is working harder. With a furnace, temp and work line up but not with an a/c. Like Ruken, I try to avoid the conflict by just saying “make it colder!”. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/48 "2018-07-15T02:57:09Z")
Two I would deal with are down (digital displays) and one up (knob labeled “cooler/1-8”). ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/49 "2018-07-16T01:29:42Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > This comes up in conversations at my house also. I clicked None of the Above. 🙂 > > Here’s a loosely related question: When you want to turn on the A/C, or a light, by changing the position of an ordinary wall switch, do you ‘Open’ the switch or ‘Close’ it? (Assume your language lacks the terms ‘turn on’ and ‘turn off.’) > . Close the switch If you OPEN it you OPEN the contacts and disconnect the current from the device you want on. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/50 "2018-07-16T04:00:52Z")
Around here we say “Make more cold” / “Make less cold” for AC. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/51 "2018-07-16T15:40:02Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Because of internal conflict I deliberately skid this and ask about turning the\* temperature\* up or down. This is how I do it. I can’t reconcile the up/down difference in my own brain, so I break it down into this logical unit. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/52 "2018-07-16T15:55:28Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I’m glad I’m not the only one; first time my parents went away and left me at home for a few days by myself, the fridge started freezing things and I pretty near had a breakdown trying to work out which way I needed to turn the dial… That’s because my mother wasn’t around. After she left I was wondering why the saucisson and chorizo were trying to freeze, until I realized she’d turned the fridge to the coolest setting. When you’re in the North Pole, the only possible surface direction is South. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/53 "2018-07-18T02:15:20Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > “Turn it up” = “Increase the power”. Which, for an AC unit, increased power makes for colder air. So turn it up to get cold. This is how I would think of it, though ACs get “cranked up” more than “turned up” to make it cooler. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/54 "2018-07-18T02:21:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > At least most air conditioner controls are clearly marked. What gets me are refrigerators. Those are usually marked 1 to 10, with the “explanation” of “10 = max, 1 = min”. Well, yes, I was awake in 1st grade math, but is 1 the minimum temperature, or the minimum amount of refrigeration? In one of my cars, a very old BMW, the air vents have a wheel control to open or close them, with the positions marked with a vertical line at the top and an O at the bottom. It turns out the vertical line is like a “1” for on (integer as Boolean, like in assembly or C programming languages) and the 0 is for off. But since it’s an air vent, my wife always gets it backwards, thinking they’re symbols for an open flue (O) and a sealed one (|). Then there was the time a chicken was following a series of arrows drawn on the ground the wrong way because they thought they were footprints leading in the direction a bird was walking… ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-it-to-be-colder-do-you-turn-the-air-conditioner-up-or-down/817817/55 "2018-07-18T02:25:04Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > This comes up in conversations at my house also. I clicked None of the Above. 🙂 > > Here’s a loosely related question: When you want to turn on the A/C, or a light, by changing the position of an ordinary wall switch, do you ‘Open’ the switch or ‘Close’ it? (Assume your language lacks the terms ‘turn on’ and ‘turn off.’) > . I wouldn’t say to open or to close the lights in English, but in fact, the verbs for switching on/off electric lights in Chinese are exactly that: “opening” a switch enables a mechanism on, “closing” is to disable it. The fact that it is enabled by means of closing an electrical circuit loop is an implementation detail. [Previous 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)