# Reducing Your Air Conditioner's Output: "Turn it Up" or "Turn it Down"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927 "2002-04-16T12:57:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/1 "2002-04-16T12:57:49Z")
When Mrs. Rastahomie says she’d too cold, I tell her to turn the air conditioner down. However, to say “turn it down” implies turning the thermostat down to a lower temperature, thus making it colder. However, to say “turn it up” implies increasing the air conditioner’s energy output, thereby making it colder. It’s a conundrum, no? What _should_ I say? ---
**Author:** ![grettle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@grettle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grettle)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/2 "2002-04-16T13:00:47Z")
The eternal question. . . i always go with temperature rather than level of air output, because most of the air systems i mess with are programmed to respond to temperature readings. So if it’s too cold, i say, “Turn it up.” ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/3 "2002-04-16T13:17:33Z")
Turn it off? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/4 "2002-04-16T13:28:30Z")
We must speak so as to be clear at all times: “Dearest, my phalanges are frigid. Please _make it less cold_ in our domicile.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dilbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58f4c7/32.png) [@Dilbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dilbert)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/5 "2002-04-16T13:29:03Z")
I use the same method at **jkbelle**. Numbers are so much more accurate 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/6 "2002-04-16T16:04:36Z")
Depends on the context. We generally speak of turning down the AC whether we are too hot or too cold, and the context is the key. ---
**Author:** ![Delta-9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@Delta-9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delta-9)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/7 "2002-04-16T16:11:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rastahomie \* > \*\* What _should_ I say? \*\* “Honey, you look so _cute_ when you’re cold. Can we snuggle?” ---
**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:** [April 16, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/8 "2002-04-16T17:44:07Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by rastahomie_ > When Mrs. Rastahomie says she’d too cold, I tell her to turn the air conditioner down. She has to be told this? She wouldn’t have been able to come up with the idea on her own? Seriously, what you said makes perfect sense to me. Except, what if there’s more than one knob on the AC? Like a blower control and a thermostat? Which knob do you mean to turn? Great–now you’ve got a They Might Be Giants song running through my head. “Turn it up, turn it down…” ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/9 "2002-04-16T19:35:10Z")
We have struggled with this issue for years. To me, it is perfectly understandable (and may be to Mrs. Rasta too): “Turn up the AC” means “make it colder” just as “turn up the heat” means “make it hotter.” Just subsitute the word “crank” – “Crank up that AC!!” See, makes sense! “Turn down the AC” means turn the machinery down – _so_ down that it goes off. “Turn down the heat” means the same thing; it’s only coincidental that we’re also talking temperature-wise. Then again, maybe I’m the only one who thinks this way! Because hubby always says, “well, if I turn down the air, it’ll only get colder!” See, we’ve only been married 15 years. We’re still workin’ on that communication thing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/10 "2002-04-16T20:03:22Z")
To make it less cold, one would turn down the AC, or turn up the thermostat/temperature. ---
**Author:** ![fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ba0ec/32.png) [@fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fish_in_the_sky)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-your-air-conditioners-output-turn-it-up-or-turn-it-down/103927/11 "2002-04-17T04:31:32Z")
Like **Ellen Cherry** , I am up the crank-it-up persuasion.