We are in a hot area, too--Central Florida. We keep the thermostat at 79 degrees and it is usually 80 or 81 in the kitchen depending on what appliances I'm using. I'm used to it, and it is a really, really good temp for raising bread!

I'm probably in a different microclimate, but not so far from you. My kitchen is also SE, plus there aren't window coverings, though the windows are all somewhat sheltered by other structures. It's the warmest, lightest room. With the thermostat set at 76° to make the area more like 78°, the kitchen is 77-82° (according to my meat thermometer) depending on time of day, etc., and whether an oven is on.

I don't want to be running the a/c to counter the ovens, so I try to cook and bake in the evening. You'll notice, however, that your a/c will come on way late, especially if it's cloudy. The heat is fine for what I'm doing. I wouldn't try to make croissants. :) I gave up pizza for the Summer. It's a lot of heat for one-offs.

The mass of my counters doesn't get hot. If I'm baking, I don't have to put the preferment on the cable box in the heat, but I do put it on a cutting board or trivet, as well as the other stages. Otherwise, the counters (soapstone and tile) are cool enough to really slow down the rise. Your stone may do the same thing.

During the Winter, my kitchen gets down as low as 65°, though I try to keep it at about 70°. I'd rather it be warm! Hot or Cold, however, all produce goes in the fridge except bananas.

Before tearing apart your house for new ducting, unless there are health issues that demand it, there are a couple of easier fixes to try. There are coatings and paints that you can use on the stucco and roof, though I don't know if they'll also reflect desired warmth in the Winter. Also, you can get ceramic film coating on your windows that way cuts down the heat that comes in. Those are best left in place, but you could probably remove them for the cooler months.

Congrats on the new a/c!

“---What do you think is an acceptable temperature for a kitchen? ---“

That depends on two factors, relative humidity of the air, and air movement. In highly humid air you will need lower temperature to feel cool. Our body is at about 98.6F. In front of a fan, you can be cooled even if you are in a 98F room.

:--- and I alleviated some of the heat by replacing the halogen light bulbs with LED. That made a huge difference (although I did not measure it),---“

You really cannot measure it because Halogen heats you up by infrared radiation without heating up the air. In other words, the room can be colder than a freezer, you can still be warmed by a heat lamp.

“----What is your preference for ambient kitchen temperature, and what temperature is it normally in your kitchen?-------“

My house is partially 24” thick stone, and the property is very shaded. It is fairly cool for most of the day. With a little fan going, I can get by without A/C unless it is very very hot and humid, then I turn the A/C on.

dcarch

I live in the Gulf coast area of Tx. It's very humid most of the time and, although temps usually don't break 100, it is very HOT.

My kitchen is quite long at 23 ft and has two vents. One window facing west, sliders facing north, and an ill-fitting door to the garage in the laundry at the south end. My sliders/garage door are the culprits for quite a lot of leaks. Our single pane aluminum windows contribute, as well.

Have you checked your windows/doors to make sure that they are well caulked and have adequate weather stripping? Make sure that outlets on exterior walls are not leaking air, as well.

When we had a new system installed, the HVAC people were able to increase the amount of cool air that reached this side of the house. I felt a HUGE difference, so he may be able to take care of that for you.

I used to be miserable while cooking dinner when I had a radiant cooktop, especially if the oven was going at the same time. Since I've switched to induction, the temp in there while cooking is actually very comfortable! I no longer look like I've been doing aerobics and need to lay down under the ceiling fan after cooking dinner!

This post was edited by alex9179 on Mon, Sep 15, 14 at 10:53

Are you leaving the central A/C on constantly, or are you opening the house up overnight? It's more efficient to leave the A/C on constantly during this hot spell because it requires a lot more time and energy for the unit to remove the humidity and cool it after the house is opened.

We also run a dehumidifier in the basement all spring/summer in order to keep the A/C from having to work so hard, but we have much higher temperatures and humidity than you probably do.

We have a small open-concept home (1,270 sq. ft. - 8-years old - 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths) and all rooms stay within a degree or two of what the thermostat is set. Heat in the kitchen is generally from radiant heat, so I avoid it as much as possible by using the induction hot plate, microwave, small appliances that don't generate a lot of heat, or I'll use the convection/microwave oven if I can't bake in the solar ovens outside. Our local radio station will broadcast a heat alert for the electric company and it's suggested we keep tasks that require a lot of electricity like cooking/baking, drying clothes, running the dishwasher, to the cooler times of the day, and avoid using electricity as much as possible between 2 and 8 p.m.

I can no longer tolerate heat after I had heat stroke as a child, and again as a teen when I was on a women's softball team, so I keep our home 75-degrees F, and when the outside temperature exceeds 90-degrees and I know the high will be near 100, I raise the temperature 3 more degrees to 78. Over 100 I'll raise it to 80 - then find things to do in the basement during the hottest part of the day where it stays between 70-73-degrees - without A/C.

It's not unusual for the temperatures to stay in the high 80's and 90's until long after midnight during July and August - so "cools off of an evening" doesn't really happen until late Sept. early Oct. in Kansas.

When we moved into our home 8-years ago there were two incandescent recessed can lights over the kitchen sink (or as we call them HEATcandescent lights) and they raised the temperature 5-7degrees in that area of the kitchen when they were on. We quickly replaced them with compact fluorescent bulbs and now have LED bulbs for those recessed lights.

Years ago we got a tip from our HVAC technician when I asked him about saving money and he suggested we keep the fan on the unit on constantly. You will avoid those swings of several degrees before the AC (or furnace) kicks on, and you will experience more even temperatures throughout the home. The fan will also last longer by not being kicked on and off frequently during use. Because we leave the fan on constantly, we also change the filter once a month.

-Grainlady

Interesting. When I lived in Southern California, I never had air conditioning and never missed having it. We were always in coastal areas. When I was growing up, the old Spanish house had thick walls. Perhaps once or twice during the Santana season, we could have used AC.
Here in Texas, I think I would die without AC in the kitchen. I have a vent right over where I stand when I cook. Today, it is 72, and AC is off. However, over the summer, bread proofed in a third of the amount of time recommended in Flour Water Salt Yeast, and that contributed to my unsatisfactory hole-i-ness. I always try to follow directions the first time I use a recipe, even though I dislike feeling controlled by recipes. It was probably 80 in the kitchen. That is my maximum indoor allowable temperature in the summer. I agree that having your AC person direct the flow to most needed areas is a good idea. I need more AC in the kitchen when I am cooking. I care less about bedrooms where I do not spend time during the day, for instance. However, I recently read a medical article about sleep in which the researcher stated that it is better to sleep in a cold room, so night time temperature regulation is also a consideration.

The house is pretty well sealed and does not leak a significant amount of air. Almost all of the windows are double paned, except for the ones in the new kitchen door. There are really only a few times when we really need A/C, although those time seem to be increasing - especially for this year. Some years we hardly needed it at all and could get cool ocean breezes in the evenings, but less so now. However, if we open the windows, we do have to contend with whatever noise there is outside. I do not like to hear dogs barking, and some of them are quite a nuisance in my neighborhood, but if the windows are closed, it is not bad, and I only hear them in my bedroom.

I used to live in Houston, and the summers there were really unbearable, and so I did not stay in the summer. Rice did not have summer school, as it did not expect students to have to endure Houston summers, but spring and fall were bad enough.

Another odd thing about our microclimates - the new thermostat has WiFi, and it uses GPS to determine what zip code we are in, and then it displays an outdoor temperature for that zip code. Unfortunately, the area for our zip code is fairly large, and the weather station is about one mile from the beach, while we are three miles from the beach. This week-end, we were ten degrees hotter than the beach, and so the thermostat was way off. Our temps were more similar to the adjacent zip code 90230 for western Culver City, as that weather station is about the same distance from the beach that we are, but I cannot manually override our zip code in the thermostat, and so if I want to know the outside temperature, I have to go outside. In the winter, there should not be this difference, however. In the summer, if you go three miles east of us, it is even hotter and you would be in yet another microclimate.

I do have an induction hot plate and use that for my pressure cooker, which is the only compatible pan I have, except for the cast iron, which I have not used on it yet. I do not use the large oven when it is hot and instead use the toaster oven, which puts out less ambient heat. In the past, we have cooked outdoors when it was too warm to cook indoors, but yesterday it was 91 outdoors, and so it was too hot to cook outdoors. The only other time we avoid cooking outdoors is when it rains, which is more rare lately than the hot days. I had to water my plants early in the morning this week-end, and still some suffered because of the heat. The basil got very wilted, and two of the orchids lost some of their leaves. I may have to move those two, as they are otherwise doing very well. The chili plants were unaffected, and most of my other plants can handle heat, especially the bromeliads, cacti, and succulents.

We have recessed halogen in the garage, and I am thinking we should replace those with LED also - I think there are some good substitutions available now. We have heat alerts when people are asked to use less electricity, but beach areas are less affected by this. We have the cooling going all the time, but the daytime temp (when we are not home) is 78, as is the temp for when we are sleeping. Kevin ordered new air filters, but when we only used heat, we changed them only once a year, as we seldom used heat. We will be using A/C much more than heat, now that we have it, however.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: California heat wave

This post was edited by publickman on Mon, Sep 15, 14 at 12:21

LED lights:

The light from an LED lamp is very cool because it lacks the infrared component. However, LED works on low voltage DC power. To make LED work, the 120VAC house power has to be rectified, reduced and regulated. To do so, it requires electronics, which generates heat. Depending on how efficient the circuitry is, it may not necessarily be better than CFL. Read the watts rating or measure with a meter.

Dehumidifier:

I think it is much better to use a small window A/C to remove moisture in the summer time. A dehumidifier is the same machine as an air conditioner, except with a dehumidifier, all the heat used for remove humidity is dump in the same room. An air conditioner dumps the heat outside the house. In the winter, the heat dumped inside the house can reduce your heating.

Air conditioner:

For many air conditioners, it is a good idea to check the specifications as to how the unit is to be installed. Many air conditioners are designed to take advantage of the moisture drained to the outside. Instead of the water dripping out and wasted, the outside fan is designed to splash the water on to the condensing coil. The water cools the hot coil because of the latent heat content of water and saves a lot of energy in running the A/C unit.

dcarch

Yep, I live south of Houston. It hasn't changed! Since we replaced the 30 yr old HVAC, we usually keep the summer thermostat set at 78. I tried 80 but couldn't take it when doing any kind of activity. We have fans going in whatever room we're in, as well. I need air movement to be comfortable.

Sounds like you are doing everything you can to minimize heat production.
Like Grainlady, we are switching to LEDs as the variety of other bulbs go out. They DO make a big difference!

You might seek advice from the "Heating & Air Conditioning" forum here. I found it very helpful, just by reading, when deciding on our system and asking our HVAC people questions.

I did get help from the HVAC forum, but I followed the advice from my local HVAC installer, He lives only a few blocks from my house, was recommended by the realtor who sold us this house, had great review on Yelp, and seemed very knowledgeable. He also gave us he best quote and had the best installation plan.

In addition to furniture, I also design lighting, and I test the heat put out by different light bulbs using a thermocouple probe, which is accurate to less than a degree. I have switched from plain incandescent light bulbs to medium base Philips LED (which is approved by UL) to reduce the amount of heat output, and the change was drastric. With a regular incandescent bulb in one table lamp, the temperature of the shade was 40 degrees higher than with the LED. With LED light bulbs, UL will allow us to use shades with covered tops and bottoms, as there is so little heat generated by the LED bulbs, compared to the incandescent. I meet with the UL inspector about once every three months. The new LED light bulbs are dimmable, and that is a fairly new feature for them. Halogen light bulbs get extremely hot - LED light bulbs remain cool to the touch.

Humidity is not a problem for us, but the excess moisture taken from our air now goes out of a tube that waters our side yard, which was desert up until now.
Lars

Somewhat like gardening, every season is different...every personal environment is different. In NYC we have had a lovely summer. Rare we have run the central air. Just a bit to kick out some humidity. A few years ago we ran it so often it was a bit scary but needed. Nice to have central air/heat.
It is zoned to have the main comfort temp in the main living area...and i often shut the vents in the kitchen in the winter months...open in the summer. And do turn on the stove vent on low while prepping to get some air flow.
The cooking/kitchen area should have comfort for whatever your needs are. I like my kitchen chilly in the winter and a bit lower than the heat of the steamy exterior of the summer heat. It just need to feel cooler or warmer by 5-10. And dryer.
We have extreme 4 season changes. Your supplier/installer should be able to do the same for your needs. Based on your home and cooking needs.

BTW, speaking of LED lights:

The next time when you are on a plane at night, take a good look outside when take off and landing. Now you see the night aerial city scene in that yellowish glow, which is the color of sodium vapor HID lights. In another few months, that whole world will change to a cool white color of LED lights.

Our town has replaced all the street lights with LED lights. It must be confusing to extraterrestrial occupants looking from another planet.

All towns will be replacing street lights with LED lights to save energy and labor. HID bulbs last about 8,000 hours, LED bulbs can last up to a 100,000 hours.

Also, LEDs operate on low DC voltage, that makes it perfect for solar panels. Those of you who are interested in saving energy costs, the time has come.

dcarch

Lars, thank-you for bringing up the LEDs! I have some outside, but I never thought about the temperature viz-a-viz shades. I have a hanging lamp, which I love, which had its shade slightly scorched, so it can't be on for very long without smelling. I've put LED light on my list. Hopefully, that does the trick. :)

So I was thinking about your thermostat last night. It doesn't make any sense! Surely it doesn't have a GPS receiver in it because it's stationary! That would be a waste. So is it controlled by your phone? Using your phone's GPS to set the zipcode? If so, and you can't just hack the app to make it return Culver City every time, is there some way you can do a relay through your wi-fi and run through the settings while your phone is in Culver City?

We have switched as many lights as possible to LED's. They make a big difference. ALthough last night our power was out from 6pm until 3:25am. It was miserable. We went out to dinner, hung out at a friend's house until 11 and came home to sleep( or tried to sleep) downstairs. The upstairs was stifling!
So happy to have my a/c on now!

We don't have smart phones, but Kevin has a tablet that he can use to control the thermostat. Kevin's tablet also has GPS that identifies us as being in Westchester 90045 (which we are), and he cannot change that either. I am not sure where the GPS is - it might be part of our modem.

I've heard that Edison has frequent rolling blackouts during hot days in the Valley, but we have LADWP, and being closer to the beach, we do not have the rolling blackouts, as A/C is not used as much here.

I am giving my old window A/C to a co-worker who has not A/C and said she could not sleep last night until 3:00AM.

We used to go out to eat or shop when it was hot in the house, and now we want to stay in when it is hot. I still want to try to get it a bit cooler in the kitchen, but I will have to wait for the A/C installer to come back. I think he is extremely busy at the moment.

Below is a link to the light bulbs we are now using in our table lamps. They look odd, being flat, but that is not noticeable when they are turned on. Yesterday, a table lamp next to our sofa stopped working, and I think it needs to be rewired :(. Maybe I can have that done here at work.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Philips LED light bulb

Our primary home is an even hotter part of CA and 100 degree days are not unusual. But, it rarely gets above 80 in the house. The AC is usually set to 73, in the evenings.. The big changes? Replaced all the windows, a new HVAC system and repaired ducting, and lots of tall shade trees -- all of this in a 1937 house.

Your utility may have a free home energy audit program, to check duct integrity and insulation effectiveness.

If this is your home not a commercial kitchen then the temp should be the same as the rest of the house except when cooking. Depending on where your t-stat is located will be how fast the a/c responds. Sounds like they didn't get enough airflow to the kitchen. May be more of a issue than adjustments, don't give the final payment until you are satisfied. A 10% retainer has a load voice.

I agree that the kitchen s/be the same temperature as the rest of the house. Damper adjustment made a BIG difference in our kitchen temperature when we had a new system and ductwork installed a few years ago. A couple of trips back by the HVAC people got things tweaked for a great result.

We're in North Carolina and AC is a must and I'm grateful for it every single day. :) It's been helpful for me to have a countertop convection/microwave oven to use in the summer instead of turning on the range oven.

I'm not sure I agree about the kitchen being the same temperature as the rest of the house. I mean, that could be the ideal, but mine never is. There are masses in there that are cold in the Winter because they never completely warm up. In the Summer, the kitchen gets all that moring and noon sun. Today, when I walked in at noon, it felt hot though the thermometer only said 80. The air had already gone on upstairs, where there's a skylight and the temp is set higher, and the heat hadn't gotten into the living room yet, so that 80° really felt differentially warm.

I find that where there are pinch points--doorways, and moreso doorways with a partially closed door--the air doesn't flow and mix that fast. I don't know the physics so well, but that's what happens IRL.

OH! Unless you meant that as a value judgment, like the house should be made so that doesn't happen? But that would raise the temperature in the rest of the house and make the a/c go on more! I wouldn't want that to happen. I guess maybe that's what Lars needs, though.