I think most leave them either turned right off at this time of year, or else set at 50 F., but of course you can't generalize 100% unless you take into account houses in the north, in the middle of winter, because set much lower than 50 could allow pipes and shoppers to freeze!

What is the weather like in your area? I would leave the AC on at a temperature low enough that it will run enough to keep it pleasant inside. You don't want people turned off your house because it is hot and sticky inside.

A programmable thermostat will allow you to have the air run during the day and early evening and go to a higher temperature at night when no one will be in the house.

"I think most leave them either turned right off at this time of year, or else set at 50 F."

I am not sure my AC can even make 50F (it hit almost 100 F yesterday).

A good set-back thermostat will let you keep the place comfortable while saving on some power at night.

Be sure to leave the instruction book when you sell.

I think our realtor told us to keep ours set at either 72 or 74 last year. He said that we needed to make sure it was cooler rather than hotter because you don't want buyers to think the AC is having problems. Our downstairs thermostat was programmable so it took care of itself. We were on vacation for a couple of weeks so we had a neighbor who came in every day and turned the upstairs one on in the morning and off at night.

It would definitely be a good idea to invest in a programmable thermostat, and set it to a temp that you find comfortable during the day. Buyers will spend a lot less time in a home that is too hot or too cold. You want your home to be as appealing as possible, and a comfortable temperature can go a long way in doing that. Conversely, a too hot or too cold home will leave buyers with negative feelings and they will spend a lot less time in it.

"I think most leave them either turned right off at this time of year, or else set at 50 F."

I am not sure my AC can even make 50F (it hit almost 100 F yesterday).

Darn it, brickeyee. I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to check for responses, and you beat me to it. ;-)

The house, which isn't on the market yet, but will be soon, already has a programmable t'stat. I was just trying to get a feel of what most people are doing.

They point about not setting it too high, lest potential buyers think there may be a HVAC issue is well taken.

larke, where do you live that you would set the thermostat at 50 F? I hope that was a typo.

Michigan in the wintertime. Thermostat only goes down to 45 anyway.

But it's not wintertime!

We had our set at 50*, thinking that people would understand that the house was not are residence (it was our vacation home).

It was not deep winter yet, but October in Northern PA is chilly.

One thing that bugged me was when they would leave the lights on. Would they do that at their own home?

I'd leave it at 79. When I'm at work, the dogs get 77 until I come home and turn it to 75.

79 will be a noticably cooler than the 90+ outside and will keep the humidity down so that there's no damage to anything (hardwoods?) from high humidity.

When our house in Tucson was for sale, another home exactly like ours went up for sale that was vacant. Our realtor took us to look at it for comparison purposes. It had been vacant awhile, the fridge left unplugged and no AC in the middle of AZ summer.

The house stunk and felt very uncomfortable yet they were asking more money than we were. Ours sold. Theirs didn't. Well, it did months later for about 40K less than what we got.

Humidity control is important same with heat. Make sure you turn off your water since it is not uncommon for a pipe to break etc...