Is it messed up to leave my dog home w/ NO AC?

[tiffashwill]

My girlfriend and I have had this long running argument. I leave my house for work and turn everything off. My spot doesn’t have central air. My AC unit drains a lot of my electricity. Last month my electric bill went from $120 to $250. I have set a strong boundary that she needs to turn off the AC when no one is home. For example I would work 7 AM - 3 PM and my girlfriend would go in at 12. So when I come home from work I’m seeing that the AC has been left on unnecessarily for 3+ hours. Am i being unreasonable? She stands firm that she doesn’t wanna “do that to the dog”. But i’ve always lived this way. My dog has always been fine. I don’t mind leaving a window cracked or fan on for my dog. But the AC? It’s too much money!
For context- I live in central Ohio. It gets upwards of 80 degrees in my house.
EDIT: Wow thanks for all the responses. My dog is about a year and a half old and she is a pitbull-mix. Not sure exactly what she is as I got her off craigslist.

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[faith4truth]

@tiffashwill You are definitely leaving out details that would help provide a solid answer, how hot does it get without AC? what breed is your dog? do you leave a window open or fan on instead of the AC?

 

[chingwauk]

@tiffashwill I think it really depends on where you live and how hot your unit gets without the ac on in the middle of the day. Additionally, the breed of dog matters. This summer has been hotter than the last summers where I live- basically everyone needs ac here now (Calgary, AB, Canada). I've also found that turning ac off, letting the house get hot, and then turning it on later was harder on the unit than setting the thermostat to a higher temp when we aren't home.

 

[levi88]

@chingwauk As a fellow Calgarian, I turn my AC off and hide in my basement.

 

[tracy7]

@levi88 Surprised to see so many fellow Calgarians in a general sub. Exactly this. If you want to save on electricity when you're at work, just close all the windows, blinds/curtains, and leave your pets in the basement if you have one. You should be good outside of a major heat wave.

As a compromise, you could always get a smart thermostat like a Nest and then set it to kick on after 24 or 25 degC. If I'm home alone, I don't really need AC until it's >27 degC.

 

[everest]

@tiffashwill Can’t you just set the AC to 74° so that it kicks in before it is too hot for the dog?

 

[mickaela]

@tiffashwill But there IS someone at home, the dog.

 

[maddyiscool]

@mickaela Exactly! The dog is someone! If it’s hot enough to use the ac for people it’s def hot enough to use it for the dog. Most dogs are way more likely to suffer from heat stroke than humans. It is actually mind boggling to me that we think other living beings need less than we do as of somehow we think we’re evolved than them but also they have evolved to not experience heat? Lololol

 

[hannah01166]

@tiffashwill Where we live (Western Canada) most people don't have AC. Until recently it was actually pretty rare to even see a house with central AC here and even now I'd say that it's not a common occurrence.

I'm pretty sure everyone here who owns a dog and works full time is leaving them at home at some point, I don't see what the big deal is. We open windows, and we run a fan on hot days. We do have a portable AC unit that we will occasionally run on hot hot days (like over 100F) but we can't leave it run when nobody is home as it drains into a container and if it filled up with nobody watching it it would flood the room it's in.

 

[maddyiscool]

@hannah01166 I think when the AC is never on and the dog is used to the hot temps it’s also very different than the dog being in the AC all night and in the morning and getting used to it and then suddenly, during the heat of the day, the AC is gone and there is no respite from the heat. I also live in western Canada but it is record high temps this year (plus all the fires so it’s also so bad for your and your pets health to leave the window open).

I wouldn’t want to be in my house without AC and I have full autonomy to go grab some ice, or turn on a fan, or go out to somewhere with AC or water if I’m too hot. My dog can’t do that. He has to take what I decide to give him so if he is overheating, he can’t do anything to help himself. And if I’m not home, he also can’t do anything to tell me what he needs. We keep our ac on because it’s just the more kind and right thing to do. He’s a living being. If it’s too hot for me, it’s definitely too hot for him. Also, OP is saying that the AC is on for 3 hours when “No one” Is home (the dog is home. That’s someone). Is that 3 hours really going to make that much of a dent on a $250 bill? In the grand scheme of things, all the power they use for all their daily stuff, that 3 hours is so minimal. Is the penny pinching really worth it?

 

[tadake]

@tiffashwill Maybe you should get a window fan or something less expensive to maintain a cooler temperature when you're out.. something that doesn't drain as much power as the ac unit. It sounds damn hot to me.

 

[rodneys]

@tiffashwill As many people are saying, you are leaving out key information here. How hot does it get in your house? What breed of dog do you have? How does your dog handle heat? No one can give you an accurate answer without knowing these things, because they all factor in to whether your dog needs the AC to stay cool, comfortable, and safe or not.

Frankly, to me, I want my pets to be comfortable. If I can't afford to keep them comfortable, I don't have pets. So I'm with your girlfriend here regardless.

Edit to add: That jump in the electric bill from just three extra hours of AC us seems very excessive. I would say something else is causing that.

 

[maddyiscool]

@rodneys Maybe an extra person, Like his girlfriend, in the house, using much more than just the AC to keep her dog comfortable lol

 

[teejayde]

@tiffashwill If its over 75 and there's not much breeze I leave the AC on full blast for my dog. He doesn't handle the heat well so I suck up the double cost of electricity during the summer.

 

[jastin]

@tiffashwill Is your AC unit some sort of weird on/off model with no temperature controls?

Do you not have doors in your home?

80° isn't solidly in the red zone for a medium-sized dog, assuming she has access to water and isn't in a crate/confined area that gets direct sunlight, but it could be too hot for your individual dog. (How have you been checking to make sure that she's "always been fine" at that temperature?) And at the very least, she's almost certainly uncomfortable.

I can't imagine that turning the AC on for three hours a day is going to make a huge difference in your electrical bill, and I don't understand why you seem to think you deserve to be comfortable at home while she can just sit in the heat while you're away. After all, it's not like you didn't know how hot your place gets during the day before you decided to get a dog.

Basically, yeah, I'm with your girlfriend on this one. I wouldn't get AC just for a dog, but since you already apparently need it for yourself, at a bare minimum I'd leave it on, close all the interior doors surrounding it so it's cooling a smaller space, and keep her in the room with the AC while you're away. If you absolutely must feel like you're saving money, maybe raise the temperature a little bit from where you like it when you're at home, and rig up a fan so it's blowing the cooler air down to her level. Then she can have at least one spot in the house where she can go to feel comfortable.

 

[agadir]

@tiffashwill Depends on the breed and how hot it gets.

I have pugs. AC stays on.

 

[bip]

@tiffashwill If you want to continue to be cheap and save money, maybe get a cooling mat for the pup.

 

[risen145]

@tiffashwill The air temperature might be 80 (which isn't that hot), but it's likely much cooler down on the floor where your dog is.

That doesn't sound too hot for a dog, unless the dog is a high risk (very elderly, has difficulty breathing or difficulty regulating body temperature, etc.)

 

[dreadfullullaby]

@tiffashwill I have a Huskie and do not let my home go above room temp even when I am gone, dogs get hot too

 

[chrissyboy]

@tiffashwill It depends on how hot your house gets and your breed of dog. Where i live can get in to the 30s and i have brachycephalic breeds. AC is a must or they could die. I've also fostered a Collie who seemed like they could live outdoors in almost any temp. 80 is pretty hot, id be making sure its not humid/you have airflow unless your breed is built for that temp.