Does Anyone Leave Aircon On For Their Dogs?

[J...]

I would leave the A/C on, but it means I have to lock the dogs in the section of the house which has A/C and I don't like doing that.

I have tiles in several places in the house, and they are quite cool. I set up a fan aimed at some damp towels on the tile floor, some big frozen ice blocks for them to lick and soak into the towels and leave a huge ice block in their water as well. Never come home to hot dogs with that set up for them :)

[silentchild]

All the talk of CO2 poisoning is worrying me too.

Are you sure you don't mean carbon monoxide poisoning?

Sorry, yes, that's the one - my brain wasn't working this morning. I got a letter warning about it from my aircon people.

No problems LOL

On a serious note though, do you have a gas heater? There is no such thing as carbon monoxide coming from air conditioners.

Yes, I have a gas fireplace. My air-con is also an evap aircon, so I have no idea where the carbon monoxide thing comes from, but it was the evap air con people who warned me about it, which makes even less sense. I don't know much about these things... and now I can't find the letter they sent me about it too. Maybe it was something else - CFC poisoning? Oh dear. If I can find the letter again I'll let you know LOL

[manlynau]

yes .. my two have air con in summer and heating in winter. I also leave the TV on because my older boy Bandit likes to listen to it ... :)

[Rebanne]

I run my evaporated air con for the dogs. I also have ceiling fans and if I am only going to be away a short time and if it is not too hot put them on for the dogs. If I am going to be away for longer the aircon goes on. I worry more about the ceiling fans catching on fire then the aircon.

Dogs are in the house with the fans on, when I deem it hot enough to use the aircon, they are confined to the kitchen with the back door open into the backyard.

[shapeshifter]

Yes, I have a gas fireplace. My air-con is also an evap aircon, so I have no idea where the carbon monoxide thing comes from, but it was the evap air con people who warned me about it, which makes even less sense. I don't know much about these things... and now I can't find the letter they sent me about it too. Maybe it was something else - CFC poisoning? Oh dear. If I can find the letter again I'll let you know LOL

The gas fireplace is definitely where it can come from, you should make sure you read and ask questions about it if you aren't aware of it, they can be very dangerous if not looked after and cleaned/inspected regularly.

I reckon the aircon mob are trying to do a shifty thing and scare people into buying a split system, more sales for them.

[denali]

God i feel like a terrible owner

My dogs get left outside be it winter or summer..

However, If i am inside with the aircon and need to run errands for say 2 hours or so i will leave them inside with the aircon on.

Otherwise they are out the back with lots of water, a paddling pool and icepacks tucked under their mats.

[BlaznHotAussies]

Our aircon stays on pretty much all day all the time (unless it's about 25 degrees outside with a nice breeze). The house is pretty much not insulated (if the power goes off you can feel it get hot almost instantly) and it's already warm in the morning when we get up (about 6am). It's a little reverse cycle and does pretty well.

Luckily a lot of the bill is offset by the solar panels

[sas]

Aircon is definitely on if it's going to be hotter than 25 with no cool breeze (If I'm uncomfortably warm them you can bet my dogs are), my house heats up terribly and my Dane doesn't handle heat well. As for the bill, I don't think about it because the comfort of the dogs is a higher priority than the bill, I just put money into the power bill every week to avoid bill shock.

Edited November 25, 2014 by sas

[ash1]

Yup, we leave them on here for the dogs too, actually we went out and bought three units two weeks ago just so we could leave the dogs comfortable inside if we had to go out.

I love the heat, it can't get too hot for me, but watching the dogs struggle in it was not fun at all. So picked up three cheapie window units off ebay which are now placed strategically around the house, so they manage to cool the whole house down.

I'll deal with the bill when it comes in, worth every penny to know that my dogs are not heat stressed when I'm out.

[cavNrott]

I leave the aircon on for the dogs on hot days and the central heating on for them on cold days.

[Guest donatella]

I have set a timer today from 11.30 to 1600 I am about to leave now so should cool the house down in the hottest part of the day and it's all tiled

[Dave-o]

I had blow-in insulation done at the start of the year and fitted sun blinds. Last summer it was baking hot in the house as soon as it hit 30.

Last month I splashed out on reverse cycle ducted as I didn't want to suffer in the heat this year, but so far I haven't needed to use it. I have the blinds down in the day, and when I get home I find the house is really cool. I really want it to heat up just so I can use the aircon, but alas it hasn't been necessary!

I fitted a locking deadbolt to the backdoor so I can leave it a few inches open (worked out a lot cheaper than a cat flap for the cat). The dog's happy outside during the day, she has shade, plenty of water, and can run around a bit.

Aircon won't produce CO? Evap definitely won't, it just blows hot air through a wet filter.

[LisaCC]

Had a stinking hot summer here last year, a few weeks of 40+, sometimes didn't drop below 30 at night. Those weeks the aircon was on almost constantly. If it's cool in the morning I'll come home and lunch, let Nova in and put the aircon on, otherwise he's in all day with it on if it's over 30 since early morning. Especially since our sun baking snake scare.

Still my summer bills last year were cheaper than winer bill using the same reverse cycle unit, and the heat is only put on in the evenings, Nova certainly doesn't need it during the day with his coat. I think the system must use less power if it stays on for longer, as it's not changing the temperature extremely like it would in winter.

Edited November 26, 2014 by LisaCC

[WeimMe]

I do. Generally my boy is outside during the school day and can find a cool spot on the verandah or in the garden, however if we are going out for a short time during the day and want to leave him indoors when it's hot I will leave the air con on for him. If we go out at night he stays inside with the air con on as well. It is just too hot in the locked house in a Queensland summer.