Why Are AC Units Running In Classrooms When School’s Out?

Conserving energy in order to save money…it seems like a pretty good idea.

Ken, an ABC-7 viewer, wrote in to 7 Listens with this question:

“As a taxpayer within EPISD and hearing them crying about budget concerns and lack of funds, I would like to know the following: I live next to Canyon Hills Middle School and walk around it every day. As there is currently no school taking place, then why are some of the air conditioners on the portable classrooms running every day?”

ABC-7 stopped by Canyon Hills Friday, and Ken is right. However, EPISD officials say there’s a good reason the air conditioners are on. Or is there?

Even though school’s out for summer, it was last Friday when ABC-7’s cameras caught no one inside at the time and the lights turned off, even though the A-C was running.

But an EPISD spokeswoman says there’s a good reason as to why the air conditioning units are on sometimes. She says as a safety precaution, the school’s thermostats are programmed to start up when it hits 99 degrees.

But it was pretty cloudy on Friday (July 16) and the high in El Paso that day was only 93 degrees – six lower than the programmed temperature of 99 degrees. So why was the air conditioner still running?

EPISD officials say while it was only 93 degrees outside, it can get much hotter inside.