Is air conditioning the single greatest invention of all time?

All signs point directly to YES.

You know it and I know it!

So I fully understand where the guy you’re about to hear from is coming from.

He’s doing his in-laws a huge favor, but they’re hung up on the thermostat.

Do you think he did anything wrong?

Check out his story, and see what you think.

AITA for adjusting my In-Laws’ Thermostat while Dog Sitting?

“My in-laws, who live about a 30 minute drive away, left for a 3 week vacation and asked us to watch their 2 dogs (one of which is older and needs special diet/meds/attention).

My wife and I have 3 dogs of our own and a smaller house and yard, so the wife and their parents decided on house sitting while they were gone and just relocating to the in-laws place as the better choice for all logistics.

This was a big move!

We moved a ton of stuff over, my wife is 6 months pregnant and we have a 2-year-old, so staying for a few weeks involved more than just a small bag as you can imagine.

I even decided to break down my home office and move equipment so I would be here for the remote work hours with the dogs.

Been going well, lots of furries running round the yard, getting all the pets and treats they could want.

But there was one problem.

The conflict.

They (father-in-law) has a smart thermostat for the HVAC/AirCon. It is set with a predetermined automatic schedule. During the day he has it programmed set at 77F/25C.

We are a little warmer than preferred during the day, we have popped it down a few times to 74F/23C to take the edge off, but have left it alone.

Nighttime was even worse.

At night, the program on the thermostat is set to 80F/26C!!! Thermometer in the bedrooms shows actual temperatures to be about 78F/25.5C.

After laying down on the first night for a bit and both myself and my pregnant wife uncomfortable and having trouble falling asleep with it being warmer than how we sleep at our house, I did a manual adjustment down to 74F/23C.

I continued and made a manual adjustment down to this temperature each night.

I have adjusted it now for a week down to this lower temperature just so my family could be more comfortable and get a better nights sleep.

Someone wasn’t happy about this…

Father-in-Law texted this morning upset. Saying to leave it alone, he received an energy and usage report that there has been an increase in the last week, and that we can sleep in the basement at night (no bed in basement and 6-month pregnant wife).

I responded that they should call us later today and we could discuss further, but the plan was to reimburse them the energy cost difference for while we were staying here.

I didn’t tell him this, but I plugged in house size, current energy prices, and HVAC unit into ChatGPT to estimate energy cost difference and AI said maybe a $30 – $40 cost difference for the little lower temperature at night for the three weeks.

I don’t know how accurate this estimate is, but I would gladly pay $100+ if it meant my wife could sleep in a bed at a reasonable temperature and have no more argument on the subject.

AITA?”

They’re dog sitting and house sitting for free. Should they have to live in an overheated house?

Here’s what people had to say on Reddit.

This person shared their thoughts.

Another individual said he’s NTA.

This reader spoke up.

Another Reddit user chimed in.

And this reader was shocked.

Can you blame him for cranking down the air conditioning?

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.