Comment by ssl-3

> because it is both less efficient and will wear more while pulling the temperature down

That's just not true. Aircon is a heat pump. It pumps heat more efficiently when more heat is available to be pumped.

Warmer indoor air increases evaporator temperature. A higher evaporator temperature means that the system operates with less temperature lift. This means that the system does less work (per BTU pumped) to cool a house that is hot inside, than one that is already conditioned inside.

Equipment longevity also tends to be increased with less-frequent, longer runtimes than with more-frequent, shorter runtimes. There's less temperature cycling, fewer in-rush current events, and the lubricating oil in a running compressor is actively circulated to the parts that need lubricated. Reducing the number of compressor start-ups is a good thing; these machines like to run.

So even if same number of BTUs enter the home and need pumped out whether the aircon is running or not, then: Letting things warm up inside when there's nobody home to care about that constitutes an improvement in a broad number of ways.

Reality is even better: On a hot day, a house that is hot inside takes in fewer BTUs than one that is cool inside, due to the reduced temperature delta between indoors and out. When we have fewer BTUs coming in, then we have fewer BTUs that we must ultimately pay to pump back out.