Make sure your air conditioning system is ready to go before the swelter hits!
With summer just around the corner, you can feel the heat and humidity knocking on the door. Due to the ways, life has changed over the last few months, many of us are spending more time inside our homes than usual. If there was ever a time to make sure your air conditioning system is fully functioning, it’s now.
Don’t get caught sweating during the busiest repair time of the year. Give us a call now for our pre-season tune-up, a service designed to detect issues with your heating or air conditioning before the problem requires an expensive repair or runs up your bill.
With a properly functioning air conditioning system, you can follow the tips below to cut down your monthly energy bill.
- When possible, use your windows to your advantage
On cooler nights, turn off the air conditioning and open the windows to cool the house with the night air. In the morning, close the windows and blinds to keep the cool air in. This will cut down on the overall time you are running your system.
- Use your thermostat efficiently
Try to set your thermostat as high as comfortably possible in the summer. The less difference between outside temperature and inside, the less your AC will run, and the lower the bill will be.
Remember to set it to a higher temperature when you are not in the house to prevent unnecessary cooling. Consider a programmable thermostat if you haven’t already to help ease this scheduling. When you return home, don’t set it to a temperature lower than normal. This will not cool the house any faster but can run up the bill. (See our AC Myths Busted blog here)
- Fans and Ventilation
With a ceiling fan, you can raise the thermostat temperature to about 4 degrees Fahrenheit without losing any comfort due to the wind chill effect. You can also use fans to circulate cool air. Remember to turn fans off when you leave the room!
- Be judicious with appliance and lighting use
Take an extra second to plan your day and how you will use the appliances in your house. Maybe avoid the oven on super hot days, instead of grilling if possible. Install light bulbs that run cooler, or use natural light instead of running lights at all during the day. Only wash full loads of laundry, and consider air-drying dishes. Minimize activities and running units like big TVs to cut down on some of the heat produced inside your home. These don’t need to be hard and fast rules, but the more you do, the cooler your house will remain.
- Seal it Up
Check for cracks and openings that allow for warm air to enter the home, and add caulk or weatherstripping to seal any drafty doors or windows.
- Make sure your entire system is running efficiently
Check airflow and make sure that vents are not blocked by furniture or other objects. Also, be careful not to put lamps or other items that give off heat near the thermostat as these can cause artificially high readings and cause the system to run longer than it should.
The clincher here is regular maintenance. Having your AC go out in the middle of summer, or finding out that your bill could have been much lower all along is something no one wants to deal with. We don’t want that either; let’s get you all tuned up for a comfortable summer!
