Air Conditioning, Heating And Cooling, Repair
Summer’s on its way, and with it often comes the heat waves we all know and dread. Everything’s great until the temperature outdoors reaches 100 degrees and you can’t go outside for so much as 5 minutes without breaking a sweat.
If you’re like any other sane person, you’re probably running an AC unit on full blast just to get you through summer heatwaves.
After a while, all of the energy you’re using to keep your home at a comfortable temperature can start to add up, making your bill seem like it’s pretty angry with you once it finally arrives.
You may be wondering how you can still cool your home with your AC unit this summer without paying an arm and a leg for it.
Check out these helpful AC tips that will keep you cool and help you save money this summer.
1. Lower Your AC at Night
During the night, you won’t need to blast your AC as high as you would during the day. To save energy, give turning your AC down (or off) at night a try. You may even have an AC unit that features a Sleep Mode function which runs on a timer. This makes things easier for you because your AC unit will lower the amount of output whenever you set it to.
2. Cook Outdoors
Summertime is the perfect time to cook on the grill. And, cooking food in the oven or on a stovetop generates a lot of heat – which you definitely don’t need more of – especially if you’re already struggling to keep cool.
If you live in a small space, like a studio apartment, for example, your AC unit will have to work even harder to keep things cool with all of the extra heat you’re generating.
To make things easier for your AC unit, cook out on the grill when you can. Or, try an appliance that uses less heat, like a crock pot.
3. Repair Your AC
There are several different signs that you may need to repair your AC. For example, if you’re noticing that there’s little to no cool air coming from your AC unit, you have a problem.
If you don’t make a point of maintaining your AC unit, problems like these could add up and become costly to repair. Not only that, but they’ll make it harder for your AC unit to do its job, too, meaning it will use more energy just to cool the same amount of space.
Stay on top of this by having someone examine and maintain your unit on a regular basis.
4. Rearrange the Furniture in Your Home
If you have furniture obstructing the vents in your home, it’s more than likely that the back of your couch or recliner is benefitting from that cool breeze instead of you. It’s a nice thought, sure, but you probably want to direct all of the cool air running through your home your way, don’t you?
Rearrange your furniture so it’s no longer blocking any vents, and your home will feel cooler at no additional cost to you. When the heat wave ends, you can move your furniture back to its original position.
If you want to be one hundred percent sure the cool air is coming your way, you can even buy an air vent deflector to change the direction of the air so that you’re maximizing the amount of cool air in your home.
5. Give 78 Degrees a Try
Are you wondering what the best temperature for AC to save money is?
78 degrees is a good place to start.
Think of it like this: you’re not forcing your AC to work extra hard (and eat up a ton more energy) to keep your home at a cool 68 degrees at all times. Instead, it can keep things cool while it maintains a steady pace and conserves some of your energy, too.
6. Think About Lighting
What’s one hack to reduce the amount of heat in your home? Turning the lights off and minimizing the amount of light you let in from your windows.
If you want to give your AC unit the benefit, try turning off unnecessary lights and closing the blinds, if you can. You’ll minimize the amount of heat your AC has to compete against, making it easier for it to do its job using less energy.
7. While You’re Away
While you’re away from home, be sure to close the windows and blinds and turn off any lights you don’t need to minimize the amount of heat you let into your home.
Additionally, turn your AC up about 10 or so degrees so it’s not using as much energy to keep your home cool while you’re not even there to enjoy it.
Sure, it’s going to take a few minutes for the AC unit to kick back on and get your home cool again once you return, but suffering for that little amount of time is worth it when the bill finally comes and you see how much this one little tip has saved you.
Bonus Tip: Throw in a Fan (Or Two!)
Are you looking for another way you can reduce the energy consumption of your AC unit? If you are, you may want to consider investing in a fan or two for your home.
We know what you’re thinking: won’t running fans and AC at the same time actually increase my energy consumption?
The answer is no. Supplemental fans don’t require as much energy as your AC unit does, and, if you add them into the picture, you can probably turn your AC up a few degrees, too.
When your AC isn’t working as hard to cool your home, you’ll save energy and money.
Try These AC Tips Today
Believe it or not, you can run your AC during summertime heat waves while also conserving energy and saving money on your bill. Yay!
Start by trying out these awesome AC tips and see how they work out for you.
And if you need assistance, like a repair, for example, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free estimate or to request service today.