Summers in our neck of the woods are stiflingly hot, and a good air conditioner can be your best friend when it comes to keeping your home cool and comfortable. Indeed, when the temperatures soar during a heat wave, your air conditioner can be as important as your plumbing and electricity, and can prevent active health risks to sensitive family members.
It’s only natural during the hotter months of the year to pay more for your air conditioning than you might during the cooler months. But just because you’re paying more for the privilege doesn’t mean you should pay more than is necessary. There are a number of tips and tricks to keep the air conditioning bills down this summer without skimping on the cool air you need to stay healthy and comfortable. Some of these tips can be applied on your own, while others require the services of a professional to help.
Steps You Can Take on Your Own
A number of steps to cut down on air conditioning bills can be made without a professional’s attention, and indeed, you might already be practicing a number of them yourself. They can include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Higher Thermostat Settings. You can set your thermostat a few degrees higher than you otherwise might – say, 78 degrees instead of 75 – which can make a huge impact on your energy use.
- Thermostat Timer. Many people run their air conditioner all day, mistakenly believing that it costs less energy than cooling down a hot home in the middle of the day. Instead, program your system to turn on 15 minutes before the first family member is expected home.
- Weather Stripping. Cracks under outside doors and around windows can cause cool air to slip out, reducing your system’s efficiency. Weather stripping – for sale at any hardware store or home improvement center – can seal those cracks and boost those savings.
Steps That Require a Professional
If you want to take further steps to improve your air conditioner’s efficiency, it likely requires the services of a professional, who can perform installations and upgrades to your existing system that will help you cut into the monthly costs a great deal. They can include, but are not limited to:
- Maintenance Sessions. A maintenance session is a kind of tune-up designed to check the system for little problems like loose bolts and clogged filters, as well as looking for bigger problems that may be looming. It will help improve your system’s efficiency, and ideally should be scheduled at least one a year.
- High humidity levels are common in our part of the world and can be a huge drag on your AC’s efficiency. A whole-house dehumidifier can get rid of excessive mugginess in your home, and reduce the workload on your air conditioner to boot.
- Smart Thermostats. If your thermostat is more than 10 years old, consider replacing it with a smart thermostat, which will automatically adjust to your cooling habits and make little changes to improve efficiency.
The friendly pros at D’Spain Sales and Service, Inc. can provide air conditioning service throughout the Helotes, TX area.
