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Of all your appliances, your home air conditioning unit is by far the most energy consumptive, which means that if you want to cut costs on your energy bill, enhancing your AC unit’s efficiency is the best place to start. There are a number of simple changes which you can make in your home today to ease the burden on your AC unit – and your wallet.
Ensuring your home is properly insulated is one way to enhance your AC unit’s efficiency. Check that your windows are properly sealed and caulk any small leaks or cracks which may be letting cool air escape. Your ceiling and attic should also be checked for air leaks. Although it can be quite costly, you may want to consider fully insulating your roof, especially if your home was built many years ago.
With direct sunlight beating down on your home all day, your AC unit is really going to struggle to keep the house cool. An obvious step you can take is to keep your blinds and curtains closed during the hottest hours of the day, or to have shutters installed. Another option is to plant big trees around your property to shade it from the sun. You may also want to consider installing tinted or film-coated energy efficient windows, which are designed to reduce UV ray penetration, thereby keeping your house cooler and lessening the load on your AC unit.
By manually adjusting your thermostat when you’re leaving the house or going to bed, you can shave as much as 15% off your energy bill. Of course, constantly changing your thermostat might prove to be a bit of a hassle, so you may want to consider installing a smart thermostat to automatically regulate the temperature of your home. Smart thermostats can be managed remotely, which is particularly useful. You can also program a smart thermostat to increase the temperature an hour after you’ve gone to sleep and decrease it again just before you wake up, so that you are able to fall asleep comfortably while still saving on energy costs.
Ceiling fans and free-standing fans are still a great way to cool down a room, and they can ensure that cool air from your AC unit is evenly distributed throughout the house. By creating an airflow through the house, you’ll prevent hot pockets of air from accumulating, and the wind-chill effect of the fans will leave you feeling as if your AC unit is a few degrees lower than it actually is, which means you won’t have to set the thermostat as high to achieve the same outcome.
Taking proper care of your AC unit not only reduces your energy bill, but will increase your unit’s lifespan and decrease the likelihood of a unit breakdown, saving you from having to spend money on repairs and callouts. You should clean out your filters at least once a month and replace them every few months, as dirt and debris build-up can reduce AC unit efficiency noticeably. Check that the evaporator and condenser coils are also free of debris, and that the ducts are clean and free of any cracks or leaks which could be letting cool air escape. Ideally, you should also be scheduling a full AC unit tune-up twice a year (at the start and end of summer) to keep your unit running at optimum efficiency and catch any potential problems or breakdowns early.
At Art Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electric, we are proud to provide thousands of Florida homeowners with regular AC tune-ups. If you’re looking to cut down on your energy costs while still keeping cool, give us a call and let us show you why we’re Florida’s most trusted AC unit maintenance service.
