You’ll need an energy-efficient air conditioner to beat the oppressive heat and humidity without breaking the bank. These methods for maximizing air conditioner efficiency can help provide a cool, pleasant home for your family without breaking the bank on energy bills.
Air conditioners need regular maintenance, so schedule an appointment
When you want to cut down on your HVAC system energy consumption, you should first make sure your unit is in good working order. This essential machinery should be maintained in tip-top shape to ensure peak performance. As a result of their complexity and fragility, these devices need expert attention during routine maintenance. This ensures that the air conditioner is being serviced by someone with an extensive understanding of the system and helps catch any potential problems before they escalate. Having a trusted technician come in for maintenance every few months will help to keep your system running effectively.
You can undertake a few short maintenance activities on your air conditioner throughout the year, but you shouldn’t touch the machine. The area should be kept clean by regularly raking away any debris that accumulates, such as dirt, dust, or leaves. You may want to set up a barrier to shield the unit from these particles if they are often blown in its direction, but be sure to provide at least 2 feet of clearance between the barrier and the unit to prevent it from overheating.
If the filters aren’t working, change them
Filters for heating, ventilation, and HVAC system is often disregarded as unnecessary frills, despite their crucial role in preventing dust and debris from entering ductwork and lowering maintenance costs. When filters grow too filthy, they stop doing their job, and your house won’t be adequately cooled. Check your filters often, and replace or clean them as necessary. If you have pets or live in an area with many allergies, you may want to change your filters more often.
Any ductwork holes should be filled up
Your air conditioner’s efficiency might be significantly impacted by leaky ducting. Since a duct leak effectively takes energy from the house twice, this might be a big problem for homeowners. The energy required to cool the air escapes is wasted since the chilled air is not entering your living rooms via ducting. Second, your air conditioner must work harder to compensate for the lost air to maintain the proper temperature. Consequently, energy consumption will increase even further, and utility bills will soar.
You may be able to plug a small leak in your ductwork using tape explicitly made for this purpose. This technique should only be used for tiny leaks, however. Any central matter demands a specialist’s intervention. They could do more extensive inspections to find any leaks and adequately seal them.
Make wise use of your thermostat
One of the best tools for optimizing your HVAC system is the thermostat. The temperature should ideally be set between 72 and 82 degrees to create a comfortable space. Don’t set the air conditioner’s thermostat to 60 degrees if you’re feeling hot; doing so will make it run longer. Remember that lowering the thermostat by even one degree will increase energy use; thus, wherever possible, raise the temperature. Even better, you need to think about setting up a smart thermostat.
