Everybody loves summer. With longer days, warmer temperatures and all the wonderful activities that are not possible during winter months, what’s not to love, right? Well, warmer weather usually means a need to cool down at some point; you can achieve this any number of ways, but many people simply choose to rely on their home air conditioning to provide relief from the sun. Over reliance on your AC unit provides instant relief, it also provides a noticeable escalation in your energy bills during summer months. However, it is possible to enjoy your AC unit while employing methods to help you save on the cost of using it.
Maintaining clean filters is a good place to start. Regardless of whether you use central air or window mounted AC units, maintenance of the internal filters is not only necessary, it can help you shave some costs from your energy bills when carried out regularly. A clean filter means your AC units won’t have to work as hard and use more energy to keep you cool – this also helps to increase the lifespan of your AC, while lessening the impact on your energy bills. Use less energy, spend less money. Strive to clean the filters once per month.
Repairing leaks in your air ducts is another significant cost saver. Any leaks, no matter how miniscule, are allowing cooled air to escape – this makes your AC work harder, costs you more money and also means it takes that much longer to efficiently cool your home. You can have an HVAC professional test your ducts and recommend solutions; you can also check with your energy provider to see if they offer testing (*some energy companies will give you a rebate for doing so).
Much like heating during winter, it makes sense to only alter the temperature in the room you happen to be in – there isn’t much sense in heating or cooling your entire home in the evening if you are spending the majority of the time in one area of the house. Cooling only one particular area is easy to achieve with window mounted AC, but it can be achieved with central air as well, by closing the vents in the rooms that are not occupied. Please note that closing too many vents may place your central air out of balance, so consult an AC professional to find out what is optimal if you are unsure.
A rather simple energy saver for you AC is closing your curtains. The amount of heat that enters your home via direct sunlight is higher than you think – close the curtains or close the blinds and in doing so you’ll be easing the load on your AC; the less heat there is in a room, the less it’ll cost you to cool it.
Perhaps the biggest cost saver is not leaving the AC on all day while you are at work. While the rationale behind all day AC may seem logical – that if you maintain a lower level of cool air all day, then your AC will not need to work as hard during the evening – it is in fact, not true. The reasons for this? Heat goes to where it hasn’t already and it rises as well, meaning, if your AC is on all day you’ll be forcing the unit to work much harder (i.e.- costlier) as cool air will continually have to overtake the constant flow of warm air. Instead, leave the unit off during the day and turn it on once you’re home – this way, it will only need to remove warm air from the house once, not all day long.
Arctic Air Calgary – heating, refrigeration and air conditioning, is an established Calgary HVAC and Refrigeration company, with over 20 years experience in the industry. When you’re looking for top quality workmanship and consistent and reliable service, consider the expertise at Arctic Air.
