What Can You Do to Ensure You Stay Cool This Summer?
Sometimes it can be hard not to cringe when we get a utility bill here in Tallahassee, Florida, during the summer. The heat pushes us to crank up the air conditioning, which just ends up cranking up our utility costs. By now, you’re probably ready to find some way to save money. You can take your home’s comfort into your own hands by completing some one-time and recurring tasks that will keep your home affordably cool. Here’s what you can do to ensure that you stay cool this summer.
HVAC Maintenance
First and foremost, you will definitely not have a comfortable home if your air conditioner isn’t running properly. Hopefully, you’ve already had some professional maintenance completed on your HVAC system. If not, the time is now. We can catch any current issues, no matter how small they may be. By immediately addressing these issues, your system will not only begin to run at higher efficiency, keeping you cooler for less money, but it will also prevent more severe issues from occurring in the future.
Of course, there are some maintenance tasks you can complete on your own. Keeping the area around the system clean and changing the air filter about once a month will both contribute to a more efficient system. But don’t try to do too much on your own. HVAC systems are powerful but complicated machines. Leave any electrical or repair work to the pros.
Indoor Air Quality
Believe it or not, your indoor air quality has a significant impact on the efficiency of your system. Dirty ducts, or even just a dirty area around any part of the HVAC unit (including vents and heat registers), will reduce the efficiency of your system. These particles may seem small and insignificant, but they force the system to work harder than necessary, both reducing efficiency and potentially dropping the lifespan of the system.
In addition to changing air filters regularly (as mentioned above), keep your home clean, especially in areas around units of the HVAC system and around vents and heat registers. You could also install a whole-home air cleaner into your HVAC system. Air cleaners effectively clean dirty air and result in a more efficient HVAC unit.
Effective Temperature Control
Do you leave the air conditioning when you’re away for long periods of time? Most people do. After all, why would you want to go out into the heat only to return to a hot home? Unfortunately, a system running all day, or even for weeks while you’re on vacation, puts unneeded strain on the system and is a colossal waste of money.
The solution: a programmable thermostat. These thermostats allow you to personalize the temperature in your home. Say you’re leaving for the nine-to-five schedule and no one will be home while you’re away. You can program the thermostat to keep the temperature a little higher than you may prefer when home to give the air conditioner a break. Then, you can program it to begin cooling down your home while you’re on the evening commute. It’s a win-win situation. You come home to a cool house and a lower utility bill.
Weatherize Your Home
You don’t want a particle of the cool air to be wasted, but you could be losing air to leaks in your duct system or around windows and doors. In this situation, you’re not only losing comfort, but this also leads to you turning down the air even further to make up for the lost air. This puts extra strain on the system as it attempts to keep up.
Seal any potential leaks around windows using caulking and around any doors using weatherstripping. If accessible, consider adding some extra insulation around your ducts in order to preserve all the air that you can. You don’t want to lose any of that cool goodness.
Staying cool this summer should not break the bank. By following these steps, you’ll be able to take control of your comfort. For further questions, or to receive professional assistance in keeping your home cool, call us at Advanced Air Care Heating & Cooling: 850-688-9265.
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