Beat the heat AND save money? That sounds like a good plan.
The summer heat may sometimes feel like it is burning a hole in your skin and your wallet. When temperatures soar upwards of 90°F, your air conditioner has to work double-time to keep your home cool. That means longer operating times, more energy used and higher utility bills!
Every little bit helps when it comes to savings. Here are some tricks that you can use to beat the summer heat AND lower your utility spending.
- Keep things consistent. It can be tempting to mess with the thermostat when temperatures soar. A few degrees here or there can’t HURT can they? Well, resist the temptation! Thermostats set at a cooler temperature don’t cool any faster. And changing the temperature on your thermostat will have it working overtime. Want savings without sacrificing comfort? Set the temperature a few degrees warmer and leave it there.
- Take advantage of ceiling fans. A ceiling fan can better mix the air in your home. Circulating the cool air is going to make the air less stagnant AND a cool breeze is always welcome on sweltering summer days.
- Have a hot south-facing room? Invest in some good blinds and curtains. Blocking out the sun can help lower the temperature of those rooms and help your air conditioner along. If it takes a shorter time for the room to reach temperature, the air conditioner won’t run as long.
- Use alternate cooking methods. Don’t underestimate the power of your oven to heat the kitchen up. Use a crockpot or the grill every once in awhile.
- Get a tune-up during spring. Preventative maintenance is the best way to make sure your unit is running at peak efficiency. Make sure you schedule this before the peak cooling season – when your contractor can come out sooner rather than later.
- Keep up with filter changes, get your ducts cleaned, plant at least two feet away from your condenser and have your condenser cleaned by a contractor. These are all ways that you can ensure that your air conditioner does not suffer from restricted airflow.
- When it’s time to replace your air conditioner…choose a high efficiency model! This is the best way to improve efficiency and maximize utility bill savings. Trust me, it’s an investment that you won’t regret.
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Whooooooops! Did you forget to schedule air conditioner maintenance?
Oh no! Did you flip on cooling mode only to find our your air conditioner isn’t working just in time for summer? A maintenance appointment could have prevented the problem, but there’s nothing to do about that now. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20. Well, while you are waiting for your contractor to come fix the problem, here are some things you can use to beat the heat in the meantime.
- Ceiling fans. No brainer, right? A ceiling fan has its benefits even when your air conditioner isn’t busted. It can help mix the air in your home as well as provide a cool breeze on hot days. So, if you don’t have a ceiling fan already, it may be a good investment for your home.
- “DIY” air conditioners. Another temporary solution…You can rig up a cooler, some ice, a fan and some pipe to mimic the cool effects of your air conditioner. While not an all-over solution, it can create a welcome bubble of cool air.
- Enjoy outdoor, water activities. While you could cool off by taking a cold shower, where’s the fun in that? Go to a pool, whip out the sprinkler or have a good, old-fashioned water balloon fight. All bets are off when it comes to keeping cool without air conditioning.
- Invest in a window unit. For a temporary solution that supplies more air, you can invest in a window air conditioner. This can be a good idea when you may be out of an air conditioner for a while. But, beware, this will suck up quite a bit of electricity and could be a chunk of cash up front.
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Want to know what makes your air conditioner tick?
Although it may seem like it on the hottest of hot days, an air conditioner is not powered by magic. Like your toaster, your shower or your television, your air conditioner contains parts that keep it ticking. Ever wonder how your air conditioner works? Well, let me tell you…
- Connections. Your air conditioner works with either your air handler or evaporator coil (and gas furnace). Your air conditioner sits outside and connects to your indoor system by the lineset. This carries refrigerant between the two components.
- Indoors. Your air conditioner pumps refrigerant through your lineset to the indoor evaporator coil.
- The evaporator coil. Liquid refrigerant travels through the evaporator coil while warm air is blown across the coil. Heat moves from the warm air stream into the refrigerant. This cools the air blown over the coil and heats up the refrigerant – turning the refrigerant into a gas.
- Cool air distribution. The cool air travels to your home using your blower (located in your air handler or furnace) and ductwork.
- Back to the air conditioner. The refrigerant moves back to your air conditioner where the compressor pressurizes it.
- The other, outdoor coil. The pressurized refrigerant moves to the condenser coil. Here, heat moves into the air that is blown over the coil. This warm air is then blown outside. This is why when you stand next to your air conditioner it is blowing out HOT air. At this point, the refrigerant becomes a liquid again.
- Rinse and repeat. At this point, the process starts over again. It goes through this process until your thermostat detects the correct temperature.
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10 things that you should know about your air conditioner
All right, all right. I’ll admit – on the surface, air conditioners don’t seem that interesting. For one of the most important home comfort systems, it does not get a lot of attention. Here are 10 interesting things that you may not know about air conditioners.
- Heat transfer. Did you know that your air conditioner does not create cool air? Refrigerant in the system transfers heat from indoor air and then transfers that heat into the outdoor air. That’s why refrigerant is so important.
- Biggest energy consumer. Your heating and air system is the biggest energy consumer in your home. That is why we always recommend you invest in the most efficient system you can afford.
- Air conditioners and heat pump are similar. Both of these systems use the same principles to provide cool air for your home. Heat pumps just reverse the flow of refrigerant to provide warm air as well.
- Widespread air conditioning is recent. Today, it’s hard to imagine a life without air conditioning. If you have a car without air conditioning, you know just how awful it can be during a hot summer. Imagine if that was your whole house! Air conditioning did not become a household thing until the 1950s.
- They need maintenance You can’t just have your air conditioner installed and then forget about it. Like your car, your air conditioner needs yearly “wellness” checks. This assures peak performance and efficiency levels.
- You can thank your air conditioner for your health. Air conditioners have done more than just keep your environment cool. Without air conditioning technology, many medical developments wouldn’t be here. Also, our lifespans would be shorter and we’d be less productive.
- “Cool” origins. Did you know that ice used to be what we used to keep our buildings cool? This is where we get the term BTU. One BTU is how much heat it takes to raise the temperature of one pound of ice, one degree.
- If you think air conditioners are expensive now… that’s nothing compared to how expensive they used to be. Air conditioners did not become widespread until the 1950s due to the cost.
- Better indoor air quality. Suffer from allergies? The sniffles would run rampant without air conditioners. Without a central air distribution system, it would be trickier and less efficient to filter the air in your home.
- Live somewhere in the Southwest? You may not be there without air conditioning. After the introduction of air conditioning, it became more practical to live in places that reach upwards of 100°F.
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Even your air conditioner needs a check up!
Getting your air conditioner up to snuff before summer temperatures ramp up is important! You don’t want to turn on your air conditioner and realize it isn’t working. Here are some things that you should do before the start of the summer cooling season:
- Duct cleaning. Hire someone to come out and clean your ductwork – this isn’t going to be something you can do on your own. You never know what could be lurking in your ducts. Ever look into a neglected floor register? Yikes!
- Furnace filter. While you should be changing your furnace filter often (for some homes even once a month), now is a good time to start fresh. Especially with allergy season in full swing.
- Battery changes. Change the batteries in your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. If these things aren’t working, you and your family could be in harm’s way.
- Clear clutter. Venture into the yard and clear the debris away from your air conditioner or heat pump. Restricted airflow means decreased efficiency.
- Preventative maintenance. Catch minor problems before they become major issues when you need your air conditioning most. Spring is the ideal time to schedule cooling system preventative maintenance.
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Plug those air leaks! How to seal your home for summer.
You have most likely heard of “winterizing” during the fall to keep out the cold air during the winter. But, did you know that it’s just as important to seal your home for summer? Although a blast of warm air may not seem as noticeable, your electric bills and home comfort will take a hit. Warm air that creeps in during the summer creates hot spots and lowers efficiency.
Here are some things that can result from a leaky home during the summer:
- Increases cooling costs. Air leaks can mean that your home won’t reach temperature as fast, especially if the leak is right next to your thermostat. Because of this, your air conditioner will run longer and run up your utility bill!
- Uneven temperatures galore. Do you have that one room that won’t get cool? That may be due to poor insulation or poorly sealed windows and doors. You’re paying to have a cool home, you should be able to enjoy that comfort EVERYWHERE in your home.
- Lowers indoor air quality. Yuck! Think about all the air that is leaking in through your windows and doors unfiltered. Your indoor air can already be more polluted than outdoor air – don’t make it worse.
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Did you take your time during the contractor search?
Every air conditioner is not the same. And not all contractors have the same skills. That is why it is so important that you take the time to stop, do some research and find the right HVAC professional for the job.
Need air conditioner maintenance, service or installation services? The contractor search is the first and most important step of the process. You don’t want any Tom, Dick or Harry in charge of your home comfort. You want a professional with the right raining and know-how to do a bang-up job the first time. Here are some things to look for when searching for an HVAC professional:
- Need a starting point? Look at reviews. You can’t run for your online reputation. Online reviews are a great place to start to get an at-a-glance view of a contractor’s skills. Are the reviews negative? You may want to choose a different professional.
- Did you get a quote over the phone? Stay away! As a rule, quotes over the phone are inaccurate. Each home is unique. Your contractor should perform a Manual J load calculation to determine the size of your system. They should also examine your ductwork and ask about any features you’re looking for to enhance comfort. If they are willing to cut corners with the quote, who’s to say that they won’t cut corners during the install.
- Questions, questions questions… Contractor asking a lot of questions? Good! If the contractor who shows up to your home seems disinterested in your home comfort desires, they may not be your best bet.
- Do they work on the equipment you want? Looking into a high-efficiency system? Do you want a particular brand? Not all systems are the same. Different equipment needs different training. Make sure your contractor has training for the equipment you want.
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So, what exactly is refrigerant?
Do you know how your air conditioner works? In your cooling equipment there is a series of components that must work together in order to transfer heat from one air stream to another. This part of your air conditioner (or heat pump) that performs this heat transfer is your refrigerant. Think of it as the blood of your heating and air conditioning system.
Now to get techy for a sec. For split systems, refrigerant is pressurized and pumped through your cooling system. When in your condenser (the outside part of your air conditioner) the refrigerant cools down – transferring heat to the air stream outside. If you’ve ever stood by your air conditioner, you’ll notice that it actually blow out HOT air. Then, when the refrigerant makes its way through your lineset and into your evaporator coil, the refrigerant warms up and heat is transferred from the air being blown over the coil to the refrigerant. This is what results in the cool air that is delivered throughout your home. No refrigerant. No cool air.
Did you know that the industry has been transitioning from a particular type of refrigerant to the next? If you have an older system, chances are your air conditioner uses R-22. Unfortunately, this old refrigerant type contains chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). You may have heard of this pesky little compound before. When introduced to our atmosphere it depletes the ozone layer. Because of this, it is being phased out gradually and being replaced with R-410A refrigerant (the more eco-friendly option).
So, what does this new type of refrigerant mean? Well, this is part of the reason it is so important to not just change out your condenser when your are buying a new cooling system. You must also replace the lineset and indoor evaporator coil. This is because R-410A requires different specifications that can’t be monitored effectively by old equipment that is compatible with R-22 – this could result in improper function, reduced efficiency and repairs down the road (you are just going to have to replace those components anyway AND, maybe, in addition to another new air conditioning condenser).
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Arm yourself with a duster and a new furnace filter – spring is here!
Dump the heavy coats and break out the light jackets! We spend quite a lot of time indoors during the winter. Perhaps binging on Netflix and ordering take out? Now is the time to open the windows, air out the home and clear the clutter.
Most of the winter debris in our air stopped at the filter. But, it is a good idea to make sure you get the remaining dust and dirt out of your home. We already have spring cleaning on the mind, so we may as well dedicate ourselves to the job. So, how does spring cleaning help improve indoor air?- Dusting. The whole concept of breathing in dead skin cells and dirt? Gross…
- Vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, etc. Dirt, allergens, dust… oh my! You name it, your floors could be crawling with it.
- Window washing. Letting in more sunshine can help warm things up. Plus, sunshine helps drive away those winter blues.
- Use natural cleaners as opposed to harsh chemicals. Remember, anything you spritz or spray into the air can make it back into your lungs. Keep it natural.
- Bathe Fido. At this point, your pets are probably shedding their winter coats. A trip to the groomer can help get rid of some of that winter fur before it has time to make it into your indoor air.
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Even your air conditioner needs a check up!
Spring is in full swing! Temperatures are mild, and it can be hard to think about hot summer temperatures. So, here is a nudge from your friendly neighborhood HVAC man to start preparing. Schedule a preventative maintenance appointment before the cooling season is in full swing.
Why, oh why, do we stress preventative maintenance over and over? Well, let me tell you. Spring and fall are heating and cooling “off” seasons. What does that mean? During peak seasons contractors are busy, busy, BUSY answering emergency service calls. So, if your air conditioner needs servicing you will suffer long wait times.
But, during off seasons, you can catch small problems before they cause major headaches.
That is just one of many reasons preventative maintenance is important. Here are a few more:
- For many warranty agreements, preventative maintenance is MANDATORY. So, if you want to enjoy continued warranty coverage, just do it!
- Your air conditioner could be operating at less than ideal efficiency. This could be due to build up, airflow restrictions, or some other small issue. This can end up costing you money.
- Maintenance is important for your system’s lifespan. You want your air conditioner to run well for the longest time possible. Don’t risk this by avoiding maintenance!