The air conditioning bill tends to be high during summer and winter. The fight against astronomical energy costs due to extended use of the air conditioner can be won through other ways of cooling and keeping the house warm. Here are some easy ways you can lower your heating and cooling bill.
Easy ways to lower your AC Bill
- Upgrade And Seal Your Windows And Doors
- Install A Programmable Thermostat
- Use Ceiling Fans
- Replace The Air Filters
- Check Your Ducts
- Reduce direct Sunlight
- Insulate Walls And Attics
- Find Lower Ground
- Lighting
- Service Your Air Conditioning System
- Install Solar Panels
- Keep the AC at Low Setting During Night
- Close Off Vents
- Re-arrange Your Furniture
- Size Matters
1. Upgrade And Seal Your Windows And Doors
The old windows and door may not work in favor of your AC because most are not energy efficient. Some allow heat and cold to escape and enter easily. Also, it could be that they were not installed correctly. Whichever the case, installing new energy efficient doors and windows will significantly cut the costs of heating and cooling your home. Make sure that they are sealed properly to prevent air and heat leaks that cause the air conditioner to work harder than it should. Weather stripping your windows can help keep the cold air out and retain the heat in your home. You can leave the windows open to help cool the house during the hot sunny days.
2. Install A Programmable Thermostat
In most cases, people tend to run their air conditioning system when they get home to find it too chilly or too warm. The system will run until it creates a favorable temperature around the house and this contributes to the high energy bills. You can limit the excessive use of the power by installing a programmable thermostat that cut reduce your energy consumption by auto-adjusting temperatures while you are away. Just set the thermostat to your temperature preferences, and it will handle the rest. If you have more money to spend, you can opt to switch your current AC with one that comes with a pre-installed programmable thermostat.
3. Use Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans work by circulating the air in a room, and this helps to low the temperatures. Installing the fans can contribute to lower the burdens placed on your air conditioning unit. The ceiling fans do not consume a lot of power and are an efficient way of ensuring the house has cool air. You can run the AC for some few minutes simultaneously with the ceiling fans and switch off the AC when the room is at the preferred temperature and leave the fans running to regulate the air.
4. Replace The Air Filters
Your AC system will run smoothly if the air filters are free from dust and other debris, the filters act as barriers that keep the air conditioning system from of the dust and other debris that may block the vents and inhibit air circulation. If the filter accumulates a lot of dirt, the entire system will work harder than it should. Cleaning the filters is a viable solution, but they are more often than not damaged by the dirty that making them less efficient. The best option, therefore, will be to replace the air filters. Always check the filters after every few months to ensure they are clean and in good working condition.
5. Check Your Ducts
You should know the areas in your house where the ducts run through especially the rooms that have no air conditioning such as the attic. Ensure that these regions or properly insulated so that they do not get excessively hot or cold. You should check the ducts to ensure they are in good condition; with no dirt, debris, or wear and tear.
6. Reduce Direct Sunlight
While allowing the natural light into your house during the day can help lower the need to switch on the lights, it is important to avoid or reduce direct sunlight from entering your home, especially during the hot summer days. The sunlight streaming in will raise the temperatures and thus cause your air conditioning system to work double-time. Reduce or block the direct sunlight, and you will lower the burden placed on your AC especially during the summer. You can do this by place a few plants by the window or plant some outside the windows, installing some dark sheers and bright curtains that will reflect the direct sunlight out of the house while allowing the room to have enough light during the day.
7. Insulate The Walls And Attics
As mentioned before, it is important to ensure rooms such as the attic are properly insulated. But this will only have a limited effect if the rest of the house is not adequately insulated – from the crawl spaces to the wall. Construction engineers know of the role that insulation places in making a home energy efficient. Invest in the recommended insulation as per the building and construction codes in your state, and you will see how such as investment lowers your air conditioning bill.
8. Find Lower Ground
Heat rises; so you need to find a way of being under it, and in so doing you will be cooler. Based on that logic, it makes sense to consider spending much of your daytime hours on the ground floor and cold hours of the night in the upper floors. If you spend long hours on the upper floors, you probably will need to leave your thermostat set to cold temperatures for extended periods so are to help fight the heat. So, spend the day on the ground floors and then set the ceiling fans to run in the upper room if they are a bit too warm during the night.
9. Lighting
As mentioned earlier, investing in ways of allowing more natural light into your house will lower the amount of power consumption in your home that’s used up when lighting the house. Just know how to play around with the lighting, and it will make a huge difference in how much heat the air conditioning system is competing against. Switching off the lights during the day will lower the amount of heat produced by the light especially during the day when it is warm, and the reverse of this takes effect during the night.
10. Service Your Air Conditioning System
It is important to ensure that your AC is routinely checked for any issues and this should be done by a reputable local HVAC repair and maintenance contractor. The technician will make sure that your air conditioning system works efficiently even during summer and winter when the ACs are mostly in use. The unit will only consume more energy if any of its components are damaged or if it is not in perfect working condition.
11. Install Solar Panels
Most solar panels are installed on roofs, and they harness the power of the sun turning it into energy for home use. You can install your air conditioner and have it powered by the sun as opposed to connecting it to your main power from the local power grid. You can opt to lease the solar panels though purchasing them is a better option; and though the latter may be an expensive investment, its long-term benefits significantly outweigh the cost of buying and installing the solar panels.
12. Keep the AC at Low Setting During Night
Most of the latest AC units come with a ‘sleep mode’ that automatically lowers the system’s output during the evening when you are sleeping thus reducing the energy consumption. You can also cut the air conditioning bill by running the AC system at a low setting during the warm night or the cold night. Consider dressing in lighter clothes during the warm nights and do heavy pajamas during the cold nights to that you can have the AC turned down so that it is running less when you are asleep.
13. Close Off Vents
The basement is ideal the coolest place to hang out in during summer and a place to avoid during winter. During summer, you can help lessen the burden put on the air conditioning system by closing the vents in the lower portion of the home and leave those on the upper floor open to allow heat to escape. Doing this will let the cool air naturally slink down to the lower floors and thus reducing the need to run the AC.
14. Re-arrange Your Furniture
Pay attention to your furniture arrangement because it may obstruct the vents of your AC system thus inhibiting the system’s capacity to heat and cool your home. Why allow the AC system to work hard to trying to cool your home only to end up cooling the bottom or the back of your sofa! You can opt to rearrange your furniture to ensure the vents are not obstructed, or you can buy special plastic pieces that you can place at the vents to help direct the cold air away from your furniture.
15. Size Matters
You might not think much about it, but the size of your AC unit in comparison to that your home matters. The size of the air conditioner you want should be based on how big or small your home is; the larger the home, the bigger the AC unit. Buying a small unit will work for a big home since the system will not be able to meet the demands of such a huge home. Therefore, purchase the appropriate size and ensure that what your purchase is an energy efficient unit.
