Summer is here and the temperature is begging to rise again, and we’re all finding ourselves using our central air conditioning more and more. Residential air conditioning is something that many of us take for granted, but it’s also something that we wrestle with because of the running costs. We’ve mentioned a couple of times in the past a few different ways to help keep cool while keeping the monthly utility bills down, and we figured that today is a good time to revisit these.
Fans. Fans are amazing little devices that don’t require much energy to operate and play a huge role in keeping things cool. Air in motion is naturally cooler than still air, and fans, such as ceiling fans or standing fans, help circulate the cool air throughout the room.
Speaking of ceiling fans, did you know that you can change the direction of rotation to better suit the time of year? For instance, a ceiling fan rotating clockwise will push air down from the ceiling. This is great during the winter when warm air pools at the top, but not so convenient during the warmer summer months. Reversing the direction will cause it to pull air up, dispursing the warm air and replacing it with the cooler air that sits lower. By simply switching the direction, you can see a massive improvement in your monthly bills.
Another great little tip is to close off vents to rooms that you aren’t using. This is especially useful for those of us who live in larger or more open homes. By closing the vents to unused rooms, you are effectively forcing the air through the vents into rooms that you are using, therefore reducing the number of rooms your central heating and air system is trying to cool.
Another great piece of advice is to invest in curtains, especially on the sunny side of your home. Sunlight coming in through windows heats up the air and whatever surface it lands on. By blocking the sunlight with curtains or blinds, you’re preventing the sun from heating the interior and helping keep the cool air in your home cool, which is what we’re all looking to do.
Insulation is also very important to keep your central air conditioning system running at peak efficiency. Air ducts carry the air throughout your home, and when their lacking insulation, you can find that the cool air traveling through the ducts isn’t so cool when leaving the vents. Wrapping the air ducts with a good layer of insulation can help keep the cool air cool and the warm air warm.
Heating companies will tell you that keeping your AC properly maintenance is important, and they’re right. Over time, components wear out and need cleaning or replacing. While there are many things you can do on your own to help boost reliability, there are things that only a trained professional can do. Residential air conditioning is something that’s important to all of us, and it’s something that we all want to keep running as well as possible, so be sure to keep up on your annual maintenance – your wallet will thank you.
Give us a call today to schedule a time for one of our highly trained and experienced technicians to come out and help keep your residential air conditioning system up to par. If you can’t remember the last time you’ve had your system maintenance then it’s time you did.
