Residential central air conditioning costs a fortune in the summer. We want to help you stay cool without breaking the bank. Follow these ten tips to lower your home energy bill this month.
10 Tips to Keep Cool with Residential Central Air Conditioning
Ready to make some changes and stop paying so much for residential central air conditioning? Start here! Some of these tips sound too easy, but every little bit helps. If you incorporate these changes across your household, you can make a big dent in your monthly energy bill.
1. Close the Blinds
One of the easiest things you can do to naturally lower the temperature in your home is to block the sunlight. Close your blinds and keep as much sunlight outside as possible. If you want to go a step further, hang black out curtains that are made to keep even more light out. Whichever blinds or curtains you have, keep them drawn when the sun is highest and hottest in the sky – between 12pm-2pm.
2. Get Out of the Kitchen
Tell your family that the kitchen it closed! Or, at least opt for cold lunches. Heating up your house from the inside can make it a lot worse during those scorching days, too. If you limit the use of your oven and stove during the daytime, that will help with your residential central air conditioning bill, too. It’s a great time to fire up the barbeque grill!
3. Zone Control Your Home
If there are certain areas of the house that naturally stay cooler, or spaces that are rarely occupied, keep those doors shut and close the vents. Zone control will block off areas that don’t need to be kept comfortable and force the cooler air where you want it. There are residential central air conditioning systems designed around zone control, but take this DIY approach now to run your AC more efficiently.
4. Check Thermostat Placement
The thermostat regulates how much your residential central air conditioning is running. If a thermostat is installed too far from the center of your home, it could force your unit to run too much. If it’s placed too close to the vents, it could do the opposite. If necessary, simply moving the thermostat to a different spot on the wall could help! Just use extreme caution if you’re dealing with any wires.
5. Tune-Up Your Residential Central Air Conditioning
Has your residential central air conditioning system been serviced this year? If your air conditioner isn’t running up to par, it may just need a little maintenance. Call your local HVAC professionals to have them run diagnostics and do a routine checkup to keep your unit in tip top shape. Something as simple as dirty vents or outdated tech can impact how hard your HVAC system has to work, driving up the energy cost.
6. Set It and Forget It
Don’t blast your residential central air conditioning all day. Be conservative when setting the temp, then “Set It and Forget It.” The only time you should touch the thermostat is to scale back when people are less active. If you’re leaving the house for awhile, raise it a little to give your AC a break. It’ll take a couple minutes to cool down when you return, but it’ll save you money. After dinner, do the same. It’s always cooler at night, even during a heat wave, and you don’t need as much relief when you’re sleeping.
7. Upgrade to a Smart Thermostat
If it sounds like too much trouble to regulate the temperature in your home, consider upgrading to a smart thermostat! A programmable residential central air conditioning unit will automatically manage the temps to be the most efficient and comfortable. Upgrading can save you money on your residential central air conditioning so you don’t have to worry even if you forget to change it before you leave.
8. Hit the Fans
Ceiling fans and plug-in fans use energy, but much less energy than running residential central air conditioning units. These can work together. By using fans to circulate the cool air around your house, it will help to keep the overall temperature lower.
9. Check Your Insulation
Residential central air conditioning works great, but some houses need to be checked for insulation leaks – Especially older homes where windows may not be sealed well. Go outside to check the seams of windows and doorways. Use your hand to feel if your cool air is leaking out through the cracks. If it is, add weather stripping, replace windows, or schedule a Home Energy Audit so we can help you save money on future electric bills!
10. Convert your Lighting
While direct sunlight causes more heat than indoor lighting does, check the lightbulbs to make sure they are the “energy saver” kind. If not, replace them! Incandescent kinds of lights use over 75% of the electricity they use for heat and a small percentage for the light they emit and that can impact the temperatures in your home.
Buy a New Residential Central Air Conditioning Unit
When all else fails, you may need to buy a new residential central air conditioning unit. Research your best options to save time and money at the store. There are lots of makes and models to look at, but you can find helpful reviews to get you started.
Check out top of the line Lennox AC units or visit your local Home Depot or appliance store for other varieties. Compare the SEER ratings for efficiency and be sure the unit is the right size for your space. Too small won’t be powerful enough to cool your home, and too large will use more energy than you need to.
Order From a Pro and Get Professional Installation
You could shop around and buy a residential central air conditioning unit on your own, or you can contact an HVAC company like Garden City Plumbing & Heating to order and install a brand new unit. Sometimes, doing your own shopping can save you money, but for HVAC it’s better to order from a local dealer. HVAC companies get their products directly from wholesalers at reduced rates, and they pass the savings down to the consumer. Plus, many offer warranties that you won’t get otherwise.
Call the Residential Central Air Conditioning Pros at Garden City
We’ve got the help you need! Call Garden City for residential central air conditioning service, and we’ll keep you affordably cool all summer!