Save Money This Summer By Lowering Your Air Conditioning Costs

Summer is on its way and bringing the heat along with it. This means higher energy bills, including your air conditioning costs. Fortunately, there are things you can do to keep these costs down.

Maintain Air Conditioning Unit

One of the most important things you can do is to have your air conditioning unit serviced once per year to ensure it is working efficiently. Some of the things an air conditioning technician will do include:

• Clean the evaporator
• Maintain the condenser
• Check the refrigerant level
• Check the coils
• Check the fan
• Check the condenser drains
• Clean the system

Hang Out In the Basement

If you have a basement, it is the coolest part of your home. To keep your air conditioning costs down, turn off your air and hang out in the basement. Set up a bed, comfortable chair, small refrigerator, television, and anything else to keep you comfortable.  Keeping your unit turned off a few hours a day can make your bill go down.

Landscape Your Property

Heat gets into your home from the sun shining through your windows. To keep the sun out, landscape your property. Plant trees around the exterior of your home to provide you with some shade. You can purchase trees from a garden center that are already up to 20 feet tall or more.

Make sure your outside unit is also shaded. It will use much more electricity if the sun is shining directly on it. If it is not shaded, and you cannot put a tree near it, consider planting a shrub close to it to block out the sun.

Check Your Ceiling Fans

If you use ceiling fans in your home, you need to make sure they are turning in the right direction.  You want the ceiling fans to be blowing air down and not up in the summer. If blowing up, the warm air on the ceiling will blow back down on you.

Put the fans on full speed, and stand under them. With most fans, turning clockwise blows the air up, and turning counter-clockwise blows the air down. Many fans have a switch that allows you to change its direction.

Purchase a New HVAC Unit

If you have had your current HVAC unit for many years, it may be time to replace it. Call an air conditioning contractor to come to your home and check it out. Most units sold today are much more energy efficient, and do not have to work as hard to cool a home. This results in lower air conditioning costs.

You can save even more money by installing a programmable thermostat. It allows you to adjust the times your air conditioner will be on. For example, you may want to set it to turn off during the day while you are at work, but turn back on about an hour before you get home so you can walk into a comfortable home.

To learn more, contact a company like Universal Refrigeration with any questions you have.