Fact #1: Summer is hot.
Fact #2: Running your air conditioner costs a lot. The truth is, your HVAC system can account for as much as 50% of all the electrical energy use in your home. You want to find ways to use it less expensively and more efficiently. The good news is, there’s a few ways you can do this!
1. Schedule Professional Maintenance
There is just no way around this. If you want your air conditioner to retain most of the efficiency it was installed with, you need to have it professionally maintained. Professional tune-ups allow our technicians to thoroughly inspect your entire air conditioner. We make any adjustments that are needed, and we may recommend repairs, too. Lastly, we’ll clean the system to ensure that efficiency sticks.
For optimal air conditioning efficiency, we recommend you have this service completed once a year. If you have a year-round heat pump in your home, then you should up this to twice a year.
2. Use Your Ceiling Fans!
No, we don’t mean instead of your air conditioner—we mean with your air conditioner. Your ceiling fans help to better and more evenly circulate conditioned air throughout the home, taking a lot of the burden off of your air conditioner. This is a great way to cut down on your cooling costs, and even has an added benefit—during the winter the fan blades can be reversed to make your heater more efficient, too.
3. Utilize a Programmable Thermostat
Using a programmable thermostat is another fantastic way to boost your air conditioner’s efficiency. A programmable thermostat helps you create a cooling program based around your personal schedule, so you’ll never have to worry about forgetting to turn the AC on or off when you leave the house. Additionally, just by raising the temperature a few degrees when you’re asleep or outside of the home can save you tons on your monthly cooling costs.
4. Change Out the Air Filter
The air filter of your HVAC system is one of those things there are often misconceptions around. For instance, many homeowners assume they’re in place to protect their indoor air quality. This isn’t entirely wrong, but it’s not quite right, either. The air filter is in place to protect the HVAC system itself from dust, dirt, and other debris that can harm the interior components, making it work less efficiently as a result, and shortening its lifespan. Fortunately, changing out the air filter is fairly simple. You should be doing this every 1–3 months.
5. Know the Conditions of Your Ductwork
Does it need repair? Or how about sealing? The thing about your air ducts is that even the smallest bit of damage can mean air loss—that is, you’ll be losing conditioned air that you are paying for. Instead of going into your living space, it will escape into your attic or crawlspace.
If you’re unsure of the kind of shape your ducts are in, please don’t hesitate to give us a call for duct testing, sealing, or repair!
Contact Sierra Pacific Home & Comfort, Inc. today to learn more about getting the most out of your cooling system, and when you need expert service on your air conditioning in Sacramento, CA, just look for “The Guys in the Big Red Trucks!”