Cooling your house in the summer can be expensive, and people have all sorts of tips and tricks to try to make their air conditioner run more efficiently and cut the overall costs of cooling their homes in the summer. Unfortunately, some of those tips might not actually be that helpful. In fact, they could actually be costing you more money long term. Take a look at some of the common myths about cooling your home and learn better ways to keep your cooling bill under control.
Closing the Vents Won’t Lower Cooling Costs
One of the most common ways that people try to cut costs of cooling a home is to shut the vents in the rooms that they’re not using. While this might seem like the perfect way to cut down on the amount of energy that your air conditioner has to put out, it can actually make it harder for your system to push air through the house. Your HVAC system was designed to cool and heat the entire house, and when you close off certain vents, you’re just creating stopping points where the air can’t go.
Ceiling Fans Won’t Replace Air Conditioners
Another way that people try to save on energy costs in the summer is to use only ceiling fans. While we all have our own temperatures that we’re comfortable in, using the fans only won’t cool down a house in the same way that an air conditioner will. Ceilings fans can push air around the room, which is great for ensuring that an entire room has the cooled air from your air conditioner. Ceiling fans can also help sweat on the body to evaporate more quickly, which can be somewhat cooling even if your air conditioner isn’t running. But cooling from just a fan running won’t bring the same levels of relief as an air conditioner will. This is partly because a fan can’t pull the humidity out of the air like an air conditioner can.
Turning It Down Lower Won’t Cool Things Off Faster
Some people think that turning the thermostat way down will make their house cool off faster. Unfortunately, that’s not the way air conditioners work. Your AC system will cool your house at the same rate regardless of how warm your house is starting and how quickly you would like for it to cool off. When you set the thermostat, you’re just telling your system how cool the house should be before it shuts off.
Bigger Isn’t Always Better
It might seem like a bigger air conditioning system is better when you want your house to cool down faster, but this also isn’t the way that an air conditioner works. You need an air conditioner that’s suited to the size of your house. If you buy one that’s too big for the house, your house will always be humid even if it’s cooled off. The reason for this is that the air conditioner needs more cycles to pull the humidity out of the air. When the air conditioner can cool the house really quickly, you’re not going through as many cycles, so the air will be left cool but clammy, which most people find unpleasant.
Appliances Add a Lot of Heat to the House
Some people also think that appliances, such as the dishwasher and clothes dryer, don’t produce enough heat for it to matter. But when you add in the television, computer, oven, and all of the other things in your home that put out heat, it can really add to your electricity bill and the overall temperature of your house. A better strategy is to run the major appliances, such as the dishwasher and clothes dryer, in the early morning hours when it’s cooler out. You can also run them if you plan on being gone for the entire day. You should also avoid cooking dinner inside on really hot days. Barbecues are a great option. Otherwise, you could make a cold meal that doesn’t need to be cooked. For instance, a fruit salad from the grocery store and cold-cut sandwiches need absolutely no cook time and taste great on a hot day.
Turning the Air Conditioner Off When You Leave Won’t Always Save You Money
It’s tempting to turn the air conditioner completely off whenever you leave the house, but this isn’t the best option. While you don’t need to keep your house at the same temperature that you would keep it if you were leaving the house all day or throughout a weekend, it’s also going to cost you a lot of money if you let your house turn into an oven and have to go from a very hot temperature down to a comfortable one when you come home. If you’re going to be gone for the day, keep your house at a reasonable temperature, but don’t just turn it off. If you’re going to leave for a long time, get a programmable thermostat, which can learn your habits to maximize energy efficiency when you’re away.
Energy Saving Air Conditioners Only Save if They’re Maintained and Installed Properly
Some people think that an energy-saving air conditioner will automatically save them energy and money, but this isn’t precisely the case. You also have to install it properly and take care of it. Doing regular maintenance on your air conditioner will continue to improve the efficiency of your air conditioner. You also have to choose the right air conditioner for your home, so you should always talk to an experienced air conditioner technician whenever you’re choosing your next model.
Air Conditioners Remove Heat
A lot of people don’t understand how an air conditioner works, which makes it even more confusing when it comes time for a repair. To understand how this works, you need to think about what coolness is: the absence of heat. Air conditioners don’t manufacture cold air, which is what a lot of people think. They remove heat from your house by sucking up the air that’s already in your home, running it through the air conditioner, over the coils that hold the Freon, and then pump the air that is now free of the heat back into your home.
Most Energy Transfer Isn’t Where You Think
We hear about how much energy you lose through windows and doors that you might think that these are the places where you lose the most energy. This isn’t true. While sealing up the windows and doors will definitely help, you lose a great deal of energy through frame walls and basement walls. You can also let in a lot of heat through electrical outlets and piping. In fact, walls are such a large place where people lose energy, if you live in a brick house, you probably notice that the heat from your furnace stays inside longer in the winter and stays outside for longer in the summer. In fact, this is so much so that many brick homes in Europe don’t even have air conditioning. Instead, people just let the house cool down at night by opening windows and keep the windows shut during the day. If you want to learn more about where there might be a transfer or energy throughout the house, you should call a technician to do an energy inspection.
When you’re looking for ways to save on your cooling costs, don’t get pulled into misnomers that could cost you hundreds of dollars throughout the course of a summer. Instead, talk to AC by J in Scottsdale, AZ, to learn more about how we can help you cut your cooling costs. We also offer a wide range of heating services.
