Top 5 Ways to Reduce your Air Conditioning Bill
By Jerry on Jul 16, 2008 in Saving Money Tips
- Start Your Unit Early. Do not wait until the middle of the afternoon or when you are starting to “feel” hot. When the thermostat is set on automatic, your unit is activated by the room temperature. When you set it early, it will not let the temperature in the apartment/house rise above the set temperature.
- You are not cooling just the air! When the inside of your house reaches a high temperature it’s not just the air that’s hot, it’s everything inside the house. Every object in your home absorbs heat. Cooling the home when starting the a/c late, it not only has to cool the air but the objects also; therefore, it may take 3-4 HOURS!!! to cool the home.
- Keep all doors and windows closed! Contrary to belief, A/C systems do not make cold air. You can’t push out warm air by leaving the doors and windows open. A/C units are designed to remove the heat from existing air and blow out the the cool air that remains. Leaving a door or window open is like trying to fill an unplugged sink with water. It’s not possible.
- Don’t turn unit off when you are not home! Instead, set the thermostat from 85 to 95 degrees, depending on how hot the current temperature is getting. This will not allow your unit to run all day; meanwhile, putting a cap on the heat and humidity in your home. This tactic, will enable you to cool your home down in less time when you do return home. It could take up to 4 hours to cool your home if you let it set without any kind of temperature relief.
- Set your thermostat at a reasonable temperature! The lower you set your thermostat, the more it will run. This will create a large electrical expense. A reasonable temperature of 78 degrees with the outside air temperature of 100 degrees is cost effective.
Any setting on the thermostat below 78 degrees is not usually obtainable, will raise the cost to operate the air conditioner, and will normally freeze up your unit making it unusable.
