Strategies to keep you comfortable
Summer is hitting its high points this August, which means your home needs to be ready! Instead of lowering the thermostat and raising your air conditioning bills, try more energy-efficient methods. The first step toward lower energy bills is scheduled maintenance with one of our NATE-certified experts at Douglas Cooling & Heating.
For more great suggestions to try on your own, keep reading!
Create a Wind-Chill Effect
Ceiling fans and portable fans are an energy-efficient option to keeping your home cool. Fans themselves don’t create cold air. Instead, they help distribute and recirculate air-conditioned air in rooms.
By moving cold air around, the sweat on your skin dissipates and creates a wind-chill effect. You will feel several degrees cooler without touching your thermostat, even during the hottest time of the day.
If you are looking to save more money on your air conditioning bills, try to raise your thermostat a few degrees while your fans are in motion. You will hardly feel or notice the difference and still enjoy cool temperatures throughout the day.
Just remember to turn the fans off when no one is in a room to enjoy the effect; otherwise you aren’t helping your air conditioning bills.
Create More Shade Indoors
By using your blinds and shades over your windows to block direct sunlight from entering your home, you create shade without even trying. This is especially useful when the sun is at its highest point, when your home is the hottest.
When a room is adequately shaded, it can lower the temperature in a room by a few degrees. This keeps your thermostat from kicking your AC on and helps reduce your air conditioning bills on a daily basis.
Landscape Wisely
Planting trees or shrubs around your home, especially on the south and west sides in front of windows, can create additional shade outside. You can block the sunlight from entering your home, and the extra vegetation absorbs the heat on your exterior walls and roof.
Planting bushes, shrubs, or trees around your exterior unit is another option to save on your air conditioning bills. The exterior unit needs to release heat after it’s moved to the condenser. The extra shade allows the outside component to exhaust the heat and cool off throughout the day.
Check Thermostat Settings
If your thermostat is set at the same temperature all day, every day, you are wasting a good amount of energy and racking up high air conditioning bills. The best option is to install a programmable thermostat to program settings based on your schedule.
Program your thermostat to turn your air conditioner on when you are home and want to experience more comfort. When you are asleep or away from the house, turn the thermostat back up by 5 to 10 degrees.
Not only does this lower your air conditioning bills every month, your cooling system will get a chance to rest. This reduces excess wear and tear on your unit.
Lowering air conditioning bills doesn’t require you to make huge changes in your home, just simple tasks. You won’t sacrifice your comfort and you will save money, which can go towards a last-minute vacation this summer.
Contact Douglas Cooling & Heating preventative maintenance or installation of a programmable thermostat for your home.
