The official start of summer is not very far off. And even though it doesn’t get as stifling hot here as it does in other parts of the country, we do have some intense weeks of warmth to contend with. This means you want to be able to rely on your air conditioner to get you through the season as comfortably, and affordably, as possible. This means ensuring that your system is as efficient as it can be.
This starts with maintenance! Professional air conditioning maintenance, conducted once a year, enables our technicians to thoroughly inspect, clean, and adjust components that need it. This all helps to extend your system’s lifespan and help it perform better—that is, more efficiently. We know you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on your cooling needs this year.
So give us a call to schedule your spring maintenance appointment with us, and in the meantime read on for some further tips to boost your AC efficiency and lower your energy bills as a result.
Raise the Temperature on Your Thermostat
Alright, alright. We get it, this sounds like really strange advice. Why would anyone in their right mind want to make it hotter than it should be in their home?
Bear with us. It’s not that we want you to make it hotter, but instead that you’re probably making it colder than it actually needs to be. For most people to maintain comfort in your household, your thermostat setting should be about 78°F. But homeowners too often set theirs down at 71-72°F, thinking it will help their home cool down faster, when all it really does is force your air conditioner to run longer.
You can save energy and subsequently save money by raising the temperature to that more reasonable level. It also helps with efficiency and monetary savings to raise the temp a bit when you aren’t at home or when your household is sleeping.
Utilize Your Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans are not capable of lowering the temperature of the room they’re in all by themselves, but they can certainly help with air conditioner efficiency. Fans, in general, make us feel cooler because it helps sweat evaporate off of our skin. So when you use your ceiling fans in combination with your air conditioner, you may be able to turn the AC thermostat up a couple of degrees, saving energy.
This is because when you do use your air conditioner with the ceiling fans, the fans push cool air down and help distribute it more evenly.
Change the Air Filter
There are very few maintenance tasks that we would ever recommend homeowners attempt on their own. Changing the air filter, however, is definitely one you can and should do on your own—every 1-3 months to be exact.
The air filter that comes with your air conditioning or central heating system can get blocked up with debris like dust, dirt, and even allergens. It prevents your air conditioner from fully drawing in warm air from your home. So this means your air conditioner will essentially struggle to do the job it was created for, and will therefore work inefficiently.
For professional Tacoma, WA air conditioning service, contact Sound Heating and Air Conditioning Inc.