Maximize Your Air Conditioner Efficiency This Summer

Air conditioning bills can put a damper on summertime household spending, so it makes sense to do whatever you can to minimize those bills. Aside from the obvious solution – adapting to higher temperatures in the home – homeowners can take a variety of actions to improve air conditioner efficiency. When an A/C is operating more efficiently, performance also tends to improve. Take the following steps to improve air conditioner efficiency:

• Keep the air filter clean. This means inspecting it once a month during the cooling season and changing it before it gets dirty. A clogged air filter will force your air conditioner to work harder, which wastes energy, stresses parts and impairs performance. Your home will take longer to cool as the fan struggles to blow air through the A/C and house.
• Police the area around the A/C’s outside condenser/compressor unit. This component requires adequate airflow. Remove sticks, leaves, grass clippings and other objects that may block airflow.
• The evaporator coil in your A/C’s inside unit should be cleaned periodically by a professional. When dust and dirt cover the coil, that impedes the crucial heat-exchange process that’s central to indoor cooling.
• Use ceiling fans to supplement the cooling provided by your air conditioner. The moving air creates a cooling, wind-chill effect for anyone in the path of the fan, which will allow you to turn up the thermostat several degrees without any loss of comfort.
• Use a programmable thermostat to set higher temperatures when you’re not home or are out of town. There’s no reason to fully cool an empty house. Program the thermostat to return to a comfortable temperature shortly before you arrive home.
• Improve insulation and seal air leaks to ease the workload on your air conditioning system. A tightly sealed and properly insulated home takes less time to cool and stays cool longer.
• Schedule annual preventative maintenance for your A/C system. This pays short-term and long-term dividends in efficiency, performance and longevity.

For more information on improving air conditioner efficiency in your Orlando-area home, please contact us at Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

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