The Summer Heat Is Here: Get Your Air Conditioning Ready
This summer, don’t let the heat get you down. Find a cool, peaceful place to relax inside your home even on the hottest of days.
When it comes to beating the summer heat, maintaining your air conditioner is key.
If you haven’t already, now is the best time to make sure that your air conditioner is ready to blast cool air and keep your entire home comfortable.
The following ideas will help you maintain a healthy AC unit:
Have Your AC Unit Professionally Inspected
Over the winter months, your air conditioning unit has to endure cool temperatures and harsh weather.
Before summer’s arrival, all homeowners should have their air conditioning units professionally inspected.
By having a thorough inspection completed by an HVAC expert, you’ll be able to catch leaks, drips, electrical issues, faulty wires, dirty filters, and more.
A professional technician will check each mechanical facet of your air conditioner individually, making sure that the entire unit is in good working order.
Perhaps all that your air conditioning unit requires is a good and complete cleaning.
A professional clean up can help to improve its efficiency and keep it running well.
It can also significantly reduce the chances of a malfunction within the unit.
When Should You Replace Your Air Conditioner?
Although there is no definitive timeframe that an air conditioner to be replaced, there are several signs that a replacement is imminent, such as:
- Uneven temperatures throughout your home
- Excessive noise coming from the AC unit
- Increased humidity throughout your home
- Increased energy bills
Upon noticing any of these signs of trouble, you should contact the local HVAC expert in your area to help you diagnose the issue.
Luckily, your system may simply require a filter change and a quick tune-up rather than a whole replacement.
If your air conditioner is 10 years of age or older, replacing the unit may be in your best interest.
These older units are usually quite inefficient, and may be causing a spike in your energy bill.
Maintaining an Efficient AC Unit and Setting the Thermostat
To keep your AC unit working efficiently throughout the whole summer, its cleanliness should be your top priority.
Monthly, turn off the power to the unit, and clear any debris surrounding the air conditioner.
Check your filters regularly, as a build-up of dust and dirt can cause the system to run less efficiently.
Filters should be changed more often in the homes of pets, smokers, or allergy sufferers.
Although this changes depending on your location, the ideal temperature for a home’s thermostat is 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the time of year comes that your AC unit is turned onto the “cooling” setting, you can save 10% on your energy bills for every degree above 78 that your thermostat is set to.
To fully enhance the efficiency of your AC, combine its use with ceiling fans to circulate the cool air while leaving the temperature on a higher setting.
There are also programmable thermostat’s available, allowing homeowners to program their thermostat to turn on only when they are home for a long period of time.
