As we enter the summer months and the mercury in our thermometers start to rise, something else will rise with it: our utility bill. Keeping the house and family cool during the upcoming summer months is liable to double your power bill (or more). Your bill can be particularly intense if you have a variable-rate plan; which means that the price of electricity changes throughout the day. If demand for electricity is high, which is also when everyone else is using their air conditioner, the price is also comparably high.
To help you reduce costs during the summer, we’ve put together a list of ways to cut the expense of cooling your home.
Use a Ceiling Fan
Simply having a ceiling fan or other variety of oscillating fan will make the room feel six or seven degrees cooler via the wind-chill effect. While it doesn’t actually make the room six or seven degrees cooler, it does make it more comfortable to be in. Just remember to turn it off when you’re done with it, as it makes no sense to cool a room with no one in it. If you are using a fan in tandem with an air conditioner, the ceiling fan will help disperse the cooler air more effectively and will actually allow you to raise the thermostat by as much as four degrees, with little or no discomfort.
Avoid Heat Buildup
Your house can turn into an oven really quick during hot summer days. When the outside temperature surpasses the temperature in the interior of your home, try to cut out activities that will generate heat. Activities such as:
- Oven or stovetop cooking
- Using the dryer
- Running the dishwasher
Instead, try barbecuing food outside or using your microwave, wash your dishes by hand and let your clothes dry outside on a line. Or wait to do these chores when it’s dark outside and the temperatures have dropped. When heat builds up it creates the perfect environment for mold to develop. If you smell a musty odor, consider getting mold inspections to see if you already have mold in your home. If you are actively fighting against mold development in your home, it will help keep your homeowner’s insurance rates low.
Put a Stake in Vampire Loads
The one thing that you might be losing the most in electricity is through the loss of energy by vampire loads. What is a vampire load? It is the energy that is used by your appliances and electronics even when they are turned off. But, if it’s off, how does it still use energy? Modern electronics still have to keep a small amount of electricity running at all times. For example, it’s how your TV knows to turn itself on when you use the remote. However, if you were to unplug that TV, the remote wouldn’t work.
This is the basic idea behind stopping vampire loads. Make sure that you are unplugging electronics or appliances when you aren’t using them (coffee makers, toasters, blenders, etc.)
Proper Maintenance of Cooling Systems
While having an energy efficient air conditioning installation and a programmable thermostat are great ways to manage your utility costs, there’s more you can do. If you aren’t properly caring for your equipment, you aren’t utilizing them effectively and it won’t reduce any of your overall costs. A dirty AC filter will block the flow of air and force your unit to work harder to cool your home. Cleaning or replacing a dirty filter will not only help you reduce the cost of cooling your home, but will increase the quality of air in your home. If your ac unit needs a full tune-up service, you may call an air conditioning repair technician.
If you have a central cooling system, make sure that all floor ducts are clear of dust or worse—furniture! A unit’s evaporator and condenser coils (located outside of your home) should also be clear of debris such as shrubs and fallen leaves or branches.
Don’t let the heat keep you down while you’re out making great memories with your family and loved ones.
