by Cooper Climate Control
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Cooling and heating your home makes up a large part of your energy bill – the average household spends around $1000/year on temperature regulation, and this can be even higher in hot areas like Arizona. Fortunately, by using easy AC maintenance tips, you can reduce your monthly utility bill and decrease the frequency with which your unit needs professional maintenance or repair. As the summer approaches, be sure to do the following:
Set your programmable thermostat. Instead of turning on your AC whenever you start to feel warm, choose the temperature you want your house to stay at and set your thermostat to that temperature. This greatly increases the system’s efficiency. In addition, you can program your thermostat to automatically keep the house at a higher temperature during the hours when you’re not home. If you go out of town, be sure to either turn off the AC completely, or set it to a significantly higher temperature.
Change your air filter. During the summer months, your air filter needs to be changed once a month, or possibly more if you have pets or allergies. Less air gets through a dirty air filter, making the whole system work harder. Since more dirt gets through a dirty filter, the air quality in your home will be lower. In addition, the fact that more dirt is going through the system means that other parts of the AC, such as the ducts and the coils, will get dirtier faster, leading to even more issues with efficiency. Air filters are quite inexpensive and easy to change, so there is no reason to procrastinate.
Clean your coils. Air from your home is pushed through refrigerant-filled cooling coils; the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air. The refrigerant then travels to the condenser coils, which release that heat outdoors. When the coils become dirty, less air comes into contact with the coil, meaning that your air conditioner has to run longer to produce the same amount of cooling.
Invest in an annual tune-up. While you can perform most routine maintenance at home using these easy AC maintenance tips, you don’t have the same skills and knowledge as a trained professional. AC units keep much more of their efficiency over a longer period of time when they are tuned up annually, which means that the cost of a tune-up pays for itself in reduced energy bills. A professional can do things like clean out all of the ductwork in your house, maintain proper refrigerant levels, and ensure that the air balance is correct.
Without proper maintenance, people see their energy bill slowly creep up over the life of their air conditioner. No AC system will last forever, but these easy Cooper Climate Control AC maintenance tips will ensure that your unit lasts as long as possible, and that your bills remain as low as possible for the duration of its life.
