by Cooper Climate Control
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Your air conditioner is working hard to produce cool air to keep you and your family cool. You’re also paying for this luxury each month with your electric bill. Despite this, many homes in the Valley-Metro areas still have much of the cool air seep out, giving truth to a saying your parents may have told you, “Are we air conditioning the whole neighborhood?”
How effective your home is in keeping air inside lies in the quality of its insulation and air sealing. You may be surprised how much cool air you’re losing.
Attic
If you have an attic, you’ll want between 10 to 14 inches of insulation in it. Just because you may be using it to store old clothes, holiday decorations, and other things you don’t immediately need, your attic shouldn’t be a place where you lose cool air you’ve paid for.
Doors
Your doors can be a prime culprit for leaking out cool air. If your doors are older, you could benefit from investing in new doors that offer a tight seal. Door sweeps are another way people combat escaping air. These are very cost-effective and will eliminate air sneaking through the cracks under the door.
Windows
Although you may not think it, windows are actually one of the biggest sources of air leaks in homes. There are many cost-effective solutions, similar to door sweeps, to battle poorly insulated windows. The two most popular are weather sealing and film. Both of these solutions are fairly easy to install and can help make your home more comfortable and reduce air leakage. Also, don’t discount the power of drapes. Well-placed, dark drapes or curtains will keep sunlight out of your home, giving your air conditioner less heat to battle.
Walls
You’ll be shocked where air can escape from even from the edges of your electrical outlets. Be sure to invest in quality insulation so that you aren’t chasing cracks in your home. Quality insulation will be an investment worth the time and effort especially if your home is older and doesn’t have enough insulation.
No matter how well-insulated your home is, if your air conditioner is older or running inefficiently, you may still end up with a sky-high electric bill.
Call Cooper Climate Control, your heating & cooling specialists today at 480-460-7417 for a comprehensive AC Tune-up. Not only can an annual AC tune-up from Cooper Climate Control save you as much as 30 percent on your monthly energy bills, but it could also save you hundreds of dollars (and hours of stress!) by locating and letting you fix any potential issues with your air conditioning system before they become major problems.
