3 Ways to Reduce Your AC Bill This Summer
A great air conditioner can make your home feel crisp and cool, but unfortunately, that comfort comes at a price. Since air conditioners can be expensive to run and repair, it pays to do what you can to reduce heat gain inside of your home. Here are three ways to reduce your air conditioning bill this summer and why your HVAC system will thank you.
1. Cook Outside
As you use your oven and simmer, sauté, and flambé, you heat up your home and fill your indoor air with microscopic pollutants. Steam, cooking grease particulates, and even the cleaners you use afterwards can fill the air with pollution.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), these pollutants can make your home's breathable air even dirtier than the stuff you breathe outside.
As your HVAC system circulates air through your home, these particulates can accumulate in air ducts and filters, making your AC unit run harder than it needs to.
Cooking inside can also dramatically increase indoor temperatures. In fact, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has reported that the temperatures in front of indoor grills can reach upwards of 105°F - 110°F, prompting your air conditioner to turn on more frequently than you might like.
Fortunately, you can prevent both of these problems by cooking your meals outside on the barbecue grill. In addition to providing tasty grill marks on your meats and vegetables, grills can be fitted with silicone or metal trays that allow people to sauté ingredients or cook delicate foods like fish.
2. Consider Repainting Your Home
You might love that dark gray stucco that covers your home's exterior, but it might be baking the inside of your place. Homes that are painted dark colors have been shown to absorb as much as 70% to 90% of the radiant heat generated by the sun, creating a conduction effect that warms up your home.
On the other hand, lighter colors of stucco, siding, and brick tend to reflect the radiant heat from the sun, keeping your home cooler and reducing the load on your HVAC system. If you are unhappy with the color of your house and your energy bill, consider painting your home's exterior to keep your place cooler.
Some homeowners take this energy-saving principle a step further by investing in cool roofs, which are made from light-colored materials. According to Energy.gov, these roofs stay about 50°F cooler than traditional dark roofs, extending the life span of the shingles and allowing less heat into your home.
3. Switch Up Your Yard
You might not care too much about how pretty the area around your outdoor HVAC unit looks, but with a little careful planning, you could beautify the space and help your air conditioner to run more efficiently.
Shade can cool the air by as much as 10°F-15°F claims SunSentinal. So planting a tree that shades your outdoor unit can improve your air conditioner's efficiency by as much as 10%, lowering your monthly energy costs. If you are concerned about things like falling twigs and leaves getting lodged in your HVAC fins, consider installing a shade sail or a retractable awning above your unit.
On days when the weather forecast is hot and sunny, make sure your shade sail or awning is fully extended so it can provide the most shade possible. When the air is cooled slightly before it enters your home, it will take less energy to bring the air to the set temperature.
If you have made some changes around your home and you are still struggling with high energy bills, give our team a call today. Here at Parks Davis Air Conditioning & Heating, we can diagnose and resolve indoor climate control issues, helping you to enjoy a comfortable experience. With our fast service and complimentary quotes, you won't have to wait long to make your home better.
