4 Tips To Save Money On Your Summer Cooling Costs
With the heat of summer beating down relentlessly, and showing no signs of abating anytime soon, most of us have been running our air conditioning systems on an almost nonstop basis, and while that does help to control the temperature inside our homes and help keep us cool and comfortable, it also tends to mean that we can expect to see a serious increase in our monthly energy bills as a result. While most homeowners consider it extremely important to be able to stay cool inside their homes during the summer months, no one wants to pay a fortune to do so. In an effort to help you stay cool this summer, and make sure that you don't have to pay a small fortune in order to do so, our team of professionals have taken the time to put together this short list detailing just a few of our most useful tips to help you save money this summer on your monthly cooling costs.
Invest In A Programmable Thermostat
One of the best ways to help control your summer cooling costs is simply to turn off your system or set the thermostat to a higher temperature when you aren't going to be home for a length of time. The only downside to this method of saving money is that when you come home, you are going to come into a house that is much warmer than you would like it to be, and have to wait for it to cool back down. Fortunately there is a way that you can save money on your cooling costs, and still come home to a house that is nice and cool everyday, and it's called a programmable thermostat. Installing a programmable thermostat in your home lets you set your system not to run, or to run at a higher temperature while you aren't home, and automatically turn the air back down right before you get home. This will give you the cost saving benefit of not running your system all day while you aren't home, and still allow you to come home to a house that is nice and cool.
Change Your Air Filters Regularly
One of the best things you can do to keep your air conditioning system running efficiently at all times is to make sure that you are changing out your air filters on a monthly basis. While this is probably one of the easiest maintenance tasks that you can perform, there are far too many homeowners out there whose systems fall to ruin because they forget to do so on a regular basis. Not only does this help to keep your system operating efficiently, and help to keep your monthly cooling bills down, it also helps to keep your system in good health, and reduce the need for expensive repairs that can result from not properly caring for your system.
Keep Your Vents Open & Clean
While this might seem somewhat obvious, there are still occasions where we will show up to perform an air conditioning service only to find that the air vents are still closed. Air vents can be shut for all types of different reasons, whether accidental or for cleaning purposes, and just never get reopened for some reason. If you notice that some areas of your home are warmer than others for some reason, first check to make sure the air vents in that room are open and unobstructed. Making sure to clean out your air vents from time to time, or to have a professional do so will also help to ensure that you minimize the amount of dirt and debris that finds its way into your system, helping to improve performance and maximize efficiency.
Replace Your Old System With Something Newer & More Energy Efficient
While the cost of investing in a new system might seem somewhat daunting at first, the money you can save in the long run by switching from your old system to something newer and more energy efficient can save you a remarkable amount of money in the long run, and can even wind up paying for itself over time.
