While it can’t always be avoided, no one likes to be overheated, especially in their own houses. We tend to look at our homes as places of security and comfort, which is part of the reason why people have a tendency to crank the AC in the Summer.
While this might lead to a more comfortable living room, it can also make for a lighter wallet. Summer might be almost over, but it’ll be a little while (at least for myself) before air conditioning is no longer important. Here are a few tips you can take to reduce your air-conditioning bill:
Only use ceiling fans when you’re under them
While ceiling fans are more efficient than air conditioners and make you feel cooler by circulating air against your skin, they don’t actually lower the temperature of a room. Keeping this in mind, only use ceiling fans when you’re directly under them, or you’ll just be wasting electricity.
Install air conditioners in the warmest rooms
Most houses have at least one room that doesn’t cool off as well as the others. To keep this one room cool, be sure to install an air conditioner in it so that you don’t have to run central air on full blast throughout the whole house to cool it down.
Clean!
By cleaning the air-conditioner filters, you’ll reduce the amount of work that your units will need to perform to pull air into the system. As a result of this increase in efficiency, you’ll be able to keep your home just as cool as before but at a lower cost. Many outdoor units can be hosed off regularly, and window units often come equipped with removable filters that can be washed in the sink.
Hang out the laundry
Chances are good that your dryer is one of your home’s biggest energy suckers- it takes a lot of electricity to generate enough heat to dry clothes, and adding insult to injury, some of the heat from your dryer will inevitably escape and wind up heating your home, even when you don’t want it to. By hanging your clothes to dry outside on a clothesline, you’ll be able to save money on running the dryer.
Keep your kitchen cool
An easy way to heat up your home is by using your kitchen appliances to fix meals. To be fair, you’ll still need to eat in the Summer, but heating your whole kitchen isn’t always necessary. Consider preparing no-cook meals like salads or using smaller appliances like a toaster oven for moderate amounts of warm food.
Source: US News