Of course, by the very nature of having a solar-powered air conditioner, you’re helping to boost your home’s energy efficiency. Unfortunately, though, there are still things you can be doing–even small things–that contribute to poor energy use, and therefore you end up spending more money than you should from month to month.
Summer is right around the corner and you want to make sure that your solar-powered air conditioner is ready for it! This means first ensuring that you schedule routine maintenance for the system. Air conditioner maintenance should be conducted by the pros once a year to ensure that the system performs well and doesn’t have any repair issues that need addressing right away.
With or without maintenance though, and whether your air conditioner is powered by the sun or you’re using the traditional electrical grid,here are some ways to use your cooling system more efficiently:
Raise the Temperature
Look, we get it. This sounds like really odd advice. Why should you make it hotter than you actually want it in your home? Here’s the deal–many homeowners actually make it colder than it needs to be! In order to maintain optimal comfort, most families are actually perfectly fine with their thermostat setting being around 78°F. However, homeowners often set it to 71-72°F instead, thinking this will help cool the home down faster.
All it really does, however, is make the air conditioner run longer. You can save energy, and subsequently save cash, by raising the temperature to a more reasonable level. You can also save energy by raising the temperature when you are not at home or when you’re sleeping–both times you don’t actually need the system.
Utilize Those Celing Fans
You probably already know this, but fans cannot lower the temperature of a room. What ceiling fans can do, however, is help your body feel cooler. This is because fans help sweat evaporate off of your skin in order to keep you cool. So, you can turn your thermostat up a couple of degrees and therefore use less energy that way.
This is because when you use your cooling system in combination with your ceiling fans, the fans push cool air down and distribute it more evenly, while helping the warm air rise–and this results in more effective and efficient air conditioning use.
Change Your Air Filter!
Did you know that the air filter that comes standard with your HVAC system is actually not there to protect your indoor air quality? Instead, it is in place near the air conditioner’s intake so that when the AC system pulls in warm air from your home, it doesn’t pull in contaminants and debris in with it that could harm the interior components of the cooling system.
When the air filter gets too clogged, airflow gets restricted and the air conditioner may have to run longer to do its job, and therefore less efficiently.
Make the most of your solar energy in Santa Rosa, CA by using your attached appliances as efficiently as possible. Contact Jonas Energy Solutions today for expert HVAC and solar services!