Air Conditioning

It seems summers are only getting hotter. Every year we tend to waste a lot of electricity on running Air Conditioning units to keep the temperature down to bearable levels. On the other hand, energy saving mentality, also known as green thinking, has become the important lifestyle initiative. In order to balance on a tight rope of keeping your room temperature reasonable and accommodate this green thinking spirit, here are some energy saving tips for air conditioning.

Night is your ally

You can always count on that universal natural law of cooler nights. Turn off your AC unit and keep your windows open to create a pleasant breeze throughout your household. If you live in the area that has a big mosquito problem, you can either buy a protective net and put it on windows and terrace doors or go with one of the regular chemical solutions you can buy in every well-equipped supermarket.

Now, it is fair to say that, at peak temperatures, even nights can be smoldering hot due to heated pavement and busy streets filled with carbon spewing cars. In this case, you can set the alarm to wake you during early morning hours – somewhere between four and five in the morning. This is when the average summer temperature is the lowest and the perfect time to open your windows for at least three hours before the sun starts beaming.

Pay attention to the airflow

There is another natural law you can use to your advantage – hot air moves upwards. If you live in a household that has several floors and/or a basement, close off all the vents when the AC unit is working. Since the cool air sinks, basements are the coolest space in the entire home. Closing the door tightly and blocking the airflow through the vents will stop the cold air from moving down. If your bedroom is on the upper floors of the house, the same rule applies.

Turn the lights off

Some tricks to survive hot summer nights are inventive, but some are incredibly simple. Here is something you can easily manage – keep as many lights off during the night as you possibly can. Incandescent light bulbs can actually add a lot of heat when combined with already scorching temperatures. You can always opt for LED lights as an energy efficient option that does not heat up as much. The same goes for your computers.

Service the AC unit

Basic maintenance of your AC unit ensures it works at optimal performance levels. Cleaning the exterior part of the unit from debris, changing hoses, or replacing the entire unit needs to be done efficiently and quickly, and genuine professionals, as the guys who own and operate Sydmech, offer amazing deals on their maintenance and servicing. As far as cleaning and changing filters goes, this is one of those do-it-yourself tasks you can easily accomplish yourself.

The window factor

A lot of heat actually comes in through closed windows. The sun rays hit the glass and refract which creates a lot of energy that manifests in the form of heat. While this can be useful for saving energy during the winter, it is a nightmare fuel over the summer. In order to stop this heat from entering your home, you have to keep your blinds closed until the sun reaches zenith and moves to another part of the sky. If you own a house that has windows on both eastern and western side, you are probably well-acquainted with this dynamic.

Power cooling

A power cooling session (or flash cooling) is something a lot of people practice during the summer months. The idea is to close all the windows and turn off all the electrical appliances in the house apart from the AC unit. You leave the unit on and leave the house to run a few errands. After you return, you turn off the unit and keep the windows closed – the temperature in the house will remain low for an extended period of time. After the heat builds up, you can repeat the process. This way, you will save electricity in the long run.

To most of us, AC is a not only a luxury – it is a necessity. However, the electrical bills at the end of the month are a sore subject as we all want to save money and be environmentally responsible. This is why combining several energy saving tips to cool down your house is the best course of action as relying solely on air conditioning creates more problems than it actually solves.

About The Author

Article written for WhosGreenOnline.com by Lillian Connors. Lillian constantly embarks on fresh #homeimprovement #greenliving #officedesign projects and spreads the word about them.