Regardless of the size of your residence, summertime cooling costs stand to leave a dent in your finances. Hobson Air Conditioning Inc. can assist you in finding the right AC unit for your home. Since air conditioning is generally the fastest and most effective means of cooling a home, many families won’t hesitate to rely on AC the instant things start getting too warm. While AC certainly has a role to play in your cooling efforts, making it your go-to can deplete your bank account all summer long. Fortunately for frugal households, there are numerous ways to break your reliance on air conditioning and cool the old homestead in a more cost-effective manner.
Have Your Central AC System Fully Serviced
While overreliance on AC can cost you big bucks, there are certainly going to be points throughout the summer where air conditioning is essential. During periods of extreme heat, a functional AC system is liable to serve as your household’s primary line of defense – and to get the most out of your air conditioning, you’ll need to have it fully serviced and cleaned at least once a year. The harder your AC has to work, the more energy it’s going to expend – and the more energy it expends, the higher your utility costs are likely to be. This is where an annual service call can prove incredibly helpful.
A seasoned heating and cooling pro will be able to clean your AC system, swap out worn-down components and catch a bevy of potential problems before they have a chance to become much costlier issues. Although this will entail spending some money, it can also save you a fortune on large-scale repairs and summertime cooling costs. Furthermore, annual service calls can increase the lifespan of your AC system, and since high-quality central air conditioning systems don’t come cheap, this can be a tremendous boon to your finances.
Prevent Air from Escaping
The faster cool air is able to escape from your home, the harder your AC system has to work. That being the case, it’s in your best interest to seal in cool air. Since a fair amount of air escapes through doors and windows, you’d do well to go over the various doors and windows in your home with a fine-toothed comb. After identifying any problematic windows or doors, take steps to make them less conducive to escaped air. Weather strips, caulk, foam tape and window film are all effective – and cost-effective – tools for sealing in cool air. As an added bonus, these tools can also help you seal in warm air during the frosty winter months.
Use Ceiling Fans to Your Advantage High-quality ceiling fans can play a vital role in your cost-effective cooling setup. In fact, purchasing modern ceiling fans is liable to be among the smartest home cooling choices you ever make. Installing these fans in key locations throughout your residence can increase airflow and aid the distribution of cool air. This can be particularly effective during the nighttime hours, when outside temps tend to undergo a noticeable drop. Additionally, by adjusting their blades to spin counterclockwise, you can enable your ceiling fans to produce refreshing downward-flowing breezes.
Minimize Sunlight in Your Home
By outfitting your home’s windows with blackout curtains, you can provide yourself with relief on two separate fronts. First off, you can prevent your home from becoming uncomfortably bright, which can be especially helpful during the early morning hours. Secondly, you can help avoid the indoor temperature increases that are synonymous with too much sunlight. Although blackout curtains are affordable on virtually any budget, you may want to consider using stick-on blackout screens if you’re in the market for an even cheaper solution.
As any homeowner will tell you, keeping a house comfortably cool throughout the summer season is liable to cost an arm and a leg. Depending on the size of your residence and your area’s summertime climate, maintaining a consistently cool home stands to leave an enormous hole in your finances every month. Although many of us have simply resigned ourselves to outrageous summertime utility costs, there are ways around parting with a small fortune every time summer rolls around. Households looking for simple, effective ways to keep cooling costs under control should heed the tips outlined above.
Speak Your Mind