Keep An Eye On How You Use Your Air Conditioner
(And a Few Other Electricity Savings Tips)
Electric bills usually rise right along with the East Texas temperature.
At East Texas Refrigeration, ETR, located in Tyler and Longview, we understand the need to find ways to save money on electric bills and realize that air conditioning and keeping our homes cool, makes up a large part of the expense.
Having the whole family home for most of the day and night can very quickly get expensive when it comes to the electricity bill. Moving into summer, it’s important to find ways to save money by not only being smart with your air conditioning, but also by paying attention to other ways you may be wasting electricity – in other words – throwing money away!
Luckily, even with parents and kids at home all day using their electronics, there are many easy ways to make your house more efficient when it comes to using electricity.
Extra Spring Cleaning
At this time of year, many people are taking on cleaning projects they put off for the winter. Cupboards and attics are getting aired. Beds are moved and vacuumed under. Windows washed.
To help save money on your electric bill, take your cleaning one more step and clean your air conditioning vents and units. Thoroughly cleaning your vents and AC units not only helps keep the air in your home cleaner, and help reduce household allergens—it also helps cut down your electricity spending. When the vents and units are clean, they run more efficiently and use less electricity. So it’s time to get out the vacuum and scrubbies and get to work!
Use Ceiling and Floor Fans
Many households come to rely solely on the AC to keep their house cool. Especially during pollen and allergy season, it’s almost impossible to keep the windows open, even at night. As spring turns to summer, the increase in the heat makes it difficult to turn the AC off at all, even when the sun has set. Running the air conditioner that long can lead to incredibly high electric bills.
But there are alternatives: bring back the old fashioned fan!
Heat rises, so using a combination of a ceiling fan to push the heat down, and a floor fan to move it out of the room, can help keep a space cooler.
Especially if it’s a cloudy day, try turning off the AC and sitting next to a fan. The fan uses considerably less energy than an AC unit. Try keeping track of your time spent with the AC off and chart how much you save by occasionally using a fan. You might be surprised!
Keep Doors, Windows, and Blinds Closed on Sunny Days
Along with the use of a fan, keeping your house closed up from heat and sunlight can help keep it cool for large parts of the day, without using the AC. It also helps your home hold in the cool temperatures for longer, meaning less use of your air conditioner.
In the morning, as the day begins to heat up, make sure your windows and doors are all closed and sealed. Close the blinds or even hang blankets or sheets over the windows during the hottest part of the day to keep the cool in and the heat out. You’ll be surprised what a difference this can make in keeping your house cool.
More Energy Savings Options:
- If possible, use the Energy Saver option on your air conditioner when not at home or at night. If you’re using an older, less energy-efficient AC unit, and can afford it, consider upgrading to a more energy-efficient model. Call a certified HVAC technician at ETR to check your unit and see if any air conditioner repair is needed.
- If you’re going to only be in one or two rooms of your house for the day, there’s no need to keep the whole house cold. Cooling rooms unnecessarily can cause a big spike in your electric bill. When you’re only in a couple of rooms, shut the doors to the other rooms. This will help keep the air conditioner from working overly-hard and racking up with wattage.
- If you have kids, you know all about this one: keeping lights off during daylight hours or when you’re not in the room. Get the whole family into the habit of turning off the lights during the daytime or when they leave a room and watch your electric bill fall. Purchase energy-saving lightbulbs to make an additional difference in savings.
- Heating water uses extra electricity. Any way you can cut down on hot water use, helps save money on your electric bill. Taking shorter showers always helps, but most of the savings can come from doing laundry. Instead of setting your laundry to Hot/Cold, where you’re able, use a Cold/Cold cycle to save on water-heating electricity.
- All of our household gadgets: television, cell phones, computers, tablets, etc. require electricity and charging. Chargers use electricity whenever they’re plugged in. If you have a household full of plugged-in chargers that aren’t being used, you’re sucking energy pointlessly, and losing money.
Create a “power station” with a power strip, and when not in use, turn off the power strip and save money. This is also true of your microwave. When not in use, try unplugging your major appliances.
- Perfect for summertime: skip the oven and use the grill instead. Turning on your oven can have the double whammy of using electricity for the oven and more AC power as the house heats up. Grilling keeps the house cooler and uses a lot less electricity overall.
Saving money on the electric bill is something the whole family can participate in. We’re together now, more than ever, and working together to use less electricity is a great family activity.
If you are ready for a new Air Conditioning installation, replacement or need A/C Repair, ETR can help. We offer easy term, new unit payment plans. Owning a new TRANE air conditioner has never been easier or more more affordable.