Tips to Improve the Efficiency of Your Air Conditioner

During the summer, your AC unit is probably the most power-hungry device that you own, which is why using it carefully might be the most frugal tip that you’ll receive. Keep in mind, however, the fact that its maintenance, as well as some of your other habits, may affect the way it works, as well. (Image source: pixabay)

With that in mind and without further ado, here are several tips to improve the efficiency of your air conditioner that you should seriously consider using. With that in mind, here are several tips to improve the efficiency of your air conditioner.

1. Choose the right one for your home

The first thing you need to keep in mind is the fact that the choice of the right air conditioner might be the key to how you get to use it. You see, you need to consider the amount of the space that you’ll have to cool down, the number of inhabitants (we’ll return to this later on), the layout of the room, the insulation of the place and many other factors. Keep in mind that the efficiency of cooling the place down also matters, not just the amount of power that you spend. How potent the device it might be a major determiner in this field.

For instance, if you have to cool down 100 to 150 square feet of living space, what you need is a 5,000 BTUs per hour AC unit. For the area that’s 150 to 250 Square feet, 6,000 BTUs per hour, while a space that’s between 250 and 300 may require as much as 7000 BTUs per hour. The quality of insulation, windows and doors will also determine the efficiency of your cooling efforts.

2. Make sure they’re properly installed

Reliable installation of the device is key to its long-lasting health. Which is why you need to find experts to do so. Think about it, the position and angle of certain parts may not only determine whether the appliance is functional but also the likelihood of the debris getting stuck somewhere and clogging the entire system.

For this to work, you must also find skilled local help, seeing as how finding experts that are half-a-state away might be quite impractical or even render their services completely unavailable. For instance, if you’re located in Sydney, look for Sydney air condition experts instead of further expanding your search. Keep in mind that the majority of these experts also include ongoing maintenance services into their offer, which is definitely going to be necessary.

3. Use alternative methods of keeping home cool

There are so many things that you can do to keep your home clean, ranging from spending some time outdoors, all the way to using ceiling fans and other methods of cooling the place down.

First of all, you need to be aware of the fact that every human body serves as an additional heat source. Namely, an average human can warm up the place like a standard 100 W incandescent light bulb. Therefore, the more time you spend outdoors, the cooler the place will be. Setting up a backyard seating area is one way to do so. An outdoor kitchen can make a massive difference in this field. Needless to say, switching from incandescent to LED is another elegant solution.

As far as the cooling methods go, what you could also do is try to let some air in during the morning hours and then shut your blinds and curtains once the sun reaches the apex. Leaving the windows open all night, however, is not that great for your quality of sleep. In fact, it’s one of the worst mistakes that people make in the hot weather. A couple of hours at night and a couple of hours early in the morning is more than enough.

4. Clear the debris

The outside unit of the AC, or at least its outside part, is in danger of getting clogged by all sorts of debris. In order to avoid this, you need to A) trim all the branches that are in the vicinity of the unit, B) place it on the side of the home that’s usually shielded from wind (if there is one) and C) regularly inspect it.

Keep in mind that this job is best left to professionals, especially in a scenario where the unit has to be opened or disassembled in order to be thoroughly cleaned. Not only that, but even your inside unit may accumulate particles of dust, thus making the air in the room a tad less healthy than before. So, cleaning it, as well, becomes a good idea.

One more thing that we need to briefly reflect on here is the fact that the issue of AC maintenance may also be regarded as the landscaping issue. So, if you’re not handling this on your own, make sure to tell your landscaper to pay special attention to your AC unit and keep anything that could create debris at least 2-4 feet away from it. The fact that these shrubs are not in the way will ensure a much steadier flow of fresh air.

5. Invest in smart air conditioning

Previously, we’ve talked about strategizing and scheduling letting the air in within your home, however, the same thing could apply to your use of the AC unit. This is why, by getting a smart device, you can optimize this method by allowing the appliance to adjust itself. Think about it, you don’t have to keep the temperature in your home at the same level throughout the entire day.

Moreover, when leaving their home, a lot of people turn off their AC unit completely off, which makes things somewhat more difficult in the future. Letting your home go completely warm is not a good idea and it’s not really cost-effective either. With smart air conditioning, you’ll be able to control the temperature within your home without making too many investments.

One more thing you need to keep in mind is the fact that if you really want to make a difference, you might want to try setting your AC unit at full speed while you’re not at home. Think about it, cooling the place down fast while you’re not at home is the simplest way to get the optimal work-efficiency from the device. Moreover, it helps you keep the temperature at a decent level, making your subsequent cooling actions much more effective.

6. Don’t set it too low

Keep in mind the fact that setting the AC too low is not energy efficient, nor friendly for that matter. First of all, you can set your indoor temperature at 26 degrees Celsius, you don’t have to set it to 24, 22 or even as low as 16 degrees. Think about it, the bigger the difference the more power you spend. Other than this, our bodies naturally adjust to hotter temperatures, especially our thyroid. So, by making the indoor-outdoor difference too large may have a serious negative impact on your overall health.

In other words, showing some restraint is pivotal and you need to ask yourself just how cold your home should be? It’s summer, it’s ok for you to be a bit hotter than usual, even if you do have that all-powerful AC unit installed.

In conclusion

As you can see, the efficiency of your air conditioner can be divided into several segments. There’s the issue of getting an adequate appliance for your home. There are factors involving your lifestyle, like the amount of time you spend in your home, whether you invite people over and whether you cook indoors when it’s blazing outside. Maintenance and use of your AC are also a major factor. So, do you have to use all of these methods in order to use your AC efficiently? Well, it depends on the difference that you intend to make.