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Home Cooling Trends

There are actually quite a few ways to bring down your energy bill and boost the energy efficiency of your home. One of the ways to approach energy efficiency is to begin with your home cooling system. Your habits and your air conditioning system can easily waste a lot of cool air – cool air that requires energy to distribute and for which you are paying. This year, there are a lot of new trends emerging that will both make your home a greener place and bring down your energy bill.

So what are some of the 2015 home cooling trends?

Energy Efficiency

“Energy efficiency” is quite the buzzphrase. People are seeking more and more products for their home that are energy efficient. But what exactly does this mean? It means that the product you have purchased does not expend a lot of energy and resources to produce high-quality results. It means your air conditioning unit uses less energy than it puts out. When air conditioning has to work harder, for example, it costs you more money and doesn’t work as well. It is not efficient regarding both sides of the scale.

One of the ways to have an air conditioning unit that’s efficient is to purchase a unit with the highest SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating) number that your home needs. The federal government is seeking to implement laws that make American homes more energy efficient, saving consumers money in the long run – and saving air quality. On Jan. 1, 2015, the federal government implemented a regulation that required all new air conditioning units to be 14 SEER. While this 14 SEER unit will give your home superb energy efficiency and will save you money in the long run, these units cost significantly more than units 13 SEER and less. However, if you have a unit that’s less than 14 SEER, it doesn’t mean it’s not energy efficient. This is where your habits come in.

Home Cooling Habits to Save Energy

In 2015, more and more people will be putting the effort in to make sure their A/C units are running swiftly. But how can you do this? By following simple habits, such as keeping all doors open within your home to allow cool air to flow freely.

Below are a few other habits to try in 2015:

• Change your air filter at least once a month
• Make sure all windows, doors, and outlets are tightly sealed
• Make sure your unit is not hindered by debris or other obstructions
• Set your thermostat to 78º F, the Energy Star recommendation for optimal home cooling. If this is too warm for your preferences, only lower one degree at a time – each degree adds to your
  bill
• Turn down your thermostat by at least 7º when no one is home – don’t turn OFF the air – just lower it. Turning air on and off requires your unit to work harder.
• Turn up the air when everyone is sleeping
• In rooms with ceiling fans, you can raise the thermostat by around 5º. The running fan creates a wind-chill factor. Turn fans off when you leave – fans that cool empty rooms have no effect, so they’re just using energy.
• Get a programmable thermostat, which allows homeowners to schedule temperatures at certain times of day and night depending on how many people are home and how high your energy bill costs. Programmable thermostats are great in states and cities where electricity companies charge more to run the air at certain times of the day.

Get A Regular AC Inspection

Frequent AC maintenance from a company such as Penguin Air, Plumbing & Electrical is one of the best ways to make sure your A/C is performing as efficiently as possible in 2015. A professional inspection can help your unit perform better than it would with standard home habits. An A/C professional will inspect such things as dirty coils, condenser parts and run capacitors – all parts of the A/C system that can damage your unit and cause your A/C to drastically underperform. Plus, an AC inspection can help catch a problem long before it becomes a disaster.

You May Also Be Interested In:

Efficient Cooling: Bigger is not Always Better

SEER Ratings for Efficient Cooling

Why Should I Schedule an AC Tune-Up?