How to Cool Your Home for Less

Here in Minnesota, you don’t need to be a meteorologist to accurately predict another hot, sticky summer day. You’re more interested in how hot, and how sticky. And yet as bad as outdoor conditions might be, there’s always the inside of your home where your central AC system keeps you nice and comfortable…until it doesn’t. Oh sure, you don’t give up on it right away. You might have it cleaned and inspected, perhaps even have your ducts re-sealed and the thermostat checked. And all the while you’re losing air conditioner efficiency, and your electricity bill keeps climbing higher until the “ouch” effect gets totally under your skin. Short of replacing your AC system, there are a bunch of things you can do to help reduce that big, mean electricity bill. Here are just a few to get you started.

• Raise the thermostat. If you’re comfortable at 70 degrees indoors, why not test the waters at 72 or higher and see how it feels? That one small step would cut costs by around 5%.
• Lower the shades. Glass windows do much more than reveal outdoor views. They conduct, reflect, and intensify the sun’s heat and UV rays. So, to save money AND lower your risk of sunburn and its consequences, keep your shades and curtains drawn during the day.
• Install one or more ceiling fans. With a bi-directional ceiling fan, you can cut home energy costs all year long. Spinning in the normal direction, a fan will blow warm air back down, thus keeping your heating costs under control. In the summer, simply reverse the fan’s direction and you should be able to raise your thermostat by 3 degrees and experience no reduction in comfort, but a big dip in your electricity bill.
• Check for air leaks. It costs enough to cool the inside of your home, and even more when air is escaping outdoors through cracks and leaks in weather stripping, caulking, poor insulation, defective air ducts, and so on. Now might be the perfect time for a home energy audit to find the source of the leaks and plug them up.

Of course, what if you haven’t had your AC system cleaned and checked for more than a year or longer? If so, not only is that sure to create higher energy bills but lead to potentially costly repairs and shorter equipment life. Today, why not aid your cause and contact Bob Boldt HVAC for our comprehensive preventive maintenance service? It’s just the ticket for greater comfort and lower costs.