Avoid These 4 Air Conditioning Mistakes For Greater Comfort
Everyone makes mistakes, but when it comes to your air conditioning, mistakes can prove costly in terms of energy consumption and overall comfort. By learning from these air conditioning mistakes, you can cut down on your home's energy consumption and utility bills while keeping your home as comfortable as possible.
Buying an Oversized A/C System
Many homeowners mistakenly believe that, when it comes to their air conditioning system, bigger is better. After all, a bigger A/C system cools your home faster, right? But having an oversized A/C system can be a liability.
For starters, an oversized A/C system is more prone to short cycling, where the unit rapidly turns on and off in an effort to maintain desired temperatures. This adds unnecessary wear and tear on your A/C system. Short cycling also prevents your oversized A/C from removing excess humidity from your home's indoor air, making it feel clammier and less comfortable.
Placing Your A/C in the Hottest Parts of Your Home
Placing your air conditioner in an area of your home that receives direct sunlight is a recipe for increased energy consumption and reduced reliability. Your A/C system will work much harder than it should just to overcome the additional heat on top of cooling off your home. This can take years off of your A/C system's projected lifespan.
Portions of your home facing southwest are more likely to be exposed to increased heat and direct sunlight. Instead, you'll want to install your air conditioner on the north or east side of your home—areas that have less exposure to direct sunlight.
Turning Your Thermostat Way Down
Let's say you come home to temperatures above 80 degrees. Instead of setting your thermostat to a temperature you're most comfortable with (for instance, 78 degrees), you turn the thermostat all the way down to its lowest possible setting.
Keep in mind that this won't cool your home any faster than simply setting it at the desired temperature. Not only that, but you'll also end up wasting energy with this unnecessary setting.
Ignoring Regularly Scheduled Maintenance
This is perhaps the biggest mistake you can make when it comes to your air conditioning. Maintenance is the key to a reliable, long-lasting and energy efficient system. To ignore regularly scheduled maintenance is to sacrifice that efficiency, reliability, and comfort.
Ideally, you should have an HVAC technician (such as one from Shivani Refrigeration & Air Conditioning) service your air conditioner on a yearly basis. With preventative maintenance from a highly skilled technician, you can avoid breakdowns and other maintenance issues that could sideline your A/C system.
In addition, there are also plenty of simple maintenance tasks you can do on your own. Many of these tasks are as simple as changing your air filter on a monthly basis. Do-it-yourself maintenance also ensures that your A/C system will last for years to come.
