Summer heat is beating down causing many air conditioning units to run constantly. You may feel cooler but still feel sticky. If that’s the case, your central air conditioner may not be working properly. Your unit should cool the air as well as take out moisture. It’s the moisture left in the air that gives us that sticky, muggy feeling. Running your central air longer should take all the humidity out of the air. But a constantly running unit will raise your electric bill.
What’s an alternative to running long periods of time and using more energy?
• Use more insulation
• Ventilate your attic with solar ventilators
• Check your thermostat for proper operation
• Make sure your intake filters are cleaned. Get your units serviced regularly
• Make sure kids don’t run inside and outside constantly. Make a 5 minute rule: they must stay outside for 5 minutes before running back inside.
Using electricity sparingly and wisely is what will lower your electric bills. Do you load up the dishwasher with breakfast and lunch dishes and run the dishwasher? The power companies want you to wait until the evening hours to run it. I live in an area that does not charge different rates for different times of the day. The power company will charge me for every penny I use whether it is during the day or at night. Easing the load during peak afternoon hours helps the power companies by not putting a strain on the grid. That is helping the power companies, not me. It won’t lower my bill at all. No matter what time of day I run the dishwasher, my meter is still turning.
A solar system is different. You would be taught to conserve because you won’t have all the power you want all the time. Peak hours for a solar powered system would be roughly between 9:00 am to 2:00 pm because of the sunlight and the angle of receiving that sunlight.
It is easy to say ‘conserve’ but hard to conserve on air conditioning when it is 95 degrees outside. Why not convert to solar power? If you can’t convert to solar because of expenses, I suggest you invest in a solar attic ventilator. They work at the peak heat of the day to take the heat out of your attic before it enters your home. What’s your number one energy eating appliance?
Geothermal is nothing without insulation. Insulation is the key. Not
everyone can afford geothermal but everyone can afford insulation.
Posted by: Robert Farbe | September 21, 2009 at 08:26 PM
Heating and cooling can be a HUGE percentage of your homes energy use. Switching to geothermal could reduce that by up to half. That is how you could conserve.
Posted by: Charles | September 21, 2009 at 04:43 PM