In many cases even a properly sized, installed and operating central air conditioner can have trouble keeping a home cool, or at least having to run longer than it should. This results in high AC bills.
Usually the problem is caused not by one single problem but by several things that act against the air conditioner by warming the air indoors as the AC works to cool it. Below are a few of these simple to fix issues that help your AC be more effective.
Insulate Leaking Electrical Outlets.
Most people are aware that they need to maintain the weather striping that lines exterior doors and widows, but did you know electrical outlets along the outer wall of block home can leak out your cool air too? While the amount of air leaking out of the home through the outlets may be small there are a couple of reasons while this is still important. First while the leak is small, it is 24/7 – a constant trickle of cool air leaking out and warm air leaking in all day every day. The other reason is in Florida, most homes are built from cement blocks. During the day the stone blocks absorb the heat from the sun. This in tern heats the air in the space inside the blocks and between walls. Having uninsulated electrical vents allows that warm air to seem into your home.
Replace Your Air Filter Often
Changing the air filter located in the air handler one per month is one of the most important and easiest ways to keep your home cool more efficiently. For the air conditioner to work properly clean air must flow through the coil inside the air handler. If the filer is dirty, it will reduce the air flow significantly. This in turn will force you to run your AC much longer to keep your home cool in the hot summer months. Having a dirty air filter will also allow dust and dirt particles to build up in the coil and work their way back into the air of your home where it can contribute to indoor air pollution. So simply changing your AC filter regularly -at least once per month – you can keep your AC running cold and efficiently all year.
Shade Your Outdoor Unit
While it’s no surprise to anyone living in Venice, our area gets HOT. All that sunshine Florida is famous for does more than heat up your home. Direct sunlight blazing away on your outdoor air conditioner unit will get the unit extremely hot during peak sunshine hours. SO hot in fact that it can reduce the ability of the outdoor unit to exchange the heat from inside your home out into the air. The solution is a simple one -simply provide shade for your outdoor unit. By shading the unit, it will no longer be absorbing heat from direct sunlight all day long and will stay much cooler. This can improve the ability of the AC to remove heat from the coolant and in turn make your air conditioning more efficient! There are a lot of ways to can shade your air conditioner ranging from building an awning like structure to simply planting a shade tree or large shrub near by. Of you do choose the tree method, though make sure tree will not drop leaves and seeds into your outdoor unit and that you maintain plenty of open space around the unit for air to flow.
Shade Your Windows
While not really a cheap solution, shading your windows from the outside will help quite a bit. This is because even if you have curtains or blinds inside the sunlight is still passing thermal radiation into your curtains and blinds. After the blinds heat up they will release that heat into your home. Depending on how your home is oriented this can result in a significant heat source. By shading your windows from the outside you prevent the curtains and blinds from ever heating up and warming the inside of your home. Shading you windows can be accomplished a variety of ways from planting shrubs or shade trees, to having awnings installed or even films applied to the window to block out the heat.
By performing a few maintenance tasks around the home you can really make your air conditioner have to work less to keep you cool. However if even after these measures are taken your AC is still struggling to cool your home give us a call and we will be there to fix your ac in a flash.