With outdoor temperatures getting hotter in the Kansas City area, a homeowner can get frustrated at the constant battle to beat the heat while conserving energy. However, a number of strategies and innovations are available if you want to cool down your home without busting your budget. Perhaps the most important one is getting your cooling system tuned up annually. If you neglected to get your A/C or heat pump serviced this spring, there’s no time like the present. A cooling system that’s been cleaned and thoroughly checked, with any issues repaired or corrected, will operate at optimum efficiency, saving you on your utility bills throughout the summer.At the same time, you’ll want to keep up with your own regular HVAC maintenance. This should include at the minimum inspecting the A/C or heat pump filter monthly, and changing it when it looks dirty. Also, to maintain proper airflow, keep your indoor registers unblocked by furniture, rugs and other objects, and keep the area around the outdoor condensing unit free of grass clippings, weeds and other yard debris.
Conserving energy can be cool in other ways this summer, too:
- Run ceiling fans to create a wind-chill effect that will cool you off so much that you can raise the temperature on your thermostat by three or four degrees without any loss of comfort.
- Keep your storm windows closed when the air conditioner is turned on and refrain from opening the windows in the evening when outdoor temperatures cool down
- Grill outdoors or use your microwave as much as possible to avoid heating up your kitchen. An oven can raise kitchen temperatures by 10 degrees, which makes your air conditioner run longer and harder to keep you cool.
- Seal holes, cracks and leaks around your home. Look for them around doors and windows and wherever wires, vents or pipes pass through a ceiling a wall.
- Leaky ducts can defeat your best efforts, so be sure to seal cracks and insulate ducts that run through unconditioned areas with a layer of insulation.
- And since this can’t be repeated too many times, have your air conditioner serviced annually by a trusted HVAC contractor such as Overland Park Heating & Cooling.
Conserving energy and helping homeowners save money are two of the things we do best at Overland Park Heating & Cooling. We know that every home poses unique energy challenges, so call us for a consultation today.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Overland Park, Kansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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