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| Ways to cut down your A/C use brought to you by www.ConsumerReports.org |
Delay the chores. Your dishwasher, washer, and dryer give off heat
when they're in use, so run them in the early morning or late evening.
Your air conditioner won't have to work as hard to offset the heat
produced by the appliances. Other benefits: Running those
appliances during off-peak hours reduces the stress on the power
grid, helping to prevent brownouts. You might also pay less for the
electricity if your utility charges less per kilowatt-hour during nonpeak
hours.
Change the lightbulbs. Much of the energy used by incandescent
bulbs is emitted as heat. During the day, turn off lights that are
unnecessary. Also consider replacing your incandescent bulbs with
compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs. They use about 75 percent less
energy and give off 75 percent less heat to produce the same amount
of light as incandescent bulbs. Switching from a 100-watt
incandescent bulb to a 25-watt CFL can save you as much energy a
year as switching from a standard air-conditioner to an Energy Star
model.
Make some shade. Awnings, shades, and blinds keep sunlight from
entering your home, especially useful in west-facing windows in the
afternoon. Install them on windows, skylights, and doors that get a lot
of sun.
Use fans. When the outside air is cooler than that inside your home,
fans can come in handy. Vent fans draw in the cool air and exhaust the
hot air. Window fans are inexpensive to operate and easy to install. To
boost the chimney effect, in which warm air rises and vents naturally,
place one blowing in on the ground floor, and another one blowing out
on the floor above.
To keep your air conditioner from fighting heat from the attic, install an
attic fan controlled by a thermostat; it will turn on automatically when
the attic temperature reaches a certain point.
A whole-house fan can do the work of an air conditioner using much
less electricity. This thermostatically controlled fan turns on in the
evening and off in the early morning. It exhausts hot attic air and draws
in cool outside air from open windows throughout the house, lowering
the temperature inside the house by 3° to 6° F at night.
Plant trees. Well-placed trees can reduce the energy a home uses for
cooling by up to 25 percent, according to the DOE. Deciduous trees
(those that drop their leaves in fall) help the most by blocking the
summer sun, yet they allow the winter sun to warm your home.
Evergreen trees and shrubs offer year-round shade and block winds,
which reduces heating costs.
Plant trees on the northeast-southeast and northwest-southwest
sides of your home; do not plant directly to the south, unless you live in
an area where it is always hot. Ideally, plant at a distance from the
house that is equal to two to five times the height of the mature trees.
To increase the efficiency of your air-conditioning unit by up to 10
percent, plant trees and shrubs to shade the outside unit; place them
at least 18 inches away so they don't block the vents on the
compressor. For more tips on ways to use landscaping to increase
the energy efficiency of your home, see the DOE's landscaping advice.
Reconsider the roofing. More than 90 percent of the roofs in this
country are dark; on a hot, sunny day, dark-colored roofs can heat up
to 150° to 190° F, roasting the living spaces below. Consider adding a
reflective coating to a dark roof, or when it's time to replace it, choose a
lighter color, which will reflect most of the heat away from your home.
Homes in the north won't benefit as much as those in warmer
climates, according to the National Roofing Contractors Association.
when they're in use, so run them in the early morning or late evening.
Your air conditioner won't have to work as hard to offset the heat
produced by the appliances. Other benefits: Running those
appliances during off-peak hours reduces the stress on the power
grid, helping to prevent brownouts. You might also pay less for the
electricity if your utility charges less per kilowatt-hour during nonpeak
hours.
Change the lightbulbs. Much of the energy used by incandescent
bulbs is emitted as heat. During the day, turn off lights that are
unnecessary. Also consider replacing your incandescent bulbs with
compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs. They use about 75 percent less
energy and give off 75 percent less heat to produce the same amount
of light as incandescent bulbs. Switching from a 100-watt
incandescent bulb to a 25-watt CFL can save you as much energy a
year as switching from a standard air-conditioner to an Energy Star
model.
Make some shade. Awnings, shades, and blinds keep sunlight from
entering your home, especially useful in west-facing windows in the
afternoon. Install them on windows, skylights, and doors that get a lot
of sun.
Use fans. When the outside air is cooler than that inside your home,
fans can come in handy. Vent fans draw in the cool air and exhaust the
hot air. Window fans are inexpensive to operate and easy to install. To
boost the chimney effect, in which warm air rises and vents naturally,
place one blowing in on the ground floor, and another one blowing out
on the floor above.
To keep your air conditioner from fighting heat from the attic, install an
attic fan controlled by a thermostat; it will turn on automatically when
the attic temperature reaches a certain point.
A whole-house fan can do the work of an air conditioner using much
less electricity. This thermostatically controlled fan turns on in the
evening and off in the early morning. It exhausts hot attic air and draws
in cool outside air from open windows throughout the house, lowering
the temperature inside the house by 3° to 6° F at night.
Plant trees. Well-placed trees can reduce the energy a home uses for
cooling by up to 25 percent, according to the DOE. Deciduous trees
(those that drop their leaves in fall) help the most by blocking the
summer sun, yet they allow the winter sun to warm your home.
Evergreen trees and shrubs offer year-round shade and block winds,
which reduces heating costs.
Plant trees on the northeast-southeast and northwest-southwest
sides of your home; do not plant directly to the south, unless you live in
an area where it is always hot. Ideally, plant at a distance from the
house that is equal to two to five times the height of the mature trees.
To increase the efficiency of your air-conditioning unit by up to 10
percent, plant trees and shrubs to shade the outside unit; place them
at least 18 inches away so they don't block the vents on the
compressor. For more tips on ways to use landscaping to increase
the energy efficiency of your home, see the DOE's landscaping advice.
Reconsider the roofing. More than 90 percent of the roofs in this
country are dark; on a hot, sunny day, dark-colored roofs can heat up
to 150° to 190° F, roasting the living spaces below. Consider adding a
reflective coating to a dark roof, or when it's time to replace it, choose a
lighter color, which will reflect most of the heat away from your home.
Homes in the north won't benefit as much as those in warmer
climates, according to the National Roofing Contractors Association.
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| Blue Ox Heating & Cooling Inc. |
| Air Conditioning & Heating Service & Repair serving Metro Phoenix, AZ and surrounding areas |
(602)995-6727
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