Air Conditioning And Heating Energy Savers

Everyone is looking for a way to reduce costs. Air conditioning and heating are two of the biggest areas to focus on when you want to trim down your energy bills. Yet, because these are massive systems in many homes, many homeowners do not realize how much control they have over the costs. You can take some easy steps to drastically reduce your costs without actually having to invest a lot of time into the process. You do not have to be an expert to get a big savings either.

Maintenance Is #1

Without a doubt, one of the biggest ways for you to save is to maintain the system. Of any of the systems in your home, the air conditioning and heating units are the easiest to put off cleaning and maintaining for another day. The problem is, any decrease in functionality usually stems from maintenance issues. Properly cleaning the HVAC filters monthly is a good idea, especially during peak season. You will notice the difference in removing old, debris-filled filters and replacing with a new one nearly instantly.

Tuning Up Is Essential

Another portion of ensuring the functionality and reducing overall costs of these systems is to have a tune up. This includes the heating system, the ventilation, and the AC. Each year, have a professional come to the home to inspect the system. This is often best done just prior to the big seasons of winter and summer. For a low cost, you will ensure the system is working properly and you will get an idea of what additional steps you can take to ensure it is running efficiently.

Focus on the Thermostat

The next step in the process of saving money is to use an Energy Star-qualified thermostat. These are not factory-installed systems. They do not cost a lot of money and are not difficult to install yourself. However, they provide you with the ability to program the system in any way you need to do so. This programming feature can help to maintain the proper temperature no matter who is at home or what time of the day it is.

Other Tips

If you are still looking for other tips to reduce costs, consider these. It is easy to save when you use all of them.

- Use fans to help maintain a cooler temperature. Air movement makes a big difference in the overall comfort level of a home and may allow you to drop the heat a few degrees.

- Control direct sunlight to maximize efficiency.

- Realize that with old systems it may be better to replace than to fix if they are no longer energy efficient.

Air conditioning and heating systems are a big part of your energy bill. However, there are plenty of ways to cut those costs significantly.