HVAC Tips On Preparing Your Home For Summer

  

 HVAC Tips On Preparing Your Home For Summer

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The season seem to change quickly, and soon as we prepare for winter, summer is here, and we have switch our thinking from heating to cooling our home. 

Changing filters is the first must do, and it is simple enough to do it yourself. Updating your air conditioners, replacing older models with newer more efficient models can make a large impact on your utility bills. If you are not going to install a simple A/C window unit, and a central air conditioning is what is needed in our home, it is best to hire a local contractor who can size and install your air conditioner properly.

Tips:

Don’t try and fluctuate the temperature between different rooms in your home by closing channel outlets or you will unbalance the system and reduce its efficiency, and may cause your unit to work harder, and increasing your costs. When you’re away for many hours, turn the unit off. Keep the thermostat at 78 degrees in the summertime, a cushty temperature for most of us. Each degree of temperature ends up in a 4 p.c increase or decrease in your application bill.

 Air leaks are a major source of energy inefficiency. If a $1 bill slips easily  thru the opening around your doorway, you are losing valuable cool air and letting heat in.

Check with your local power company to see if they off rebate programs for updating, and replacing old air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, water heaters. and so forth with new energy efficient models. 

Energy saving tips from Progress Energy 

Summer

With temperatures rising and cooling systems running for longer periods of time, it’s the ideal time to take control of your electric bills.

• Set your thermostat on the highest comfortable setting. If you’re leaving for the day, turn it up a couple of degrees. Do not turn your cooling system off unless you’ll be gone for an extended period of time.  
   
• Clean or change your filters monthly. Dirty filters can increase operating costs by 20 percent. Don’t block registers and return vents with furniture or drapes.    
• Use a ceiling fan or portable fan to supplement your air conditioning. A fan can make you feel three to four degrees cooler (and only costs a half-cent per hour to operate) so you can set your thermostat a few degrees higher and save on cooling costs. Use in occupied rooms since fans cool people, not rooms. As a safety precaution, turn off ceiling fans when you leave your home.
• For central air conditioning systems, keep the fan switch on your thermostat in the "auto" position when cooling. This gives you better cooling and humidity control. Having the fan switch "on" continuously could cost $25 extra a month on your electric bill.  
• Close blinds, drapes and shades during the hottest part of the day. This keeps the sun’s rays from heating your house.  
• If you suspect your air conditioning system is not cooling properly, have it checked promptly. A unit that is having operational problems can cause extremely high bills.
• If your air conditioning equipment is older and less efficient, compensate by being extra careful about temperature settings, hours of operation and filter condition.   
    
• Use your microwave or countertop appliances for cooking instead of the oven or stove.    

• Make sure your home is properly insulated. In existing homes, wall insulation may be too expensive to install, so concentrate on attic and floor insulation.

  • In Carolina:

    • Ceiling: R-30

    • Wall: R-11 to R-19 in frame wall

    • Floor: R-19 in floors

What Is R-30 it a reference numer on the insulation value given to insulationg material.

Insulation is rated by thermal resistance, called R-value, which indicates the resistance to warm flow. The bigger the R-value, the bigger the insulating effectiveness. The R-value of thermal insulation relies on the kind of material, its thickness, and density. In working out the R-value of a multi-layered installation, the R-values of the individual layers are added. Installing more insulation in your house increases R-value and the resistance to heat flow.

The usefulness of an insulated wall or ceiling also relies on where the insulation is installed. As an example, insulation which is compressed won’t give you its full rated R-value. Also, the R-value of a wall or ceiling will be rather different from the R-value of the insulation itself because some heat flows round the insulation thru the studs and rafters. With careful design, this short-circuiting can be reduced.

 Preparing your home for summer can help make your home more comfortable, and can save you money that will stay in your pocket, and not the utility companies coffers.

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