Let’s face it—it’s tricky to maintain a balance of saving money with your air conditioner without letting your home turn into an oven. Running your AC less often is the quickest way to cut down on high electrical costs over the summer. But running your AC less is also the quickest way to have your family turn on you and start warring over the thermostat.
There are plenty of ways you can cut down on your cooling costs this summer with your air conditioner in Lockport, IL. We want to focus on two basic ones—and they’re both connected to the thermostat. They’re easy steps: the first one is something you can do yourself without much effort, and the second one only requires calling our office to make an appointment.
Set the Thermostat to 78°F During the Day, 86°F During the Night
People often use the thermostat wastefully, turning the temperatures up and down based on the current temperatures in the house. Too hot? Drop the thermostat down way low to get fast cooling. Now it’s too cold? Turn it right back up and fix that quick.
But thermostats don’t actually work like this! Turning a thermostat down as low as possible (usually 60°F) doesn’t make the AC cool the house any faster. What it does is keep the AC compressor running longer until it determines it’s reached the target temperature—which is too cold for comfort. This means extra work for the compressor and higher bills. It also makes it easier for the house to heat up again. The bigger the difference between the indoor temperature and the outdoor temperature, the faster heat moves from one to the other. So on a 90°F day, heat will rapidly enter a home that’s cooled down to 60°F.
To avoid all the energy waste, system strain, and rapid heat gain, we recommend setting the thermostat at 78°F during the day. This is a comfortable temperature for most people, and it will slow down heat entering the house. If you find this too warm at first, go down to 72°F and raise the thermostat one degree each day until you acclimatize. Then, during the evening, raise the temperature by 8°F.
Install a Set-Back or Wi-Fi Thermostat
If you don’t have a thermostat with features allowing you to program in a set-back temperature (automatically raising the setting in the evening) or has Wi-Fi features, you’re missing out on savings.
A basic programmable thermostat makes it easy for you to set up temperature changes during the day and night, even when you’re out of the house. A Wi-Fi thermostat goes even further—it allows you to control the climate in your home remotely through an app on your phone or tablet. If you have a Wi-Fi connection, you can check on the temperature in your house and make changes to the thermostat setting before you return home. You never need to keep the AC running when you don’t need to—and you can still come back to comfort.
Start saving money for the middle of the year: Call Johansen & Anderson Inc today, sleep-tight tonight!