Lakewood Park, FL, residents you want to lower household expenses, including cooling costs. However, you might not realize that some common things end up increasing your energy consumption and your utility bill. Here are four things homeowners do that raise their cooling costs:
Neglecting HVAC Maintenance
When homeowners try to reduce household expenses, they tend to eliminate important tasks like HVAC maintenance. However, this will cost you more in the long run.
For example, the system might start operating inefficiently and this will drive your utility bills up. Additionally, it could prevent you from identifying and repairing a minor issue before it becomes a major problem.
Relying on a Manual Thermostat
If you have an older house, you might still rely on a manual thermostat, which doesn’t allow you to program when your system should kick on to heat or cool your house. Upgrading to a programmable unit gives you more flexibility.
An even better option would be to invest in a smart thermostat, which allows you to control it remotely in addition to programming temperature schedules. Let’s say you forget to turn your thermostat up in the middle of summer after you go to work; with a smart thermostat, you just have to hop on your smartphone and adjust the temperature instead of eating the energy costs.
Failing to Clean and Change the Filters Regularly
You probably know that your AC system has a filter that helps catch floating debris that circulates around your home. If you don’t clean it or replace it regularly — at least once every 90 days — that debris can clog your filter and restrict the airflow in your cooling system. That forces your AC system to work harder to get to the temperatures you set, which in turn raises the amount of electricity it uses.
Installing the Wrong-Sized HVAC System
A common misconception among homeowners is that a bigger HVAC system causes better cooling or a smaller system consumes less energy. However, purchasing a system that is too small or too big for your home can increase your cooling costs. Overly large systems can cool your home too quickly and end up short-cycling, which uses more electricity than proper cycles; too-small systems will suck up energy while struggling to cool the space.
The good news is, a lot of these problems are easy to fix. For ones you can’t do yourself, like calculating the right size of air conditionerfor your home, reach out to a professional. Contact Barker Air Conditioning and Heating today to schedule HVAC maintenance and help decrease your utility bills.
Image provided by iStock
