Josh Elledge - Chief Executive Angel
Keeping it cool using the air conditioning during the summer comes with a hefty price – especially if you have central air. A 2.5-ton central system uses about 3500 watts, and at 12 cents per kilowatt hour, plus the average 4 cents per kilowatt hour delivery charge, that means roughly 56 cents an hour to run the air. Add that up, and you’re paying over $13 a day – nearly $400 a month to stay cool! In addition to not running the air 24 hours a day, there are ways to help cut air conditioning expenses.
My 7 favorite tips:
- Find your perfect temp. Each degree you can stand to raise the thermostat saves approximately 6 to 8 percent on your cooling bill. This is particularly true when you get above 78 degrees. Play with setting the thermostat higher to see what you can handle, and see what you can save.
- Use a programmable thermostat. There is no reason to keep your home cool when you are gone. It's a myth that maintaining a cool temperature costs less than cooling the house down just before arrive. You can either remove a house full of heat many times throughout the day – or all at once. If you're tech-savvy, consider a thermostat controllable from your web browser or smart phone. That way, if you go out and forget to turn off the air conditioning, a couple clicks will save you money.
- Become a fan of fans! Fans can make it feel 3-8 degrees cooler. In contrast to the 12-16 cents an hour to run the AC, a fan can cost only a penny. For ceiling fans, make sure they always blow down at you, to move the warm air away from your body.Pull cooler air up: If you have a basement, use a fan to pull cooler air up into the main portion of the house. Give natural air flow a push: If it’s cooler at night, take advantage of the free cool air outside using a fan. Close all the doors to a room, and openonly one window. Place a fan in one side of the window, facing out. Leave the other side of the window unobstructed. The fan will blow the hot air out of the room, and cooler air from outside will naturally come in to replace it.
- Get your AC unit serviced, and replace or clean filters. Make sure your condenser has nothing obstructing it like tall grass or weeds. And don’t try to get more mileage from a dirty or old filter. The cost of running your air conditioning with one will exceed the cost of replacing the filter. If you can, purchase permanent filters which you wash and reuse to save even more over time.
- Make environmental changes. Close shades, drapes and blinds: Direct sunlight can raise the temperature in a room by 10-20 degrees. Cover furniture: Use lightweight cotton bed sheets to put a barrier between you and upholstery. Elastic edged fitted sheets work nicely and stay in place. Close vents: Don’t pay to cool rooms nobody uses.
- Reduce heat from lighting and electronics. Just in case you're still using them, replace conventional bulbs withcompact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). They use far less electricity and produce very little heat. Turn off televisions and computers whenever you can to minimize the heat they create. For laptops, employ a computer cooling pad to help keep it from making your lap warm, and tempting you to boost the AC.
- Use water to cool off. Place something cold on the back of your neck; sit with your feet in cold water; or take a cool shower. When showering, slowly turn the water colder over several minutes to bring your body temperature down slightly.
For more money-saving tips, visit:
http://www.energysavers.gov/
http://www.energystar.gov/
http://www.consumersenergy.com/
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/
