We’re already into May here in Walker, LA and a warm spring is already promising a very hot summer. That means you’re going to need your air conditioner to function at its peak every day. Not only that, but you need it to do so without wasting any unnecessary energy or driving your bills up higher than they should go. Many homeowners harm their own cause on this front\u00a0with some common misconceptions about how air conditioners work and the best way to make use of them. By clearing up those misconceptions, you can save yourself a lot of cost almost by default.<\/p>\n
It’s not an unreasonable assumption: when you set your thermostat at, say 68 degrees, the air must come out at that temperature, right? Unfortunately, that’s not how the system works. Air conditioners have two basic settings: on and off. By setting the temperature lower, you’re not making cooler air come out. You’re simply telling the air conditioner to run for a longer period of time until the air reaches the temperature you want. If you set the thermostat lower than the temperature you actually want, you’re only forcing the system to run longer than it should and driving up temperatures in the bargain.<\/p>\n
The up-front cost of a repair is usually much less than buying a new air conditioner outright, which makes people think that they’re saving money by repairing their decades-old machine. In most cases, however, an older air conditioner is much less efficient than a new one. Even if you avoid frequent repairs, you’re still losing money in higher monthly energy costs. An up-front investment in a new system can often save you more money in the long run.<\/p>\n