When it comes to home ownership, you can do yourself a big favor by controlling cooling costs. Keeping your home comfortable in the summer can be an expensive proposition. Rather than helplessly paying those high cooling bills, follow a few reasonable steps toward making your home more energy efficient without breaking the bank. 

Use ceiling fans. Fans provide a cooling effect in a home, relieving your A/C of some of its work. A ceiling fan blowing in an occupied room can make the temperature feel three or four degrees cooler. You can turn up the A/C thermostat several degrees, without losing any comfort.

Get a programmable thermostat. When you can program temperatures in your home, you can ensure that your A/C isn’t over-cooling the house while you’re at work all day, and will operate as often as possible at energy-saving temperatures.

Add attic insulation. With the right type and amount of insulation in your attic, you can keep hot attic air – heated throughout the day by sun pounding on the roof – from radiating downward into your living spaces. That forces your A/C to work harder than necessary to cool your your home. Your attic should have proper ventilation as well, to reduce humidity and keep it from overheating.

Schedule preventive maintenance. Make sure your air conditioner is thoroughly inspected and tuned up annually. Only a well-maintained A/C can provide the sort of efficiency you expected when your purchased your cooling system. You can help with maintenance, too. Inspect your A/C filter every month, and change it when it looks dirty. Keep the area around the outside condensing unit clear of weeds, grass clippings and other yard debris, to maintain airflow.

For information on controlling cooling costs in your Kansas home, please contact us at Comfort Systems. We’ve been serving Wichita area residents since 1996.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Wichita, Kansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about controlling cooling costs and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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