Slave To The Electric Bill: 3 Ways To Reduce Your Air Conditioner's Electricity Impact

It won't be too much longer before summer arrives in Queensland. While the Sunshine State residents love the lazy, hazy days of this season, it also brings some angst as the electricity bill starts to climb. You hate being in the position of having to choose between keeping the family cool or taking out a second mortgage just to pay the power supplier. This year, however, you can have a cool home without too much angst. Just follow these three tips to reduce the amount of energy your air conditioner needs to use:

Turn it off while not at home

Sure, it is a bit of a nuisance to come back to a hot, stuffy home at the end of the working day. But, what is the point of running your air conditioner when you are not there to enjoy it? You have three options to consider, and all of these will save you money:

1. get your air conditioning repair company to install a timer on the unit which can be programmed to kick into life one hour before you arrive home
2. turn the air conditioner off when you leave home, and turn it on once you are back
3. raise the temperature on the thermostat by 10 degrees when you leave the house, so the air conditioner is running, but not as often as it would at the lower temperature

It may seem like simple advice, but many people neglect to think about making changes to their air conditioner when leaving the house.

Start at the right temperature

When it comes to air conditioning, it is widely recommended to set the thermostat to a minimum of 24 degrees or higher during summer. Reports show every degree you lower the thermostat past this point means your air conditioner uses 10% more energy. That extra energy is going to cost you when the power bill arrives.

Close the vents to unused rooms

The spare room nicely decorated but rarely used does not need air conditioning in it during the summer months unless someone is coming to stay. By closing the air conditioning vents in unused rooms, you redirect cold air into the rooms which are in use. This simple step means the air conditioner does not need to work as hard to keep the whole house cooled to the temperature set on the thermostat.

Finally, make sure you get an annual inspection and maintenance check done on your air conditioning unit before summer arrives. Your local air conditioning specialist can do this for you, and this check makes sure the unit is running at its most cost-effective level possible.