Keeping Your Cool with Your Central Air. Let’s give a very big THANK YOU to Willis Carrier. Who is Willis Carrier? He invented the first electric air conditioning unit in 1902.
And when living in the Desert over the summer with over 100-degree temps, he deserves a HUGE THANK YOU!
And when living in the heat and sand of the Desert, central air units do not last as long as in other parts of the country. However, here are a few steps you will want to take to prolong the life of your central air unit.
What you can do to Keep Your Cool with Your Central Air?
- Keep any appliance away from your thermostat that emits heat. These can be a TV, computer, or lamp – each of these generates a certain amount of heat and actually will confuse your thermostat into “thinking” it’s warmer in the room than it is and keep your ac unit running when it should be at the designated temperature.
- Keep plants and shrubs at least 2 – 4 feet away from the outside ac unit and keep the unit shaded.
- Close your shades and never close more than 20% of your home’s registers. Both of these may place unnecessary strain on your central air.
- Don’t heat up your house cooking, running the dishwasher or dryer during the heat of the day. All this creates more heat in your house, making your central air work even harder to keep your home cool. You can even help your central air unit by keeping doors closed to unused rooms, keeping closet doors closed, and using fans to keep a good airflow throughout the home.
- Use high-quality filters and change them at least every 90 days. However, you will want to check your filter every 30 days to ensure it’s not dirty. If you have a pet in the house, you may need to change your filter sooner.
- Have annual professional HVAC maintenance and checkups.
- Program your thermostat the right way. The Department of Energy suggests the following settings as an energy-saving rule of thumb:
Winter months:
- For the hours you’re home and awake, program the temp to 68 F.
- Lower at least 10 degrees for the hours you’re asleep or out of the house.
Summer months:
- For the hours you’re home, program air conditioning to 78 F.
- For the days you don’t need cooling, manually shut off the AC. Keep in mind, it will kick back on if the house gets too warm.
- Program it to be warmer than usual when you’re out of the house.
Please note, even though your central air unit has been running hard since March, do not turn it off to “give it a break” or to save money. The main reason why this is the case is that if you continue running your AC, it will be easier for your system to maintain your desired temperature. In contrast, consistently turning your AC on and off can cost you more money because your system will have to work harder to continue lowering the house’s temperature. (edgeair.com)