Want to Make Your Air Conditioner's First Year of Use More Efficient?

It'll be air conditioner weather soon, and you need to be sure yours is ready to go. An inspection is necessary, as is changing the filters if you haven't done that already, You need to do more, however, to ensure that your air conditioner works as well as it can. This means ensuring that the air flow won't encounter any obstacles and that the use of the system won't inadvertently make your home more uncomfortable.

Dust Everything

Once that air conditioner turns on, any dust in the air flow's path is going to fly. That can increase allergic reactions and make your home look terrible. Instead of waiting for this to happen before coming up with a cleanup plan, dust everything now. Ceiling fans, trim, hidden corners, bed frames, and any place else that you haven't dusted in the past couple of weeks needs to be cleaned now.

If you're wondering why something as simple as dusting seems to be so urgent, it's really because once the dust starts to fly, it's going to be harder to clean up. Chances are that you won't be able to pick up every last speck of dust, but if you can get most of it, you'll save yourself a lot of trouble over the summer.

Add Room Fans If Necessary

Homes and apartments now tend to come with ceiling fans, but if you're in an older place that doesn't have them, get room/box fans into each room except the bathrooms. The fans help move the cool air around and can reduce the amount of time the air conditioner has to be on. On a hot day, when the air conditioner is the only thing moving air around in a room, that room can become very stuffy quickly once the air conditioner turns off. To maintain comfort, you have to turn it on again soon. However, if you have a fan in there as well, the room won't become as stuffy as quickly, and you can keep the air conditioning thermostat at a higher temperature.

Pre-Program Your Thermostat

Speaking of the thermostat, if you have a programmable one, program it now. You may want to add a few extra degrees (e.g., set the air conditioner to the low 80s instead of the high 70s at first) so that the air conditioner isn't cycling on and off frequently when it's not really that hot yet. That simply saves energy. You can always change the programming later.

These are little steps, but they'll help save energy and make you feel much better. Once you get the inspection done and have the air conditioner given the all-clear for use this year, it won't take you long to get everything else ready. If you are experiencing any issues with your air conditioner and need air conditioning repair, contact a company near you to get the help you need. 

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