Tips for Air Conditioner Efficiency

With the hot days of summer right around the corner, this is the perfect time to think about your air conditioner.  It’s going to be hard at work, keeping you cool all summer long, so Pro Ace Heating wants to offer some helpful suggestions that will make sure your air conditioner is working properly and giving you the best value this season.  Here are our six tips:

1. Our #1 tip is to ensure that your air conditioner has received proper, professional service and maintenance this year.  The BC Safety Authority recommends annual inspections for a reason, and by having and expert come by and service your air conditioner, you will be sure that it is working correctly and cooling efficiently.  The detailed Pro Ace service inspection will make sure your air conditioner is ready to go for summer.
2. Shut doors and close vents and air ducts where possible to rooms that are not in use and do not need to be cooled.  This will reduce the amount of energy that needs to be consumed by your air conditioner to keep your home cooled, by focussing the cold air on the central rooms of your house.
3. Replace the air conditioner filters.  Generally, the filters need to be replaced every month on an air conditioner with disposable filters, and by keeping fresh filters in the system you will notice a difference.  And for reusable filter systems, remember to clean out the air conditioner filters regularly.  Consult the manual – depending on the make and design of the filter, there will be recommended times to clean out the replaceable filter, depending on its efficiency.
4. Use a programmable thermostat to control temperature.  It’s easy to have a programmable thermostat installed, and also inexpensive.  By keeping your home at a set temperature, you can avoid “over-cooling,” and vary the temperature for different parts of the day and night.  And remember to shut off the air conditioner if gone from your home for a long period of time.
5. Ensure that the air conditioner is unobstructed so that the air flows freely from the system.  Check to make sure that there are no obstructive objects such as drapes, blankets, chairs, sofas, desks, and other object that will block the cool air coming from the air conditioner.
6. Consider a high efficiency air conditioner, especially if the air conditioner in your home has a low SEER rating (8 and under is considered quite low).  Modern, high efficiency air conditioners can have SEER ratings of 13 and above, and may drastically reduce your energy bill.  Pro Ace Heating carries a large selection of efficient and affordable Trane air conditioners, ready to be installed in your home.

We hope that you find this helpful, and keep your air conditioner running efficiently and effectively this summer.  You can email us or give us a call if you are interested in any other suggestions for air conditioning, and we’ll have lots more suggestions on this blog as summer draws closer.