Helpful Information

The heat is on. The dog days of summer are here. And Acacia Energy has 5 tricks on how to lower your air conditioning costs:

1. Put your AC on a timer We use timers for our ovens, our washers and other appliances. Why not for our air conditioners? If you have a window unit, you can buy an inexpensive plug-in timer at the hardware store and set it to come on an hour before you get home from work. If you have central air, simply install a thermostat with a built-in timer.

2. Sleep with the AC off Depending on how hot the evenings are, you can save on your air conditioning bill by turning it off at bedtime. Just set the timer to shut off the AC an hour after you fall asleep and then have it come on a hour before you wake up.

3. Install ceiling fans Ceiling fans over your bed, over the dinner table and around the house can help lower your cooling costs. They also use electricity, but not nearly as much.

4. Use sun block Not the kind that you slather over your skin when you go to the beach, but the kind of sun block that keeps the sun out of your living areas. This can include draperies, blinds, outside awnings, window tints and insulated glass. Cardboard also works.

5. Caulk drafty windows This will save on cooling and heating costs both.

Want to keep your home cooler in the summer without increasing your cooling costs? A radiant barrier might be the answer. Attics get hot because the sun beats down on them all day. The heat from the sun is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Your roof can absorb it or it can reflect it depending on what is on your roof.

The heat your roof absorbs seeps into your attic and into its contents: Christmas decorations, that artificial tree, various boxes of clothing that the kids have outgrown and the odd dead roof rat. An attic ventilator may do a decent job of sucking out the attic’s hot air but it does little for the heat that is contained in these objects stored in your attic.

That’s where these shiny silver radiant barriers come in. When the underside of your roof deck has a radiant barrier installed, the sun’s heat still travels through the roofing materials but it no longer is conducted into the attic. It hits the proverbial dead end. This means your attic stays cooler in the summertime, which means your home stays cooler with less AC costs.

Why not check with an area contractor about adding radiant barriers to your home? It could mean a more comfortable home without a big electric bill.

Think of it as an oil change for your central air conditioning. Just like your car engine needs a regular tune up and a frequent oil change to run efficiently, your air conditioner needs its regular tune up to perform at its best. Nobody wants theircar to breakdown on the freeway and nobody wants to be without AC in the summer. A tune up in springtime will guarantee that you have uninterrupted AC for those brutal, dog days of summer. But that’s not all. An annual AC tune up can save you as much as 30% on your monthly energy expenses.  In addition to the cost-saving benefits, an AC tune up will ensure that your air conditioning system runs cleanly and efficiently all season long. Regular servicing of your central air can spot cracked components, dirty filters and more. A dirty filter not only impedes airflow, it can cause evaporators to literally ice up. A professional tune up will make sure that your outside condenser is not blocked by leaves, grass clippings, bushes or other rubbish. Your condenser works by transferring the heat from the inside of your house to the outside. If air can’t get to the condenser, it’s going to have a harder time eliminating the heat from inside. This means the condenser is working harder and performing less efficiently––all of which increases the price you pay to cool your home. Summer is coming, so get a local AC technician to schedule your tune up today.