With the summer season cranking up the heat, we want to help keep your home as cool as possible. Unfortunately, much of the advice you hear may not be true, so let’s bust a few common HVAC myths to keep from falling victim to them!
MYTH: It’s cheaper to turn your air conditioner completely off or setting the thermostat extra high when you leave the house.
- You may think you’re saving your air conditioner work by turning it off for the day, but that is just not true. When you come home to a hot house, the air conditioner has to work that much harder to cool the whole place down. Instead, opt to let the house warm up a few degrees while you’re gone, turning the temperature back down when you get back home. This allows your system to take a break when it doesn’t need to use energy.
MYTH: Your air conditioner can give you a cold.
- Ever hear someone say, “If you go outside in the winter, you’ll get a cold”? Well, that’s not true of either winter weather or your air conditioner. Running your air conditioning system usually helps your indoor air quality, due to that air being filtered. Colds come from germs and viruses, not from being chilly. So, in theory, your cooling system could actually filter those types of things out of your home’s air!
MYTH: Turning your thermostat way down will cool the room faster.
- Your air conditioner usually works at one speed. Setting a room at a significantly lower temperature in an attempt to cool the space quickly will just mean the system will be working at one speed for longer. Plus, more likely than not, that chilly temperature will be uncomfortable for you in the end when the unit finally reaches that number. To save energy and preserve your comfort, set your thermostat to the desired temperature and let the air conditioner take its time to reach and maintain that temperature.
MYTH: The bigger the air conditioner, the better for your home.
- A properly sized air conditioner unit that is chosen to fit your home can make a huge difference in your comfort. A few factors that can affect this choice include things such as insulation, air leakage, which way your windows face, and even characteristics of your roof. Your air conditioner should not only cool your home, but should also dehumidify the indoor air as well. You could cool down your space quickly with a cooling unit of any size, but that could risk your air conditioner not running long enough to get all that moisture out of the air. Nobody wants a cool AND a clammy home.
MYTH: The air conditioner won’t run as much if you keep ceiling fans turned on.
- Believe it or not, ceiling fans don’t actually create cool air! They just move the air around that’s already in the room. The best tip here would be to use your ceiling fans when you’re spending time in that room, but turn them off to save electricity when you leave.
Out of all these myths, here’s the big truth — using your air conditioner sensibly is the best way to save you money on cooling your home. Summer electric bills can definitely be a balancing act! Neither you nor your budget need to sweat it when it comes to staying comfortable this summer with your home cooling system.