8 Important Things To Do When Running your AC
When you're running your air conditioning during the summer months there are some tips and tricks you can do to improve the efficiency of your cooling system. We recommend doing the following things on the list below:
- Shut off all basement supply air vents
- To help with the warmer top floors, bedrooms and bonus rooms, try to put main floor air vents to half way closed and wide open on top floor. This is a fine line because closing the main floor air vents too much may freeze the AC. This may take a little trial and error as every house is different.
- Run the circulation fan full time in the hot weather to help mix the cold air downstairs with the warmer air upstairs, this is the fan switch on the thermostat (not the ventilation fan light switch by the thermostat). This will also help with consistency in temperature throughout the different floor levels.
- DO NOT set thermostat below 20(℃) degrees or the AC system could freeze up.
- You should inspect your air filter every month to inspect its condition. If you have a 1-inch air filter you should change it every 1-3 months or if you have a 5-inch-wide air filter you should change it every 6 months to 1 year or sooner as needed. Remember the environment makes all the difference on how long your air filter lasts. Pets, construction, renovations and fan run times all have effects on air filter life spans.
- Shut off the damper to your humidifier (if you have one) and turn your humidistat to off for the summer. If this is not shut off, the cool air gets bypassed back into the return air.
- Your outside AC (condensing unit) should have the coils washed off monthly to make sure it’s clean. Dirt, tree fluff and debris can plug up the fins on the unit and make it over-heat. Make sure the unit’s power is turned off when washing it down with your garden hose.
- We recommend to have your AC unit serviced every year. We will catch any small problems before they can turn into big ones. This ensures your AC is running at its peak performance maximizing your cooling for what you pay in electricity.
