This is a post by my husband Aaron who, thankfully, installed the window air-conditioner unit right next to the bed so it can blow on my pregnant self all night. That thing is such as life-saver this summer!- Anna
As summer rages on and the heat increases we all look for ways to stay cool. Most people, in their time of thermal distress, turn to the air conditioner, one of the more costly, but effective ways to stay cool. Granted, it will always be costly if you chose to use an a/c, but there are ways to keep the cost down. We use pretty much all these tips and they work great.
Lets quickly dispel the biggest myth first. Is it cheaper to run the air conditioner all day or turn in on just when you get home? It works something like this. Heat likes to go where it’s not hot. When you hold your fridge door open too long, what happens? The motor kicks on to keep the fridge and everything inside of it cold. That’s because heat is rushing into the cold cavity of the fridge. Your house works the same way. If you are constantly cooling your house, heat is always looking to get in and the air conditioner has to constantly work to keep that heat out. If you leave the a/c off during the day, the house will heat up and then stop heating because the heat is already where it wants to be. Inside your house. When you get home and turn on your a/c, the air conditioner has less heat to remove, so it uses less energy and less money. Or look at it this way: you can leave the a/c on all day and constantly remove heat or turn it on when you get home and remove it all at once. The most cost-effective (and environmentally friendly) technique is to just turn it on when you’re actually home.
Now that that big ol’ myth is cleared up, lets look at 10 more ways to save money while using a costly air conditioning unit…
1. Raise the temperature a few degrees
Did you know, according to Mr. Electric that “each degree below 78 degrees farenheit will increase energy consumption by 3-4%”? So, set the air conditioner a few degrees warmer and pay less.
2. Use the air conditioner in conjunction with a ceiling fan
This may sound counter-intuitive to run two appliances at once, but ceiling fans are inexpensive to operate, and can help cool your body letting you raise the a/c temperature a few degrees.
A quick note on fans: ceiling fans (and fans in general) don’t actually make the air cooler. Fans work by blowing the hot air surrounding your body away from you. Its like when you blow on a hot spoonful of soup. You don’t have “arctic breath” you are simply blowing the heat off the food, so it gets cooler. That’s essentially what a fan does… it blows the heat your body is generating away from you. Plus, if you are sweating, the fan will cool you by evaporation.
3. Clean the air filter every week
When the filter is clogged, the air conditioner has to work harder. The harder it works, the more money it costs you. It takes me just a few minutes to pop out the filter and clean it.
4. Cool only the rooms you are in.
Why cool the kitchen when you are in the office on the other side of the house?
Quick note: obviously, this isn’t always possible with central air conditioning. Central a/c is expensive and uses a lot of energy mainly because it’s cooling the entire house. Window units, while still expensive are more economical. If you have central air in your house, try shutting the vents in the rooms you are not in so the cool air gets re-routed the rooms you are using.
5. Buy the right size air conditioner for the room
Oversized a/c’s are inefficient and waste money. Sure, they might cool the room down a few minutes faster, but they use more energy. The converse is true too, a smaller air conditioner in a large room will have to constantly work to keep it cool. The proper size one will cool the room down, then it will shut off (if you have that feature activated which we recommend doing). Here is a handy guide on how to select the correct size of air conditioner unit for a room.
6. Use window shades and blinds to block direct sunlight
The cooler you can keep your house, the less heat there is that has to be removed. Our old apartment was west-facing and a corner unit so every afternoon our living room got blasted by the sun. It cooked! We ended up purchasing these white paper accordion shades from the home supply store for just $6 and cut them with scissors to fit the windows (overlapping them in spots to get the right fit). We placed the paper shades behind the standard window blinds in the apartment and that really helped to keep the heat out. They were white, so not only did they help block the heat, they also helped to reflect the light away from our living room.
7. Seal the windows and doors
Cold air that escapes is cold air that has to be replaced, and that means money is sliding on out of your place. Properly sealed doors and windows will help keep the costly generated cold air in. It works just the same in winter time with the heat. Save some bucks by getting a few draft blockers for the bottom of your doors.
8. Keep the back of the air conditioner unit clear and free of debris
In order to get cold air out, you first have to suck in air. If the airflow is restricted, then the unit will have to work hard and that means it will hurt your pocketbook (what is a pocketbook anyway?).
9. Keep the lights turned off
This is a good energy-saving tip any time of the year, but especially in the summer. Touch a lightbulb that has been burning for a while and you’ll see what I mean. It’s hot! Adding extra heat into a room you are trying to cool won’t help you save money so keep the lights off.
10. Keep the oven off
Along the lines of tip #9, reduce heat from cooking by forgoing the oven, and by using the microwave instead or try making meals that don’t require using the oven at all. Salads are a great alternative.
Some more tips for staying cool:
Air conditioning is a luxury that not everybody can afford, and if you can’t that’s okay! You can still beat the heat using some of the tips below.
- A box fan is the cheapest alternative to an a/c unit. It won’t cool you down as much as an air conditioner will, but it will help take the edge off. Put the box fan in the window on a cool summer night and suck in that cool summer air.
- Make sure your place is properly insulated. This will keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
- Plant trees to help shade your house.
- We are lucky enough to live in Colorado which is a very dry environment. It cools down significantly at night even if it’s 100 degrees during the day. If you live in such an environment, open up all the windows at night to allow the cool air to come in than during the day closed all the windows, pull all the shades and try to contain the cool air and block out the sun.
What are your favorite ways to stay cool in the summer? And, have you found any ways to cut a/c costs that haven’t been mentioned above?
THANK YOU for dispelling the A/C on or off myth for me, I literally was taking a survey about it at lunch yesterday but no one seemed to know. I normally just run fans but its been so hot and humid I broke down and put the a/c in my bedroom window. I’ve been only using it at night, I turn it on about a half hour or so before I go to bed to cool the room down but wasn’t sure if it was a better idea to leave it running all the time. I also only keep it at 72, so my room is not arctic but it is SO much nicer and cooler than the rest of the house :)
so timely. it is stupid-hot in NC right now. i also like to sleep with my hair wet, so it keeps me cool!
Hadn’t thought about that as a “cooling-up” method but good idea!
Great tips! I’ve been keeping my AC off unless I’m home, then I turn it to 77 or 78. Since my room is on the second floor I use a fan some nights to cool it down more.
In Brazil ACs are just for companies and rich people, middle-class and poor people always use fans
I would also suggest taking a coldish shower when you get home from work. Once you’ve cooled down your body you won’t feel like you need the a/c so much.
Love that idea!
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I found a tutorial that turns a box fan into an A/C for under $40 and it uses less electricity. If the weather keeps up, I may attempt to make one.
Otherwise I like to fill a container with cold water and a bit of ice and soak my feet for a bit and that cools me down.
Lately I’ve opted to sweat it out than run the A/C unit that was given to me. I don’t like the larger electric bill.
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Great post. I learned many new things. For example I didn’t know that filters should be cleaned every week before reading this. Thanks a lot. I now follow you
I especially agree with tip #7. People don’t take the time to invest in good insulation, but that’s one of the best ways to save money with your A/C. It’s the same with drapes for the window. You want your house as insulated as possible.
those were very basic simple tips that everyone already knows we are looking for something different and better and one would be to me a bowl of cold water near a fan it helps cool down the house when you have pets you need to leave the AC on all dayleaving your windows at night open is very dangerous do not do that
These are great tips, thanks! I didn’t think about running the ceiling fan as well as the AC. I always thought that was just a waste of money to run them both. But if the fan doesn’t cost much, I’ll definitely give it a shot this summer. If I’m going to raise the thermostat a few degrees, I’ll need the fan to still keep cool.
It’s so interesting that each degree you raise your thermostat, the less you pay. Paying 3-4% less for each degree is a big deal, I will have to remember that for sure. Also, I found it interesting that keeping the lights off could help keep that room cooler, that is so cool!
A television or computer, particularly older models, may increase room temperature by up to 7%.
The mythbusting in the first part wins it all. Thanks for the info. In our home, we’re relying on fans in the morning and when after comes, we turn on the A/C,
Great post!! I will try it!
Love tip #2. I just went and checked all of our ceiling fans. Two were going one direction and two going the other. Now all are moving counter clockwise to keep our air conditioning bill down. Thanks!
Amazing tips for the summer. Fans really do the trick for us. The AC keeps the whole room cool while the fan only keeps the person cool. It’s a really inexpensive answer to hot temperatures, but having an AC cooled room is still different. Like when you have a computer, you have to keep it cool too, fans can only do so much. Having the whole home insulated before the summer heat kicks in will really help. ALOT.
I totally agree with your number one tip on saving energy! My wife is always turning the ac up and down. One degree doesn’t feel much different but it makes a big difference in the bill. I need to send this article to my wife.
I always use a cool towel placed on my torso with fan blowing at night when my ac was broken !
I love what you said about considering properly sealed windows and doors. I think that this is good practice to use during any time of the year to ensure cost-effectiveness. My wife is convincing me to purchase a new unit and this will be something we keep in mind.
Thank you for these tips on air conditioners. My husband and I need our AC repaired. I’ll have to look into finding the best contractor.
I like that you suggest buying the right sized air conditioning unit, to be both efficient and save money. My dad is getting a new system, and is looking into what constitutes a good purchase. I will send this information to him, so we can look at all our best options.
Thank you!
You are 100% correct. My father owned an HVAC company in Chicago and I have worked in his office and for several years in St Pete, FL for an HVAC company.
My father installed in me all the a/c rules of the house.
Each step you are recommending is what correct. Although, when leaving the house you should turn up the temp. to 80 deg. and when you get home down to 75 to 76 deg.
Remember when the a/c is lowered or off, not just the room us warming but also the furniture, draperies, flooring, etc. taking longer to cool a room & make the ac work harder.
Hi Joyce. Thank you so much for that advice!
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To start with, installing heating systems in the house helps keep the house warm during the colder months. There is nothing that is more disorienting than going to bed in a cold house on a winter night. The most uncomfortable part is taking a bath with cold water in the colder months. Water and house heating systems help you keep warm and avoid infections that might result from the cold weather.
Secondly, AC is very beneficial when it comes to cooling down the temperatures during the summer months. Temperatures get quite high especially outside during summer. It feels good to step in the house and get refreshing cooler temperatures. A good air conditioning system in the house regulates the temperatures to what is suitable for all seasons.
Thanks for sharing that! Indeed, comfort and health often go together.
Such a great article about air conditioning, it is very helpful for me
Hi Veronica, I’m so glad you found it helpful.
It’s great to know that you should clean your air filter every week to reduce the amount it costs to run your AC. My wife and I are preparing for a hot summer and we were wondering how we can reduce the cost of our air conditioner this year. I’ll let my wife know that should be cleaning the filter every week to reduce the cost of our air conditioning bill.
Hi Devin! I’m glad you find the info useful. Preparation is key! ;-)
I also recently installed a window air conditioner to help save energy but I only use it in my bedroom. Previously, I used a ceiling fan and I had to leave it running the whole night. When my baby was born in the summer, we installed the air conditioner that allowed me to pre cool the room before putting my baby to bed, and it works great and room is always cool 2-3 hours later
It never even occurred to me to turn off the lights to reduce heat! We have a ton of windows and natural windows anyway. I’m going to try that and see how well it works.
Hi Tori. It’s worth to consider it, especially for incandescent lights (often used for salt lamps) and sunlight that gets through the windows.
Let us know how it works for you.
thanks for your great info.
Your article was very informative for me. Your blog has explanation all details about the save on air conditioning that was very necessary to know for everyone.
This is great information. Thank you for sharing this.
From an HVAC technician’s perspective, you’ve done a very good job on this article. Homeowners should be maintaining their systems themselves. If they can’t then leave it to the professionals.
Thank you so much for your comment, Dale, it’s so true.
Have a lovely week :)