10 Unusual Tips for Keeping Your Home Cool with a Struggling A/C Unit

Posted by Siegal on April 7th, 2021

We went through a record-setting heat wave just recently in the US. Here in Atlanta, we set an all-time record of 106 F. Residence with properly-sized a/c unit are sized for a temperature of 92 ° F and probably didn't stay so cool. I make certain numerous houses with air conditioning unit that seem substantially large didn't stay cool enough either.

Every summertime you can discover lots and great deals of tips on how to save energy and keep cool in the house: Wear cooler clothes, use your ceiling fans, keep the sun out, go to a movie, get your ac system serviced, caulk your windows, etc. I will point out a few common suggestions in this post, however I'm also going to discuss some that you may never ever have seen in a short article like this before.

Before we enter the real ideas, though, it may be helpful to remember how the whole cooling thing works. Earlier this year, I heard a great expression on the radio: Your air conditioning unit is the faucet; the structure envelope of your home is the cup. If you have a dripping cup, your air conditioner needs to work harder. If your Air Conditioner is currently doing all it can, you may require to have a look at your structure envelope. Also, to return to the metaphor, a leakage in your pipes might make it difficult to fill up the cup, even it's not dripping much.

Here are three questions to ask as you try to keep cool with an air conditioning unit that struggles on those actually hot days:

- What can I do to reduce the amount of heat getting in?

- What can I do to make my air conditioning system more reliable?

- What else can I do to keep cool?

Let's dive into the ideas now. I'm focusing here on existing houses. Whether it's a brand brand-new house you ac tune up toronto just moved into or a a century old, the house is currently there, so some design options are off the table.

Tips for keeping heat out

1. Keep the sun out. Windows can be the largest contributors to your heat gain. When the sun shines straight into your home, it usually brings a lot of heat, too, unless you have actually great windows (with low solar heat gain coefficients). Solar screens on the outside of the window are terrific for keeping heat out. You might likewise think about some short-term shading for the east- and west-facing windows on those extremely hot days.

2. Seal the weird air leakages. The majority of the standard energy-saving advice tells you to caulk your windows and weatherstrip your doors. The issue with that is you're ignoring a few of the much larger leaks, like, say, crawl space vents that open into conditioned space or a hole in the kitchen ceiling that functions as a refrigerator vent. Look around in your attic, crawl area, or basement, and you'll find the worst transgressors.

3. Decrease the surface temperature levels. Some parts of your home may be hotter than others. For example, you might have a bonus offer room that's hardly ever comfortable. Attic kneewalls with ineffective insulation are frequently the perpetrator there. Get the insulation in the cavities and put sheathing on the attic side of the kneewalls.

Tips for assisting your a/c unit

4. Modification your filter. Many people let them get too unclean, and this is among the most typical reasons for poor performance in a/c unit. A filthy filter adds resistance and decreases air circulation. Proceed and examine it now. I'll wait till you return.

5. Improve air flow. In addition to the air filter, your Air Conditioner may have other kinds of air circulation issues. If the evaporator coil is filthy, inadequate air moves across it and your home doesn't cool down as well as it should. If the condenser coil is dirty, it will not dispose adequate heat to the exterior. If your condenser coil is crowded with plants or other challenges, clear it out. You can trim the bushes yourself, however you need to most likely call a professional to clean up the coils.

6. Look for disconnected ducts. If your ducts are outside of the conditioned area in your house, check to see if anything has actually come loose. Repairing a supply duct that's sending out all its cool air to the attic or crawl space (as revealed listed below) can have an instant influence on your comfort. This problem is more typical than you may believe.

Other pointers for keeping cool

7. Usage fans. OK, I know this one's not unusual, but if your air conditioning system is doing all it can however your home still isn't quite cool enough on those actually hot days, moving the air over your skin might be just what you require to stay comfy. Keep in mind, though, that fans do not cool the air; they cool you. Switch off ones that are in empty spaces due to the fact that they're using energy and including more heat to your house. Need to purchase a brand-new ceiling fan? They now come with energy effectiveness labels demonstrating how energy effective they are.

8. Utilize a window air conditioner. If you've done everything above and your house is still annoyingly hot, setting up a window unit AC could provide you simply enough additional cooling to assist you make it through the heat wave. I know. I know. They're unsightly and loud and may protest the rules where you live. They use more power, which adds to the strain on the electrical energy grid, and might contribute more to international warming. Still, if you've got an energy effective house with a right-sized air conditioning unit, this could be the best way to deal with those heat waves when temperature levels go well above what your central air conditioner was designed for. It's a far better option than installing an oversized system so you have sufficient capability to manage the extreme heat occasions. A more expensive and permanent option to the window system would be a ductless mini-split heatpump.

9. Get a house energy evaluation. Trained house energy auditors can find the problems I listed above and more and advise services. They likewise have devices to measure how dripping your ducts are, for example, along with the surface area temperature levels of your floorings, walls, and ceilings.

10. Turn off your power attic ventilators. If you have power attic ventilators in the attic, have them detached so they do not run. They may well be robbing cool air from your house.

If your a/c unit repair company suggests replacing your system with a bigger one to handle heat waves, be careful. Ac system do not dehumidify well if they don't have long term times, and bear in mind that heat waves don't last permanently and we do not have bad ones every year. If your Air Conditioner can't keep up when it's hotter than typical outside, utilize the recommendations above to make it through. Your house will be more comfortable and effective for it even when the temperature levels return to normal.