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TIPS TO KEEP YOUR HOME COOL DURING A HEATWAVE

This week on Tech Tips we’re going to break down a few tips to help keep your home cool during a heatwave.

Sometimes it gets HOT, and we know in St. Louis that HOT means HUMID. This can make summer days miserable in the area and it can seem like even though your AC is running all day you’re still not keeping your house as cool as you’d like. So we’re going to go over a few things that you can do to help take some of the burden off your AC and keep your home cooler.

Many of the tips we’ve listed below can be done in just a few minutes and you’ll notice a difference pretty quickly.

The first thing you should always do if your AC isn’t keeping up is to look and make sure everything is normal. You don’t want to see any ice on the lines or on the indoor or outdoor unit. If there is ice built up, you have a larger problem and should call an HVAC technician to inspect your Air Conditioner. If you don’t have any ice on the system, take out your furnace filter and make sure that it’s clean and air can easily pass through it.

A clogged air filter can cause a variety of problems, but most importantly it restricts air flow over the coil and to the blower which means less air is moving through your home. That alone could keep your home from staying cool on those hot summer days.

The second thing you should do is take a walk around your home and check to make sure all the air returns and vents are clear of any obstructions. Even small obstructions can reduce airflow in your home and prevent cool air from moving around. Another common mistake is covering air vents with furniture, unfortunately the area below a couch isn’t enough to distribute air through the room and most of the cool air is absorbed into the furniture blocking the vent, not pushed out beneath it.

Our last tip to keep your home cool is a bit more situational, if you have ceiling fans in your home you’ll want to set them to run counter-clockwise to increase air movement and help your AC distribute cool air through the home. It’s important to also keep your doors throughout your house open when doing this so there are no airflow obstructions by doors.

Hopefully some of these tips helped you keep your home cool, if they’re still not working you might have an issue that an HVAC technician should inspect. We are happy to help here at Superior Heating Cooling Plumbing, give us a call and we will get one of our great service technicians out to see you.

Thanks for checking out Tech Tips, make sure you come back next week and we will have a new topic to discuss!

Increased Energy Bills

Increases in your energy bill can be the first key indicator that your current HVAC system is beginning to slow down. As your air conditioner becomes older, it tends to run more in order to maintain a consistent temperature inside your home. While repairs and routine maintenance can help slow this trend, it is ultimately inevitable that your system will lose a step over time. The more your system has to cycle on and off, the higher your energy bills will become.

Keep A Close Eye On Year Over Year Electric Bills

A quick and easy way to gauge a potential slowdown in the performance of your AC system is to compare your monthly electric bills to the same month in the previous year. Ameren UE is great about supplying year-over-year data on monthly statements. If you notice a huge increase in energy consumption despite temperatures being comparable to the previous year, it could serve as a warning sign that your air conditioning has experienced a drop inefficiency.

Schedule A Free Estimate On An AC Replacement

A Lower Standard Of Heating And Air Conditioning

This is arguably the most obvious sign that you could be in the market for an AC replacement. Anyone that has had to replace an air conditioning system can relate to the decrease in overall performance during the final stretch of an old system. The hotter the weather, the more evident the problem becomes. Some older AC systems often stop performing when the temperature creeps into the upper nineties.

The Thermostat Lag Effect

The thermostat lag effect is when you consistently notice a variance between the temperature that you have your thermostat set at, and what the actual temperature is inside your home. This is a common problem among air conditioning systems on the brink of retirement. It is important to note that if you notice a consistent gap between these two temperatures, it usually means your AC condenser is running full time to try and keep up. This almost always leads to higher energy bills.

Can I Do Annual Furnace Maintenance Myself?

If you know that your system is over 12 years old, there is a very good chance that almost all new equipment will carry higher efficiency. As an incentive to steer consumers towards energy-efficient equipment, many energy companies and equipment manufacturers offer rebates for new high-efficiency AC systems. Some rebates are higher than others depending on the SEER ratings. As a consumer, we urge you to keep a close eye on rebates and incentives. These programs are great ways to get into higher-efficiency HVAC equipment at affordable prices. To learn more about current incentives, make sure to visit our rebates page.

Financing Can Help Alleviate The Out Of Pocket Costs For An AC Replacement

Even with tax credits and rebates, we at Superior understand that an AC replacement is no small investment. Especially if you are attempting to pay out of pocket or if it is an unexpected expense. This why we offer a variety of different financing options specifically designed for everyone. This allows customers the luxury of a new system without breaking the bank in the process.

You Will Notice The Difference

There is a good chance that if you notice your current AC system’s performance fading, you will immediately notice the difference when you turn on that AC replacement for the first time. Newer equipment not only cools homes much more efficiently, but many come standard with the bells and whistles that you previously had to pay extra for. These include:

  • Sync ability with mobile apps that allow you to control the temperature of your home from your phone.
  • Compatibility with a variety of home automation products such as the Amazon Echo.
  • Cutting edge built-in humidity control.
  • Variable speed motors specifically designed to increase efficiency.

Schedule A Quote For A New Customized AC System

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