When the summer heat arrives, your home’s energy usage will skyrocket as your AC runs for hours on end. If you’re like most homeowners, you dread the electric bills resulting from that. The good news is that there are some great ways you can cut your summer energy bills. Most aren’t even difficult. Here are five of the best ways you can lower your home’s energy bills this summer.
1. Schedule an HVAC Maintenance Appointment
Did you know that your home’s AC can lose up to 5% of its efficiency every year it goes without maintenance? It happens as dirt builds up in your HVAC, its parts suffer wear and tear, and its electrical connections loosen.
That’s why HVAC manufacturers suggest annual maintenance to maximize system lifespan and performance. Ideally, you want your yearly AC maintenance performed before the cooling season begins.
Our technician will carry out some vital tasks during an HVAC maintenance appointment. They include thoroughly cleaning your HVAC’s internal components. They’ll remove dirt on your HVAC blower wheel, motor, and evaporator coil. Cleaning the blower wheel and motor ensures unimpeded airflow through your system. Cleaning the evaporator coil helps support maximally efficient heat transfer.
Next, our technician will tighten your HVAC’s electrical connections and test its functionality. If necessary, they may recalibrate your thermostat to ensure proper operation. They will also check your system’s refrigerant level to look for signs of leaks. Low refrigerant levels will sap your HVAC’s cooling capacity and increase energy bills. Plus, running your AC without a proper refrigerant charge can permanently damage its compressor.
Finally, our technician will clean your HVAC evaporator coil, which is in its outdoor unit. It’s the component that facilitates the release of heat from inside your home. Since the coil remains exposed to the elements year-round, it can get quite dirty. Cleaning away dirt and detritus helps boost your HVAC’s efficiency and lowers your electricity bills.
2. Install and Use Ceiling Fans
If your home doesn’t have them, installing ceiling fans can help you cut your summer energy bills. Running ceiling fans throughout your home improves air circulation, helping your HVAC cool it evenly. That can reduce your unit’s workload by ensuring your thermostat gets a more accurate temperature reading. That’s just the beginning, however.
Ceiling fans also help you take better advantage of your body’s natural cooling mechanism. When you get too warm, your skin begins releasing sweat. The sweat collects heat energy from your skin until it evaporates into the surrounding air. In the process, it carries the collected heat away from your body. However, the process only works until the air around your body becomes too saturated with moisture. When you run ceiling fans, you ensure a steady flow of cooler, drier air over your skin. That maximizes how much heat your body successfully releases.
Studies have shown that running ceiling fans in your home can let you raise your thermostat by up to 4 degrees. And you can do so without feeling warmer than you’d feel without the ceiling fans. Best of all, since fans use far less electricity than your HVAC, you can experience significant cost savings, too.
3. Consider a Whole-House Fan
If you’ve lived in Las Vegas for a while, you’ve likely noticed the quirky nature of its climate. It isn’t unusual to experience triple-digit high temperatures in the summer months. However, you can expect mild evening and overnight temperatures in the early spring and late fall. As a result, you don’t necessarily need your HVAC at night here year-round. At those times, you can take advantage of those low overnight temperatures to reduce your daytime HVAC use. The secret to doing so lies in a principle called thermal mass cooling.
Thermal mass cooling refers to lowering the temperature of the materials that comprise your home. That gives those materials more latitude to absorb daytime heat instead of radiating it to the indoors. An excellent way to achieve thermal mass cooling is with a whole-house fan. They get installed in your attic and draw cooler air in through your home’s open windows. In the process, they force hot air out of your home, reducing the temperature of its thermal mass. You can use a whole-house fan instead of your HVAC overnight, even during parts of the summer.
Not only will a whole-house fan keep you comfortable at night, but it will reduce your HVAC demand in the daytime. You can often delay using your HVAC for hours the following day by thoroughly cooling your home overnight. Sometimes, homeowners report up to a 90% drop in annual HVAC demand using a whole-house fan. In our hot climate, you’re unlikely to see that much savings, but you’re sure to see a meaningful drop in your energy bills.
4. Install Thermal Curtains
Assuming your home has adequate insulation, much of the heat gain it experiences comes from its windows. When the hot sun pours in through your windows, it drives your indoor temperature up significantly. To prevent that, you can install thermal curtains. They’re thick, heat-blocking curtains that can shield your home from the sun during the day. According to manufacturers, they can reduce your home’s solar heat gain by up to 33%. That’s enough to put a big dent in your HVAC operating costs.
5. Upgrade to a Smart Thermostat
Finally, upgrading to a smart thermostat is a great way to reduce your home’s summer energy bills. They include learning functionality that can help you make more efficient use of your HVAC. If you purchase a smart thermostat that’s ENERGY STAR-certified, it should cut your summer HVAC costs by about 8%. However, some more advanced models can drive down your costs even further.
According to Nest, a leading smart thermostat manufacturer, its thermostats can trim cooling bills by up to 15%. They even include an automated savings-finder feature. It makes suggestions as to how you can lower your cooling costs based on collected operational data. And if you choose a smart thermostat from Ecobee, you can save even more. Their customer data indicates that users of their smart thermostats save over 25% on their HVAC costs.
Your Local Summer HVAC Savings Experts
If you need help taming your Las Vegas home’s summer HVAC costs, Bumble Breeze can help. We offer expert HVAC maintenance services to keep your home’s system performant and efficient. That includes a handy maintenance plan to help you see to your HVAC’s annual tune-up needs. And if you’re interested in an upgrade to a newer, more efficient HVAC, we can install one for you. Should you want a new smart thermostat, we also provide thermostat installation services.
Our HVAC specialists are highly trained, drug tested, and background checked. And as a Better Business Bureau-accredited business, you can count on us to offer fair prices and exemplary service. Check out some of our glowing customer reviews for yourself! And for all your summer HVAC energy savings needs in Las Vegas, contact Bumble Breeze today!
