7 Energy Saving Tips to Reduce Your AC Bill This Summer

Climatologists say the world is getting hotter, and that means your energy bill is also going up if you want to keep your home and office comfortably cool. For example, Phoenix broke records in 2020 with 145, 100-degree days! Twenty-twenty-one was slightly better, with only 104 days of 100-degree temperatures.

And it doesn’t help that while air conditioning is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury, the price of air conditioners, like so many other things, has also increased. In some geographies prices have gone up by 40% or more over the last two years.

So, what can you do to help reduce the cost of running your air conditioning system this summer but still stay cool?

Many of PriceMyAC.com’s customers ask about energy-saving tips to reduce expensive energy bills from high AC usage during the summer. The following are 7 tips we recommend:

1. Cover Sunny Windows: Once the heat gets inside your home or office, your AC system needs to work to remove it. An easy way to reduce the transfer of heat into your home or office from the outside is to draw the shades in sunny rooms. Window films and external solar shades can also greatly reduce heat transfer from outside to inside.
2. Strategize Energy Usage Times: Look at your utility provider bill, paying special attention to when you use the most energy. Keep big usages limited to lower-cost times of the day/week.  Pre-cooling your home/office before shifting to higher per-hour rate plans can generate significant savings on your monthly bill.
3. Change Air Filters Regularly: We tend to forget that most air conditioners have disposable filters to clean impurities out of the air in your home or office. Once these filters are caked with dust, hair, and other particulates your AC has to strain to suck air through them. Plus, you’re breathing in all that stuff, too. During the summer (May through October) when its dustier, we recommend changing filters every 30 days. Use inexpensive, lower MERV-rated filters to catch the most particulates without breaking the bank on cost.
4. Help Your AC Help You – Get a Maintenance Check: Scheduling pre-summer air conditioner maintenance ensures the system is tuned to operate at higher summer temperatures. Cleaning removes dirt and allows the system to maximize performance, keeping your home/office cooler with less stress on the system, which reduces energy bills. Before scheduling your maintenance appointment, make sure you are working with a reputable AC company since, unfortunately, some less reputable ones may use a maintenance appointment as an invitation for a hefty repair bill. For example, PriceMyAC.com has lots of great reviews about honest assessments and being the best AC Repair in Phoenix.
5. Insulate Well! Make sure your attic insulation is at the proper level. In some very hot or cold parts of the country, homeowners can even opt for extra insulation. Fifty percent of a home’s heat gain – heat transfer from outside to inside – comes from the ceiling, so extra attic insulation can have a big impact on how hard your AC is working and the corresponding energy bills.
6. Check Air Vents: It’s simple but worth a reminder to make sure all air vents are open and properly distributing air throughout all the required rooms. If all the vents are open but less air is flowing out in some rooms versus others, call an HVAC company like PriceMyAC.com to investigate. There are many reasons why low airflow can occur, but all of them result in forcing your AC to work harder which increases energy bills and shortens system life.
7. Utilize Improved Cooling Technology: Change your older air conditioning system to a newer, high efficiency system. Most homes have AC systems that are 10 SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio), but new units are 18+ SEER. Higher SEER equates to improved cooling technology which also has a positive effect on your monthly bill in one of two ways: 1) Better cooling and comfort for less money, or 2) The same comfort for significantly lower energy costs.

PriceMyAC.com is a 35-year-old air conditioning and heating company with a long history of providing pre-summer (and pre-winter) maintenance check service, repair service, and new AC/heater quotes/installations in the greater-Phoenix metro area. We’ve even received awards for our outstanding AC Repair in Tempe.

To schedule a maintenance check, repair service, or get a 100% transparent price quote for a new air conditioner, text/call PriceMyAC.com at 480-576-5543 or DIY schedule from our website PriceMyAC.com.