“Did you know that you can save up to 25-35% electricity bill if you use AC properly?”
Air conditioner is one of those appliances that consumes majority of the electricity at your home. And specifically during the summers, it will skyrocket and gonna hurt your wallet. Ouch!!
What if I told you that you could save a few bucks over your electricity bill? Oh, yeah!
This article provides some tips that help you reduce air conditioner power consumption without compromising its efficiency.
Let us get started with some proactive measures, thoroughly tried and tested for effective results.
8 Ways to Decrease Power Consumption of Air Conditioner
Here are a few simple yet effective methods that will keep your AC power consumption from soaring:
1. Insulate the Room
If you want to keep your room cool without increasing your electricity bill, insulate the space. You don’t really have to work hard to achieve this. All you need to do is add insulation to your walls and attic. If there are any cracks or places in the house wherein warm air likely seems to get in, seal up all such spots. Be it pipes, outlets, ducts, or anything, make sure they get extra insulation.
If you are diligent with following the above practices, your air conditioner will not have to work a lot harder to keep your home cool.
2. Set the Right Default Temperature
Many are under the misconception that if you lower the thermostat, it will cool the room faster. Let us say, if you set the temperature to 18 degrees or even lesser than that on the thermostat, your AC will work much faster and better than when at 25 degrees.
But the reality is that when you lower the thermostat, it will consume more electricity than required. This is essentially because the compressor will take much time to reach the stipulated temperature, hence consuming more power. This will gradually cause a spike in the electricity bills.
It is always suggestible to reset the temperature in your thermostat to somewhere between 22-24 degrees to save your utility bill.
Even the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) made it mandatory for all AC manufacturers to set the default temperature of their units to 24°C. Earlier, it was 20 degrees before the mandate.
According to the studies, you can save up to 6 percent of electricity every time you raise the temperature for each degree. The lower you keep the temperature, the longer the AC compressors work, augmenting the power consumption and also your electricity bill.
Click Here to Know the AC Temperature in Summer
3. Set a Timer
The best practice to reduce your air conditioner electricity bill is by setting a timer for your unit. When you have a thermostat with a built-in timer, you can customize the temperature settings and adjust them accordingly. It maximizes your unit’s energy efficiency. The thermostat does everything automatically. You don’t have to anything except to set and then forget. Should I mention that you can save as well?
4. Clean The Filters
Yet another significant and helpful measure that keeps your air conditioner electricity bill from shooting is clean filters. Clean the filters of your AC HVAC system regularly to keep the dust out of them.
In case of irregular cleaning and maintenance, dust and dirt may get deposited on the filters. This will obstruct the airflow of the unit, putting more pressure on the compressors. This further makes the compressors work real hard, and they start consuming more power. Eventually, there will be a surge in the electricity bills.
Ensuring regular maintenance of your air filters allows your unit to run smoothly. When you fail to do this, it will gradually reduce your AC life to half. It is up to you to choose – reduce your power consumption or your unit life.
If you are thinking about how often to clean the air filters, we advise you to do it monthly once. Also, it helps in energy efficiency by reducing consumption by 5-15 percent.
5. Use a smart thermostat and program a schedule
You can use a smart thermostat or an auto thermostat to schedule the temperature. When considering an auto thermostat, you do not have to adjust the settings every time.
The program schedule helps you to set the temperature operations appropriately. You may even schedule the settings for AC not to cool when the room is empty. This not only saves your electricity consumption but also keeps your AC functioning efficiently.
Most thermostats, these days, come with these explicit features designed for saving energy.
6. Service Regularly
Regular maintenance is crucial for any appliance. To help your air conditioner run efficiently
without affecting the performance, get it serviced at regular intervals. We recommend servicing at least once a year, wherein the technician the components, repair electrical connections, checks voltage connections and coolant levels, and replaces any worn parts.
According to studies, regular maintenance of your air conditioner helps to maintain the original efficiency of your unit up to 95%.
7. Switch on and Switch off to Save Electricity
We all know that the night temperatures are much lower when compared to the day. You don’t have to run your AC all through the night. You can switch it off at night, especially when you allowed your unit to work throughout the day. This will keep your room cool, and hence you don’t have to switch it on again during the nights. This will help you save energy, and you can stay comfortable too.
Here is a pro tip for you if you are spending long hours in the AC room. Do not keep the unit running continuously. Instead, you can switch it on and off every one-two hours to ensure adequate cooling in the room. You can save a lot of electricity by trying this.
8. Retrofit your AC unit
The next feasible and effective option to save on your electricity consumption is to retrofit your AC. When you upgrade the parts of your old AC unit, this will make it more energy-efficient. If you have an old device at your home and are not ready to upgrade to a newer model, you can retrofit your AC. While this can be a good option, there are many other ways to reduce your AC power consumption without replacing your current AC. You can add more ventilation to your space, add condenser fan controls to optimize the temperature, or you can even get the compressor replaced.
However, you can consider retrofitting as a suitable option provided you used your system for a long period, consumes more power, and it is in good condition with regular maintenance. If, in any case, your system is not any of the above, do not for retrofitting. The added advantage with a retrofit is that you can enjoy some benefits of a newer system with a little compromise. And the best part, you do not have to replace your unit altogether and spend a huge amount on the same.
Tips to Reduce AC Power Consumption
If your air conditioner is old and poorly maintained, it is surely going to consume a lot of electricity. Here a few tips that can come in handy for you to reduce power consumption, lower AC bills, and also save money.
1. Upgrade to an Energy-Efficient Air Conditioner
Since your AC has become old and consumes a lot of power, you can replace it with a new one having high EER and SEER ratings. The modern unit will consume less electricity and can reduce your electricity bill by up to 40%. These days, manufacturers are providing 3 and 5-star rating ACs. Did you know that the rating plays a crucial role in energy consumption? The higher the BEE rating your AC has, the lesser power it will consume. If you are using a unit with old technology and want to save money in the future, replace it with a new energy-efficient AC.
2. Keep your Air Conditioner out of the Sun
If you want to reduce your air conditioning bills, try adding some shade to your AC. This will not only help your room stay cool but also prevent your AC from working hard. That means it will use less energy. It is always preferable to install your device in a shady place where sun rays do not reach. Shun the sun by avoiding direct exposure to your outside component. It will only force your compressor to work hard, shooting up electricity bills.
3. Reduce Humidity
Are you living in an area with an extremely hot climate? Or, if your room has excess humidity, try to reduce or remove the humidity from your room. And the natural way to do it is through ventilation. Try keeping the door and windows open every day for at least one hour. This will reduce the humidity inside your room.
You can also use a dehumidifier in your room to reduce the humidity. This not only dehumidifies the room but also reduces the burden on your AC unit.
4. Reduce Heat Sources
Heat emitting sources can be the culprits to keep your room warm. Having your lamps, television, laptops, oven, and other devices switched on can make your air conditioner thermostats overwork, consuming more electricity.
To keep your room stay cooler, grab some shade. While sunlight can be nice, during summers, it can raise the temperature in the room. This will make your units work hard to bring down the room temperature. An efficient to tackle this is to have all your blinds, curtains, drapes closed.
You can have tinted windows to stop the sun’s heat from entering your AC space to some extent. You can take the natural way by planting some trees or shrubs around your place.
5. Use fans
Many are in a misconception that one should not have a fan switched on while your AC is working. Get rid of that myth. The reality is that fans circulate the air in the room. Having your AC switched on will help your unit not to work hard to keep the room cool. This will make your room cool quicker, and that too when your AC is at a higher temperature. This will save power consumption.
6. Keep the Door Closed
Always keep the doors and windows of your room closed whenever you switch on the AC. When you shut the doors, the cool air will not escape outside and keeps the room temperature constant throughout.
7. Proper Insulation
Make sure the air ducts of your AC unit are properly insulated. If there are any leaks in the ducts or vents, seal them so that they will not impact the cooling efficiency. This will, in turn, make your AC consume less electricity.
Conclusion
I hope this article gave you a better understanding of how to improve the efficiency of your air conditioner without increasing your electricity bills.
Follow the above-mentioned tips to reduce your AC power consumption and save money. This summer, don’t just lose your cool and freak out at the high air conditioning bills. Instead, follow these tips to stay cool.
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