How to Save Money on Air Conditioning
Did you know that running an air conditioner can cost you $100 to $200 per month? Add that on top of your other electrical charges, and that’s a pretty hefty bill. And that number can increase depending on your location and other factors.
We’ll assume you already knew it can be expensive. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be looking up ways to save on it. Fortunately, I have a lot of personal experience on this matter.
Several years ago, we bought an old fixer-upper home. Yes, we knew it would need work, but I’ll say that we got a complete shock when our electric bill was nearly $500 during the summer months.
We quickly discovered that we needed a new central AC unit, but those things are expensive. And it’s hard to save for such a thing when you have to pay so much to keep the lights on.
I went to work trying to learn how to save money on air conditioning, and it worked. In two months, we had cut the bill nearly in half. Granted, the bill was still bigger than it would be with a new unit, but it was a definite improvement. Below, I’ll share the steps we took to make this happen and some other money saving ideas I ran across during my research.
Understand Your Air Conditioner
You probably already know this, but let’s do a quick lesson about how your AC unit works. This reminder can help make sure all the tips I give below make sense.
Let’s say you are comfortable at 72 degrees in your home, so that is where you set the thermostat. This means that your AC is keeping up with the temperature. If it goes above 72 degrees, the AC kicks on to lower the temp.
One of the best ways to keep your electric bill low is to keep your temperature as close to that 72 degrees as you can without using the AC. The steps we’re going to go over below will help accomplish that.
These steps can each make a difference in your bill. The more you can put into place, the more you save:
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Take Care With the Thermostat
Going on the lesson we just went over, here’s a question for you: Did you know that where your thermostat is located can actually cause it to turn on more?
Think about it. If your thermostat — that magical thing that measures the temperature of the room — is in a hot area, it assumes the whole room is hot. For example, if the sun shines directly onto the thermostat or if the thermostat is beside a hot window, you’re in trouble. You’ll either need to find a way to cover the thermostat or see if you can move it to a better location.
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Cover Your Windows
We had one very hot room in our house that would not cool off no matter how much air was running. Why so hot? It was simple, really. It was the room where the sun shined into the house for most of the day.
My first step was to cover this window, and there are plenty of ways to do that. One is by using black-out curtains. We’ve used these in the past, so I know they work. However, to me, they worked too well. I like sunlight, and I don’t want the inside of my home to always look like it’s nighttime.
If you’re like me, good news: there’s another option. Window tint or window film. It’s like a window tint for your vehicle. You can get it in all levels of sun blockage. It doesn’t have to be too dark if you still want to see the sun. And it comes in some nice patterns if you want to get decorative.
Regardless of the color or pattern, it acts as a barrier. It helps to keep out the heat from the sun and even helps keep your air in. As a bonus, it helps keep your heat in during the winter.
Putting up window film in my one very hot room decreased the temperature by at least ten degrees. That one month brought my bill down tremendously.
Three-quarters of all homes in the United States have air conditioners. Air conditioners use about 6% of all the electricity produced in the United States, at an annual cost of about $29 billion to homeowners.
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Change Your Cooking
Have you ever noticed how hot your house — or at least your kitchen — gets when you use the stove or oven? You could literally heat some homes with a stove. I know I can.
Imagine, then, how much your AC unit has to work when you’re cooking. If you can cut down on the amount you use your stove, you’ll cut down on your electric bill.
You still have to eat, though, right? And you probably don’t want to spend the money you save on your bill at the drive-thru. Try these tips instead.
Microwave
Don’t replace all — or even most — of your meals with microwaveable stuff. Just use your microwave when you can.
Crockpot
You can throw a meal into the Crockpot in the morning on low and have a good dinner that night. It doesn’t emit the same amount of heat. And many meals come out even more tender, thanks to the slow cooking process.
Fire up the grill
It’s summertime, so you have an awesome excuse to use your grill. Just get some Tiki torches with mosquito repellent to make sure you don’t become the meal.
Eat light
With my family, we don’t like to eat heavy in the summer. Staying active and busy in the summer sun makes us want to eat much lighter. Think turkey sandwiches, salads, fruits, and similar items.
If you absolutely must use your stove, turn on the exhaust fan. You should also run your bathroom exhaust fan if you have one after you take a hot shower. Doing so helps the heat dissipate more quickly.
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Save Your Laundry
A clothes dryer can be just as bad as a stove. I have had days during the summer when I go open up the dryer that has just finished. And within seconds, I’m pouring sweat. The humidity that those machines can produce is insane. And yet, we still need clean and dry clothes.
Some people hang their clothes out on a clothesline. This is effective but not my favorite method. It might sound weird, but that “fresh” smell that comes from hanging clothes out to dry gives me a headache.
If you can handle it, though, hanging your clothes is a great way to save on electricity. You won’t have to pay to run the dryer or for the AC to combat the humidity.
You can also save your drying until nighttime. I would wait until we went to bed to dry the clothes. At the same time, I had a window near the dryer with a little fan. By running that fan and waiting until the sun was down, we decreased our bill by another 20 percent or so.
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Get Caulk Happy
Okay, I’m kidding a little here. When I was trying to decrease our electric bill, my husband was on the road driving trucks. I was so desperate to cut down our bill that I walked around with a caulk gun and several tubes of caulk.
I filled every nook and cranny I could find. It wasn’t meant to be a permanent solution. It was meant to stay there until I could get better supplies, but my husband came home first. He laughed at the amount of caulk I used and jokingly “grounded” me from using it anymore.
We still laugh about it, but the truth is that it worked. The month after I filled all of these holes, our bill had gone down another $30.
That may not seem like much, but added to everything else, we were making huge progress. And anyway, $30 a month is $760 a year.
Remember, the results will vary depending on the home and the steps you make. I am only sharing my amounts to show you that even little steps make a difference.
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Get Your AC Serviced
Okay, I’ll admit I did not do this. Like I said earlier, it was clear we needed a new AC unit, so we were working on that. However, I can tell you that a properly working unit can make a big difference.
Not long after we made all of these changes and our bill went down, I heard a loud pop outside my window. I looked out to see smoke coming out of my AC unit. It had completely died. Obviously, it was in even worse shape than we knew.
Sadly, we had not yet saved enough for a new central unit. I went to the store to buy a couple of window units. I grimaced as I thought of how much these would run my bill back up.
When I got my bill the next month, I was completely surprised to see an even lower bill. Window units typically take much more energy to run. Our central unit was just in that bad shape.
Regardless of whether you use a window unit or a central AC unit, keeping it maintained is the key to keeping the cost of operation as low as possible. Change the filters regularly. Make sure there is no dirt, dust, leaves, or debris on or near the coils. Hire a professional for a thorough cleaning and tune-up before summer starts.
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Cover Your Unit
My central AC unit was directly in the sun, and that’s not good. If yours is also exposed to heavy sun rays, you can’t expect it to work very well or operate efficiently.
Don’t worry. I’m not telling you to move it. However, you should protect it from the sun. You can do this with an awning or a shade tree, but you’ll need to keep an eye out for debris falling from the tree. Still, that little extra work is worth it when keeping your AC running well.
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Pick a Temp And Stick With it
Every time you adjust your thermostat, your AC has to adjust the temperature of your home. It is much simpler — and cheaper — to pick the temperature you’re comfortable with and leave the thermostat alone.
Additionally, the lower you set your thermostat, the harder the AC has to work. Try setting it a little higher. You don’t have to have it at 90F (32C), but if you can do at least 78F, you're in good shape, according to the Department of Energy.
Here’s my advice to help make 78F (26C) more comfortable: wear lighter — or less — clothes around your house. Unless you are hosting a fancy party, does your wardrobe really matter inside your home?
Wear loose-fitting clothes, airy items, or your swimsuit if you find that necessary. If you are trying to stay cool and save money, do what you need. Just tell your friends to be sure they give you a heads-up if they are coming over.
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Plant Some Trees
Yes, this is a bit of an investment. However, it can produce great returns. By planting shade trees around your home, less solar energy is heating it. This is a natural way to lower your energy bills.
If you can’t afford to plant them all around your yard, that’s okay. Each one you plant can make a huge difference, especially when they are in the right spot. You should plant tall trees on the south side of your house and broader trees on the east and west. This solution is more long term because your trees must have time to grow to block and absorb the sun and heat. The younger the trees are when you buy them, the longer it will take for them to grow to a size that will be most beneficial for your house.
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Use Fans
I don’t mean replace your AC with fans. I’m talking about combining their power. Fans help to keep the cool air that your AC puts out circulating. Turning on your ceiling fans, especially on the stuffy days, helps cool you off without having to adjust your thermostat.
If you can invest, smart fans are a good idea. They come on when needed to regulate the temperature and humidity, meaning your AC doesn’t have to work so hard. And they cost less to operate.
If you can, you want to install ceiling fans on the upper level of your house and keep them running. Then, you can open the windows on the lower level of the house. This helps to circulate the air throughout the home. When air circulates around the house, it helps to evaporate the sweat on your skin. This can help to cool your body along with the air in the house.
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Use Your Lower Levels
You probably already know that the lower levels of your house are cooler than the other levels of your home. This is because heat rises to the top levels of the house. For this reason, you should spend most of your time on the lower levels of your home, if possible.
If you have windows in your basement or lower levels, do not open the windows, especially if it is humid. When the air is moist and warm is causes condensation on all cool surfaces. These surfaces include the walls of your basement. Opening the basement windows can also increase the humidity of your house.
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Use Fewer Lights
It’s common knowledge that using light bulbs uses electricity, but it goes farther than that. Your light bulbs generate heat in your home, meaning they cause your AC to turn on more.
One of the first things you should do if you haven’t already is switch to LED bulbs. They generate less heat than halogen or incandescent bulbs, and they use less electricity. So you save in two ways.
The next thing you can do is be careful about leaving lights off. If you’re not in the room, flip the switch. And if you bought window film to keep out the heat and it’s nearly clear, you can open your curtains or blinds and use more natural light.
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Use a Programmable Thermostat
Are you and your family out of the house during the day? If you are, a programmable thermostat can save you a lot of money.
Set it to run a few degrees higher while you are out. Then, have it turn back to your desired temperature about an hour before you come home. Doing so means that your AC doesn’t have to work so hard while no one is even there to enjoy it.
While you are gone for longer periods of time — like a vacation — turn your AC off. If you have a programmable thermostat, you should be able to control it remotely. If so, you can turn it back on when you are on your way back home.
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Use an App
Everything is in an app these days — including money saving opportunities. And guess what? We’ve got a great one for you.
At the Goalry Mall, you can access several financial tools, including Billry.
It is an app to keep track of bills, learn new ways to save on them, and ultimately be more in control of your spending.
Conclusion
These tips for how to save money on air conditioning have the ability to cut your electric bill down. Some require a financial investment, while others require nothing more than your willingness to make it happen. Remember that you don’t have to do them all — especially not at the same time. Just take the steps that you can as you can.