A homeowner in Waukesha for 20 years, Steve is president of the Waukesha Dog Parks Organization and enjoys motorcycling, fishing and staying on top of politics.
Hot weather makes us grateful for the invention of air conditioning. While I often mention that I am involved with a family pet store, my daytime job, is being a technical representative and instructor for a number of major heating, air conditioning and refrigeration manufacturers. I am, what you would call, an expert in those fields.
Sometimes I see misinformation given from reputable sources concerning cooling comfort and economy. I’d like to give you some information that can help make you more comfortable. Here are some items that don’t cost anything or are inexpensive to do.
Air filters. I assume that you are checking your air filters for cleanliness. If you have disposable air filters, people often replace them with the white pleated filters or washable electrostatic or allergy filters. While these do a better job of filtering, they can reduce the flow of air enough to cause problems with the system. So if you are not getting the performance from your air conditioner, try putting the inexpensive fiberglass filters in. If you desire top quality air filtration, there are any number of electronic and deep pleated (4” deep or more) media that are much better than the one-inch thick pleated filters. You see, the deeply pleated filters have more surface area for the air to flow through and offer less resistance to the air. These are not do-it-yourself installation, so ask your dealer about them.
Many newer homes have combination baseboard and high wall return air grills. If you have these, it is important that the air be drawing into the high grills and the baseboard return grills be close off. Some have a close-off damper on the baseboard grill and some have to be blocked off with cardboard or a magnetic blank-off.
Because cold air tends to hang on the floor, your supply air grills should be blowing the air up as high as possible. Sometimes plastic diverters can be purchased to help divert the air up more. If you have wide baseboard diffuser grills the length of the window, you may need a floor fan to mix the cool air on the floor with the warmer air near the ceiling. Ceiling fans are a great way to mix the air. If you have air conditioning vents in the ceiling, consider yourself fortunate.
The outdoor unit, condensing unit, should have a check-over each season. A check-over is more involved than just checking the refrigerant. Many brands have models that have condenser coils where the fins need to be separated to wash the dirt and fuzz that jams in the fins. A simple back-flush with a water hose is not enough to effectively clean these particular units. A technician can use service data that comes with the unit or is available from the local distributor of the brand to see if an extensive cleaning is necessary. For these jobs expect to pay much more than the dealer’s normal tune-up special price. Manufacturers would rather not build them this way, but it is necessary so the higher efficiency units, already larger than older units, don’t become as big as a one-car garage!
How you set the thermostat can greatly affect your electric bill and your comfort. Contrary to information from some electric companies, it is best to leave the house closed up and the thermostat set to your normal desired temperature. When the house is warm to begin with, the electrical usage is higher than normal while it tries to cool and dehumidify down to normal levels. Also, they cannot drop the temperature as fast as your furnace can raise the temperature. So don’t come home from work, turn on the air conditioner and expect the house to be cool in just a few hours. It may take a whole day, even if the outside temperature drops into the 60’s at night. There’s a technical explanation for that which I will spare you.
If you air conditioner doesn’t work at all, keep your personal cool while waiting for your service technician to get there. Remember that they never know what their next job will take for time so it is difficult to promise when they will arrive. In the mean time, dig that fan from the basement and sit back with a cold drink.
