How To Save Money On Air Conditioning In An Apartment

This story is part of Home Tips, CNET's collection of applied advice for getting the near out of your domicile, inside and out.

Summer is the time of year for vacations and barbecue cook-outs, but information technology also brings sweltering temperatures that might have you running to plow downwards the thermostat. Because of this, you'll probably notice your electric bill beginning to skyrocket. With higher free energy prices and increased concerns most blackouts in many parts of the U.s.a., this is even more of a business concern.

Luckily, nosotros take a few tips to keep your domicile every bit comfortable as possible while minimizing the amount of electricity you use (and the coin you spend on bills). Something as unproblematic as turning on a fan or closing the blinds during the day can make a big departure. Here are six tricks to continue cool affordably this summer.

Sign up for an energy inspect

If your home isn't brand-new, the common cold air inside is probably seeping out through doors and windows with spotty seals, a poorly insulated attic and other locations of sneaky cracks.

To see how well your habitation is belongings the cold in, sign up for a home energy inspect with your utility provider or a local contractor. A certified dwelling house free energy rater or accountant will bank check your habitation for leaks and recommend the all-time way to make your home more energy-efficient.

Don't want to spring for an inspect? Practise your own audit. Stand up exterior your home and run your mitt around the windows and doors. Tin can you feel the cold air escaping? If you practise, caulk around leaky windows and add insulation around doors.

Become a smart thermostat

If you oasis't upgraded to a smart thermostat -- such equally i byEcobee or Nest -- it might be time to make a change. Smart thermostats tin regulate heating and cooling when you're not dwelling to save money. Plus, you tin can conform the settings remotely using an app on your phone or via phonation commands. Here'south our list of thebest smart thermostats to help you lot brand the all-time decision for your home.

Check the placement of your thermostat

Thermostat placement tin can play a large part in how well your air conditioner works. If you put the thermostat on a wall right adjacent to a hot window, for example, your air conditioner will kick on much more oft than it needs to considering it will recollect the room is hotter than it really is. Hither's how to pick the perfect wall for your thermostat and the ideal temperature y'all should ready it to.

Close the blinds

A window letting in the hot sun won't but heat upwardly your thermostat, it'll rut you lot up too. During the warmest part of the day, shut your blinds to continue out the sun. It tin can too assistance insulate your windows, which stops the cold air from escaping.

A fan can help save on cooling costs.

Chris Monroe/CNET

Try a ceiling fan

Y'all don't always need to amp upwardly the AC to feel cooler. Using a ceiling fan can brand a room feel cooler, plenty that you can increase the thermostat temperature by 4 degrees "with no reduction in condolement." If yous desire to get high-tech, you lot tin install a smart ceiling fan that connects to an app and automatically adjusts based on schedules you create. Merely make certain your fan is rotating counterclockwise in the summertime to get the nigh benefit.

Increase the temperature

To salvage the almost coin, always prepare your thermostat to the highest temperature you can comfortably stand up. A programmable thermostat makes information technology easy to keep your AC at the right temperature. You can program the unit of measurement to hold at higher temperatures while y'all're at work and cool downwards correct before y'all get dwelling.

You can relieve ten% a year on your cooling bills by setting your thermostat just 10 to fifteen degrees Fahrenheit higher for 8 hours each day, according to the Nebraska Free energy Role. The US Section of Energy recommends aiming for an indoor temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit when you're at home. But it'due south fine if 78 F isn't doable for you; even a small change in temperature can save you lot big bucks.

Source: https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/lower-your-electric-bill-this-summer-with-these-air-conditioning-tips/

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