Electric bill high from air conditioning usage? I have two suggestions, one free and one not so free.
Turn the air off and clean the coils. When they are dry, it's OK to turn air back on. This is for a house unit (I don't know about single room window units).
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Have freon level checked by a professional and increased, if needed.
Let me tell you what happened here. The air was going on and staying on for a long time. Seemed to take a lot of compressor effort to cool down the house even a couple of degrees (we turn the air off when we leave the house so it warms up quite a bit). Although the air coming out of the registers felt cool, I felt something was wrong.
We received more freon, and I thought it was all fixed, but after a few days, that feeling came back again. Asked DH how long it had been since the coils were cleaned. OMG! What a difference! What an improvement. The air felt colder and somehow, seemed to run more efficiently. From now on, the calendar has a "clean the coils" reminder.
Obviously, it wasn't just a dirty coils situation. But cleaning them was certainly a step in the right direction. My electric bill will be lower, just 'cause the air doesn't have to run so long.
Judy = Oklahoma Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 509 Feedbacks
August 31, 20150 found this helpful
Top Comment
This is a good tip for new home owners or renters who don't know any better! I didn't grow up with a/c, so I had to learn the hard way. Cleaning the coils and filter are SO important! Not just to keep it cooler & save money, but to save your unit also. If the unit gets clogged, it can burn the motor up and you could end up having to replace the motor or the entire unit. My husband is really bad about doing these things. I don't have to put it on the calendar because if he doesn't clean the filter every couple of months, I start coughing every time the unit comes on.
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And if your coils need cleaning, it can be gradual or very sudden, but your place is going to warm up no matter how long the a/c runs. My husband cleaned the coils just this month, but it wasn't doing much good. He ended up having to completely take the cover off the unit and really get in there to clean it because it was so clogged with debris. Very important you mentioned to turn the unit off, some people don't realize if you spray water or mess with the unit while it's running, you can damage the unit and yourself, lol. I think most units are hooked up to their own little fuse box next to it, and you can also pull the fuse if you want to be safer.
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This is the wrong time to be trying to get an air conditioner. The best time is winter. Now that the weather is warming up everybody is going to be scrambling to get one and you'll have a harder time finding one.
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A nice person might let you buy one for less than they know they can charge if they understand your predicament. Try finding moving sales. People who are moving likely won't want to move the air conditioner because they are heavy and the new place might already have one. If they turn down your offer, come back at the end of the day and see if they still have it and need to get rid of it.
Electric bill high from air conditioning usage? I have two suggestions, one free and one not so free.
