Ways To Cut Down Cooling Costs In Summer

Summers in India could be excruciating. This is when the cooling costs shoot up for both residential and commercial buildings. Create comfortable indoor environments without making your cooling costs go through the roof. 

Time To Buy A New Air Conditioner

If you have been postponing your decision to replace your existing air conditioner, right before the summer is the best time to go for such replacements.

The performance of a new air conditioner will be better than the old air conditioners. 

Instead of postponing the purchase a few months down the line, buy an air conditioner with a five-star BEE rating.

Old model air conditioners are not as energy-efficient as the new ones. Going for the latest model, AC will make perfect sense in this context.

Set Your Air Conditioner To An Optimal Temperature

By setting the thermostat to an optimal temperature, you will save on the cooling costs.

By optimal temperature, we mean a temperature that is just right for the occupants of the house to feel comfortable. 

Often the temperature is too low, thinking that it will cool the room faster. It does not work that way.

The thermostat is designed to respond to the environmental temperature. Setting much lower temperatures than required does not speed up the cooling process.

When you set the thermostat to an optimal temperature, you will be able to reduce the duration for which the compressor has to run to reach and maintain that lower temperature and thereby reduce the energy costs.

Check out – What is the best temperature for AC?

Service Your Air Conditioner Before The Summer

Call your air conditioner technician for ‘before the summer’ routine servicing. Your air conditioner will be slogging for longer hours during the summer.

You need to prepare it for the summer so that it does not break down. 

Moreover, when you service the AC and its filters and fine-tune its operations, the effectiveness of the AC will improve.

The duration for which the compressor has to run to cool the room will reduce. This, in turn, will reduce your cooling cost per hour.

In case you have been postponing your call to the AC technician, then the best time to call them is before the summer.

Ceiling Fans Too Can Save You Money

Along with your air conditioner, make use of a ceiling fan. A ceiling fan by circulating the cold air within the room will make the environment feel comfortable.

This will let you set the thermostat at higher temperatures. 

Keep The Curtains Drawn During The Day

You will be able to keep the indoor temperatures lower by cutting the heat from entering the house.

As most of the homes use glass windows, even when the windows are closed, heat can penetrate the house.

Use thick curtains to cut the heat and keep them drawn throughout the day.

Cook In The Early Hours Of The Day

Your Gas stoves generate an excessive amount of heat, and that could increase the indoor temperatures considerably high.

By changing your schedule a bit, you will be able to reduce the cooling costs substantially. 

When you cook in the early hours of the day, you will not have to toil in the sweltering heat.

More to that, you will also prevent building up of heat within the house and thereby preventing making things worse.

Reduce The Number Of Air Conditioners Operating At The Same Time

During the summer, whenever possible, let all the members of the house use common areas of the house, such as the living room.

This will reduce the number of air conditioners operating simultaneously and reduce your cooling costs considerably. 

Turn Off The Heat-emitting Home Appliances

At any given point in time, several heat-emitting appliances are running in an average Indian home. 

Heat emitting home appliances include – kitchen oven, gas stoves, ironing equipment, computers, scanners, printers, music systems, lamps, and a list of other endless other appliances. 

We do not mean to say that all these appliances should never be used. Be sparing in their use and unplug them when not in use. 

Keeping them in standby mode will only keep them alive and residual heat is continuously emitted. You could avoid this and help your air conditioner maintain the optimal temperature with minimal effort possible. 

Reducing the cooling costs is not only to save money, but it is also each one’s responsibility to make use of our country’s energy resources more responsibly. 

It is possible to cut down the cooling costs with adequate planning. You just need to keep exploring the options, and there are undoubtedly many ways to reduce your cooling costs.