11 Ways To Lower Your Summer Electric BillsNow that summer is here, electric bills are skyrocketing with the heat. Air conditioners are coming on by the millions in an effort to cool down. Add that to the electrical appliances, televisions and other electronics that consume power and your electric bill soars. Here are some tips to reduce those costs.
1. Closing your curtains and blinds on the sunny side of your house will help keep it cooler when temperatures are high. You can also apply window film to your windows. This will cut radiant heat and still allow you to see the view outside. Painting your house a light color and using window awnings will also help reduce heat inside your house.
2. If you use a window air conditioner, put it in a window that is located on the shady side of your house near the center of the house. Cooler air outside means cooler air inside.
3. Make sure that your cooling system (and heating system in winter) is working efficiently. Have your systems checked by a reputable maintenance company at least once yearly. Change the filters on your furnace and air conditioner monthly.
4. Turn off your air conditioner or furnace when you leave home for short periods of time. Of course, if you live in a desert or severely cold climate, you would turn your thermostat a bit higher or lower than you would normally have it.
5. Plant trees and shrubs outside your house to shade it. Be sure that shrubs placed near air conditioning units are trimmed so that they have sufficient air flow.
6. Electronics that are turned off may still use electricity. Unplug them when going on vacation or when leaving your house for an extended period of time. For other electrical units like razors or hair dryers, plug them into a power strip that you can switch off when you're not using them.
7. Use fluorescent light bulbs instead of standard incandescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs use ten times the power of fluorescent.
8. When you are shopping for a printer, scanner or other computer equipment, look for those that will automatically go into "sleep mode" or turn off when they aren't being used.
9. When you're deciding between the microwave and electric stove to cook a meal, choose the microwave. Not only does it use 90 percent less energy, it will not heat up the house - thus using even more electricity to cool it.
10. Replace appliances that are older than ten years old. Older refrigerators and other major appliances cost more to run than newer appliances. Modern appliances must conform to "Energy Star" efficiency and are ten to twenty percent cheaper to operate.
11. If your electricity should go off during a "brown-out" or "blackout," turn off or unplug as many appliances as you can. Otherwise, when everyone's power comes back on at the same time, another transformer could blow out.
Using some of these ideas will help keep your electric power bills lower. The more ideas you use, the lower your costs will be. Save your pocketbook, and your environment, by conserving electricity.
Make Your Life Easier With A Portable Air Conditioner
Air conditioners that can be made to travel from one position to another on casters (wheels on the bottom of your unit) are called portable air conditioners. These can be as big as window units, but they can be easily relocated by simply rolling to your location of choice. Portable air conditioners find the biggest use in industries, warehouses, temporary businesses, and more where air conditioning is a must. But have become increasingly popular for personal use in the home.
Some industrial warehouses are so large that they cannot be cooled by a single fundamental air conditioning unit. These spaces rent portable air conditioners for their spot cooling needs. As their laborers or machines move, the air conditioners can also be made to travel along with them. Several machines in factories necessitate such spot cooling. Even places where numerous computers are installed require cooling for their optimum use. Why not use the same technologies and convienience for your home shop, kitchen, basement, or game room?
Portable air conditioners are specially engineered for rough use; hence, their capacities are higher than the usual ones. Portable air conditioners with chilling abilities of 3.5 to 60 tons can be rented. They are available with both freon and vaporization technology. Air conditioners that function on drying up principles are more expensive to rent than freon ones, but may be just what you really need. Make sure you check out the options before you rent or buy. Freon air conditioning units used to be the more popular, but has taken a back seat to the more expensive ones that evaporate the water being used. People just have become accustomed to cool dry air everywhere they go.
Portable air conditioners are also used by organizers of functions and events like as weddings, live performances, football matches, and more. Rented air conditioners are used at strategic positions so that there is an average cooling throughout the spot. Once the project is finished, the air conditioner can just be wheeled away to the next location. If you own a business that is on the move, these are a 'must have' for the comfort of your customers.
Vehicles on the move sometimes rent portable air conditioners if they require cooling - especially when there is some freight aboard that requires cooling, such as perishable foods. Water transport vehicles such as boats and ships also find it easier to rent a portable air conditioner for their cooling needs. So as you can see, they are main stream and mighty in numbers, features, prices, and power - make sure you get the right one for you.
You can rent portable air conditioners both on a long term and a short term basis too. So don't forget those family reunions when the need is far greater than your normal home air conditioner can cover. If you really don't want to purchase one, you can rent for longer periods of time as well. From weeks to a couple of months or even years. But social events may rent portable air conditioners for a day or so. Depending on the type of air conditioning rented and the period for which it is rented, the cost may stray from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. Personally, with the great choices out there today, I found the perfect one to buy and just use whenever needed and you can too!
Be cool when you choose and where you choose! Just one more thing to make your life easier.
Can You Use The Sun For Air Conditioning?
Sounds silly, doesn't it? But its true! Let's take a look at how what warms us, can also keep us cool.
Did you know that the sun can actually both heat and cool our environnment? The same energy that provides warmth for you and your family in the winter can also provide air conditioning for your family during the summer. How does that work, your probably asking, right?
Well, many new cooling systems have been developed and tested over the past few years to utilize this very principal. The simplest methods rely on a coolant that soaks up and dissipates heat from the home. Although this method is simple, it has been proven to be quite effective. It can be as unproblematic as placing a pool of water on the rooftop which will assimilate heat from the inside of the home as it evaporates on exposure to the sun. You would be amazed at the difference these methods can make when cooling your home. Ever heard of this before? Sometimes, I don't think we even realize how many different versions of air conditioners there are available, I know I didn't.
Thanks to advances in modern technology, there are more options available in the air conditioning marketplace than ever before. More sophisticated solar air conditioning systems have a solar collector which is shaded during sunlight. A storage medium stores heat during the day and releases it at night by exposing the solar collector to the cool night air. Options such as these allow you to utilize the power of the sun to cool or heat your home regardless of the season.
Since the solar collector needs shade at several times of day, a retractable overhanging should be installed. Also, since the system has to be reversed in the winter, it's import that the solar collector can be exposed to the sun if needed.
Solar panels are also useable in normal air conditioners. It so happens that the periods of intense heat correspond to the periods of peak electricity useage. As long as you have solar panels which bring forth sufficient electricity, you can use air conditioners at little or no cost. Unlike my personal home's bill which can easily in the summer rival half our home payment!
Solar cooling that does not take advantage of advanced technology is another possibility. Running water on the walls of our homes could be another way of cooling them. The high temperature of the sun causes the water to evaporate and dissipate the heat within the house. This kind of system can be placed on walls or on rooftops.
Utilizing an air conditioning system has become one of the greatest expenses for most households. Using solar energy to reduce this cost is a much wiser decision to make financially, as well as ecologically. The less we utilize fossil fuels for heating and cooling our enviornment, the cleaner and healthier the environment will be, and the more money for other fun things. With the savings with the right kind of air conditioner, you can have that family vacation you have wanted this year!
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Portable Air conditioner Units Are Quiet - So Why Not Enjoy One?
If you are using the wrong sized air conditioning unit, you can bet it is using a great deal more energy than you would use if you had the right size air conditioning unit for your place, and it will cool too quickly, adding massive loads to your system. Air conditioned cooling is the best way to cool down indoors in the summertime, and we all enjoy the cooler temperatures indeed. Some air conditioning units are generally quiet enough to be installed under a window or near a patio, so sleeping or the entertaining of guests is not disrupted.
Home owners often want to know what size of an air conditioning unit they should buy for a room or their home. Plenty of air conditioning units are designed to be efficient and durable. And there are numerous brands out there to research and compare for sure. You should know what size air conditioning system is needed. From prices, to sizes, warranties, and ratings, it can certainly be a huge decision and you should consider seriously finding someone that is knowledgeable and trustworthy to recommend the right unit for you. Centralized air systems are in the vast majority of "newer" homes. The convenience and demand are a 'must' these days as the rule. You will rarely see any other form of cooling put into new homes these days and for good reason. It raises the value of the home as well as lowering the temperature!
With that demand, the manufactures have become more innovative and advanced for the market today than even 5 years ago. With the cost of energy on the rise, there has been great attention given to cutting costs and keeping performance at its peak. Some air conditioning units can now use half the energy of typical former models. Which means cool air and savings for you!
As for a business, air conditioning is critical in running your business in a public place. In this country, people have become accustom to air conditioning everywhere they go. Air conditioning cooling is also of great importance for food, conservation, and health care, manufacturing of many items. Gas air conditioning and electric evaporative coolers are environmentally friendly and their lower operating costs can put money in your pocket. Top air conditioning units stand out and are sought out for their quiet operation. Because of unrestricted delivery of conditioned air, ductless systems are often used in libraries and businesses. Newer air conditioning units require less energy than a new non-energy star model and cools just as well. Select an efficient, high quality air conditioner and with smart and moderated usage will save you a considerable amount of money over time. Central air systems are the dominant air-conditioning type for larger buildings for the obvious reasons.
Air conditioning is important to the long-term durability of your home as well. Air conditioning can add heat, moisture and humidity to the air of your home if it is old, in ill repair, and too small for the area it is intended to cool. Some air conditioning units can now use natural ventilation.
There are even utility companies that will reward you for replacing your old and energy-hungry units, so look into it with your local utility company.
We have even come to rely on air conditioning in many parts of our world for just plain survival. Having grown up in Arizona, that thriving metropolis would not exist without the massive amount of air conditioning in the valley today. People die every year that do not have access to air conditioning in such environments. An air system is used to provide a steady stream of outdoor air that has been cooled to draw out humidity. Air conditioning can add massive loads to your system. A portable air conditioner can use more electricity and will not remove humidity adequately for some homes or areas, so you need to make sure before you buy your portable unit that is the correct size for the job. Correct usage will save over 2.5 billion gallons of fuel in the united states alone and 3 to 5 billion gallons of fuel per year worldwide according to the EPA. Select an air conditioner with as high a S.E.E.R (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio -rating) as is practical within your budget and your home energy conservation plan should use these prioritized items as a guide. Hundreds of air conditioning units are designed to be efficient and durable and centralized air systems are available with capacities of up to five tons. There is a unit for everyone in every size.
Make sure that when you go shopping for your unit that you have this information before you call. The best info to have at the time of your call is: the application ( people, equipment, process), the size of the room to be conditioned, (length x width x height), is there a drop ceiling plenum above the area, and if there is equipment, the total wattage of that equipment, and are there any special circumstances.
Happy shopping all and enjoy a cooler home or business that will cost you less, today!
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