With today's high energy costs, it makes sense to reduce your energy usage as much as possible while you are away from your Middletown home. Whether you're just leaving for the weekend or taking a full vacation, these tips for conserving energy will help keep your utility costs reasonable.
Setting Your Air Conditioner
Your air conditioning system is one of the largest consumers of energy in your home. By raising the temperature 5 to 10 degrees while you are away, you can reduce your cooling costs during that time by up to 25 percent.
Setting the temperature too high, however, can have negative consequences. Wood and other materials in your home can expand if the temperature gets too high, possibly causing damage such as buckled flooring or misaligned doors. Shutting your air conditioner off completely could allow humidity to build inside your home, creating a musty odor, promoting mold growth and possibly causing damage to porous surfaces like drywall.
To be safe, keep your thermostat below 85 while you are away. If you have a programmable thermostat, you can set it to reduce the temperature before you come home so you can save money and still arrive to a comfortable house.
Other Tips for Conserving Energy
- Have your air conditioner serviced before you leave. Ask your HVAC contractor to inspect your system and perform any required maintenance. This will ensure there will be no problems while you are away and that your system is running as efficiently as possible. Be sure to install a new air filter before you leave, which will protect your system and increase its efficiency.
- Minimize heat gain while you're away to reduce the load on your air conditioner. Close the curtains or blinds on windows to block the summer sun, and shut off unnecessary lights and electronics.
For more tips on conserving energy, contact the HVAC experts at C.R. Wolfe Heating & Air Conditioning. We serve the Middletown area.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Middletown, New York about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about conserving energy and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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