How to Save Energy With Your HVAC System This Spring

Everyone wants to save money, and it’s a good idea to go over your budget every now and again to see if there are any opportunities you’ve missed in the past. It’s always a good idea to think about methods to cut your energy expenditures in the spring. According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), air conditioners consume approximately six percent of all electricity in the country, costing homeowners over $29 billion.

If you can limit your energy consumption, you will help the environment while also saving money. Below, our HVAC Sacramento professionals share HVAC Spring Energy Saving techniques.

1. Maintain Your Air Conditioner

A great HVAC energy-saving tip for your home is performing simple cleaning and maintenance on your air conditioner. Cleaning or replacing your air filters on a regular basis can reduce your air conditioning system’s energy use by up to 15 percent. 

Many AC filters are designed to be replaced every one to two months. We recommend setting an event in your calendar to remind you to check your AC filter on a regular basis. 

For some of the best air conditioner energy savings, keep the evaporator coils clean. The first day of spring serves as a great reminder to inspect your air conditioner’s evaporator coil, which is something that should be cleaned annually to ensure the system is operating at peak efficiency. Ensure your evaporator coil is clear of debris like leaves, grass clippings, tree pollen, and other detritus. The coils are the grill-like surface surrounding the AC unit.

2. Open the Windows

A great Spring energy saver is opening windows, which produces a cross-wind, allowing you to chill your home naturally without using air conditioning. This is an excellent strategy in the spring when temperatures are mild, especially in the mornings. If you can capture enough cool temperatures in your house at night or in the morning, your insulation can often keep your home cool through the warmer afternoons. 

3. Make Use of Ceiling Fans

An often overlooked home energy-saving method is using ceiling fans. By using ceiling fans to cool your home, you will be able to raise your thermostat by four degrees. When used in conjunction with opening the windows, ceiling fans help redistribute heat across the room and through the house. Cross breezes in the morning can be used to cool down the house, and ceiling fans keep the air moving. 

The utility of ceiling fans doesn’t stop with open windows, however. Since human bodies generate a lot of heat, ceiling fans can send air to pick up heat from our bodies and redistribute that heat to other objects in the room, cooling us down and making us more comfortable even when the cooling temperature is set a little higher than normal. 

Our Sacramento cooling experts explain that because ceiling fans use significantly less electricity than the compressor in your AC, using them can help you save a lot of money on your energy costs without losing overall comfort. 

4. Install Window Coverings

The main source of heat is the sun. It’s so obvious, and yet many homeowners seem to forget about it. One of the best spring and summer energy-saving tips is to block and direct sunlight into the home. 

Installing energy-efficient window treatments or coverings such as blinds, shades, curtains, shutters, and films helps reduce heat input when temperatures rise. Lighter colors will better reflect the light outside and reduce how much heat your house absorbs. These devices improve the appearance of your house and help you save money on electricity.

5. Caulk Air Leaks

An important way to conserve energy for any time of year is to find and seal any air leaks in the house in preparation for summer. When you have all your windows and doors shut, you want your house to be buttoned up tight with no uncontrolled air flow in or outside. Any air that leaks in or out will be bleeding conditioned air and, as a consequence, cost more energy and money. 

6. Program Your AC Temperature

On warm days, setting a programmed thermostat to a higher setting when you are not at home can help you save around ten percent on your energy bills. Smart thermostats can more accurately schedule your temperature settings and work around your schedule. Newer HVAC systems send more information to smart thermostats, which lets them calculate how long the home takes to warm up or cool down and allows it to eke out a little bit more energy savings. 

If you get home and it’s too warm, don’t set the temperature lower than you usually would. Setting a lower temperature doesn’t increase how quickly the house cools down and often leads to excessive cooling and unnecessary expenses. 

7. Seal All Ducts

Air loss through ducts can result in substantial power expenditures, accounting for roughly 30 percent of the energy consumed by a cooling system. The EPA recommends all homeowners have their ducts checked for leaks on a semi-regular basis.

Disconnects in joints are the most common problem. Air is leaked out into a basement, crawlspace, or attic and is essentially “wasted” in an area that isn’t used. 

8. Cook Outdoors

Spring can be one season of amazing weather. Instead of cooking indoors and generating heat in the house, cook outdoors. Use a grill, induction cooker hot plate, or air fryer to keep the home cool inside. 

9. Reduce Electrical Use

Try to switch off as many artificial lights as you can. Instead, use indirect sunlight with windows and skylights to bounce light around the room. Reducing electrical use reduces your energy bill and generates less heat. 

If you aren’t in the room, and your windows aren’t open for a cross breeze, turn off ceiling fans. They don’t make things cooler; they just redistribute heat. So, if you aren’t in the room, there’s no reason for them to be on. In fact, they actually generate a tiny bit of heat while operating. 

10. Turn on Bathroom Fans & Vents After Showering

After you take a hot shower, don’t let the hot air and humidity out into the house. Keep the door shut and turn on the fan. Let the bathroom vent suck up the heat and humidity and vent it out of the house. 

Make sure your bathroom and kitchen fans vent outside. Bathroom vents should be connected to a ventilation “chimney” in your roof or wall; if yours isn’t, you can use a corrugated hose from a dryer to connect the two or pay a repairman to get it done. If there isn’t a vent going through the roof, ensure your repairman knows how to seal the roof tiles properly. 

We are here to help you in any way that you need. Contact us today to find out more about how you can save energy in Sacramento, CA. We offer thorough home energy audits for residents in Sacramento.