Top 10 Ways to Breeze Through Air Conditioning Season

1. Smooth out the ups and downs of seasonal energy bills by signing up for Tideland's levelized billing plan.
2. Please, please, please sign up for high energy use alerts. All it takes is one piece of duct work to fall down or a heat pump that is both heating and cooling at the same time to ruin even the best of summers. We can send alerts via text or email. Enroll via the Member Portal. AN IMPORTANT NOTE: Please enter a DAILY dollar or kWh goal, not a monthly amount. For example, if you want to make sure you never have an electric bill over $300 in a single month, enter a DAILY dollar amount of $10.00. You will only receive a notification on those days that you use more than $10 worth of electricity.
3. Change or wash your air conditioning filters monthly. Yes, like every 30 days! A good reminder is every time you get an electric bill, change the filter. And don't waste your money on those fancy pleated filters unless your HVAC system has been specially designed for high filtration brands. Using heavily pleated filters on a system with undersized return air registers will put strain on the HVAC unit and can create negative indoor air pressure...the latter of which means more air leaks that pull in dirty, hot, humid air from outdoors.
4. Close your fireplace damper. Honestly, you'd be shocked how many dampers our energy auditors find wide open in summertime.
5. Can we talk about fans? We love fans. But why the heck are all your ceiling fans turned on when you're not even in the room? Repeat after us: Fans cool people. They do not lower room temperature. So when you leave the room, switch fans off.
6. Never ever, to infinity and beyond ever, operate your HVAC system in the ON setting. It should be operated in the AUTO position. We have yet to find a single duct system in the crawlspace or attic that is 100% airtight. So when you run the HVAC fan all the time you are exacerbating the impacts of duct leakage. Continuous operation of the fan 24/7 is a costly waste of energy and increases indoor humidity. Don't believe us? Read this
7. Switch to LED lightbulbs. Did you know the filament temperature of a 100-watt incandescent bulb can reach 4,600°F and the surface of the bulb itself can reach 250°F? Yep, that's why Easy Bake used an incandescent bulb to make cakes for so many years. The more heat you create inside your home the more you have to pay to cool the place down.
8. It isn't the heat, it's the humidity. Ok, it is the heat a little but it's mostly the humidity that makes us so uncomfortable during summer. Get a humidity gauge for your house and make it your goal to stay right around 50%. Keep lids on pots when cooking. Always run your exhaust fan while showering and bathing. Minimize the number of houseplants you have indoors during summer (unless they are cactus).
9. Room darkening drapes and blinds are wonderful for blocking out solar heat gain. Plus they protect furniture and carpet from fading out due to the sun's harmful rays.
10. Don't shut off individual room registers or close interior doors in an attempt to save money. You'll just drive utility costs higher. Your central HVAC system relies on unfettered access to adequate return air. When you close interior doors and room registers it restricts air flow back to the return and your system has to work even harder. Worse yet, makeup air will be sucked in through exterior cracks and crevices around windows and doors and even chimneys. A better alternative is to leave interior doors and registers open and raise the thermostat. Then turn on a fan in the room you’re occupying to stay cool. Long term you may want to consider a zoned HVAC system or a mini-split add on.