Summer may be the season of longer days filled with fun outdoor activities, but it's also when your power bills can soar due to the heat and running an air conditioner. You might be spending money needlessly by wasting energy. One of the important steps for controlling summer energy costs is having your AC serviced and cleaned. Here's why that's important for energy savings and other things you can do to help your air conditioner work more efficiently.

Regular Service Calls Keep Your AC Energy Efficient

You should have your air conditioner cleaned and serviced annually to keep it operating in peak form. This includes cleaning dust and grime out of the unit. Dust seems like an innocent thing, but it causes havoc in an HVAC system. It coats coils and reduces their capacity to cool air. It gums up the blower fan and causes your air handler to overheat. A dusty furnace makes it harder for the temperature to reach the set point on the thermostat so your air conditioner runs longer and turns on and off more. This increases your energy costs, and it can be prevented and corrected by cleaning the AC.

Repairs also keep your AC working optimally. Lubricating moving parts and checking for electrical problems and leaks ensures your AC is operating as intended. One problem that has a big impact on your AC's ability to cool air is a pinhole leak in the refrigerant line. This allows the refrigerant level to drop slowly and this results in your air conditioner having to run longer to keep your home cool. Eventually, your AC could form ice and stop working completely.

By calling an HVAC technician to clean both the indoor and outdoor AC units, repair worn parts, and perform preventative maintenance, your air conditioner can operate optimally and use the amount of power it was designed to so you don't waste money on your power bills.

Reducing Solar Heat Helps Your Air Conditioner

The heat from the sun sinks through your roof and into your attic, so one way to keep your home cooler is to make sure your attic has the right amount of insulation to block solar heating of your living space below. You can also block solar heating by having window film applied or by keeping curtains drawn. If humidity is a problem in your house, you may want to have a dehumidifier installed so the air in your home is easier to cool. The AC pulls moisture out of the air to cool your house and if there is less moisture to start with, then your AC doesn't have to work as hard.

Even installing ceiling fans might help since these blow a breeze across your skin that has a cooling effect and you can keep your thermostat a bit higher. Also, consider a smart thermostat or a programmable model so you can let your AC rest some during the day when you're away and there's no need to keep your home as cool.

Reach out to a local company for more information about residential AC services.