Be Cool: A Guide to Energy-Efficient Air Conditioning
The dos and don'ts of air conditioning.
May/June 2001
By Natural Home Staff
In the average home, air conditioning consumes more than 2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually, costing the average homeowner $1,350. Air conditioners use about 5 percent of all the electricity produced in the United States, cost homeowners more than $11 billion, and release roughly 100 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year. This summer, save precious energy by adhering to these simple dos and don’ts.
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DO...
• Install window fans or a whole-house fan, which pulls cool air through the house and exhausts warm air through the attic.
• Plant leafy trees or shrubs to shade air-conditioning units; shade can mean a 10 percent reduction in the amount of electricity an AC unit uses.
• Clean or replace air conditioner filters once a month and keep both the indoor and outdoor coils clean.
• Keep the house tightly closed during the day and ventilate at night.
• Delay heat-generating activities such as dishwashing until the evening on hot days.
DON’T...
• Place lamps or TVs near your air-conditioning thermostat, because it will sense the appliances’ heat and run longer than necessary.
• Leave computers, TVs, and VCRs turned on during long periods of non-use.
• Set your thermostat lower than seventy-eight degrees Fahrenheit.
• Use bath and kitchen fans when the air conditioner is operating.
• Use a dehumidifier while the air conditioning is running; it increases the cooling load and forces the air conditioner to work harder.