Consider solar screens for your east and west facing windows or at least close your drapes on bright sunny days.

At Earl’s, we are proud to offer Trane air conditioning units, which we know can always go the distance efficiently. However, we know that running that unit costs you money and the hotter it gets around here, the higher your energy bills climb. Below are five tips from Earl’s for keeping the heat out and your cooling bills down this summer:

1. KEEP THE SUN OUT. Consider solar screens for your east and west facing windows or at least close your drapes on bright sunny days. Even better, if you are purchasing new windows, be sure to look at upgrading to windows with low solar heat gain coefficients to keep the sun out.
2. CHANGE YOUR FILTER. Most people let their filters get too dirty and this is one of the most common reasons for poor performance on the part of your air conditioner. A dirty filter simply makes your unit work too hard to pull cool air through it.
3. IMPROVE AIR FLOW. In addition to the air filter, your AC may have other types of air flow problems. If the evaporator coil is dirty, not enough air moves across it and your home doesn’t cool off as well as it should. If the condenser coil is dirty, it won’t dump enough heat to the outside. If your condenser coil is crowded with vegetation or other obstacles, clear it out. You can trim the bushes yourself, but you should probably call a pro to clean the coils.
4. LOOK FOR DISCONNECTED DUCTS. If your ducts are outside of the conditioned space in your home, check to see if anything has come loose. Fixing a supply duct that’s sending all its cool air to the attic or crawl space can have an immediate impact on your comfort. This problem is more common than you may think.
5. USE FANS. On those really hot days, using a fan to move the air over your skin may be the only change you need to stay cool. Remember, for every degree that you turn down your unit, you could be adding 5% to your energy bill. Try the fans first but turn off those in empty rooms. Remember fans don’t cool rooms, they cool YOU!

Let Earl’s Trained Technicians perform an energy assessment on your home and recommend efficient cooling solutions!

If none of these tips seem to help, or if you believe there is more to the problem, CALL EARL’S FOR A HOME ENERGY ASSESSMENT.  Our Trained Technicians can identify problem areas and recommend solutions to cool your home in an efficient way. They also have equipment to measure how leaky your ducts are, for example, as well as the surface temperatures of your floors, walls, and ceilings. Call us at (219) 942-9023 to set up an appointment today!