Most resort to air conditioning to create a pleasant ambiance. This is especially true when the temperature gets so hot your body will start sweating in an attempt to cool off your body.
The heat and humidity of summer can easily be circumvented with air conditioning. However, it is crucial to maximize the efficiency of your air conditioner and more importantly, the locations where the air needs cooling.
In the first place, you need to make sure your air conditioner is powerful enough to cool the specific room. This can be measured by checking the BTU of the air conditioner against the surface area of the room. A simple guide shows that 9000 BTU is good for an area up to 30sqm, 12000 BTU for up to 50sqm, 18000 BTU for up to 100sqm, etc.
Do not waste precious resources by cooling rooms that do not need cooling. Instead, use these simple tips to limit and maximize air conditioning to a specific room.
Make Smart Use of Window Coverings: Blinds and curtains, for all the fanfare they receive as aesthetic material upgrades, are tremendously valuable when it comes to cooling down space.
In addition to the visual enhancements they provide, blinds and curtains can veil your living quarters from the sun’s rays.
Despite having your air conditioning at maximum power and efficiency, failing to close the curtains can result in unwanted heat coming from the sun’s penetration into your home.
Use Lights and Appliances Wisely: Another source of unwanted heat can be generated by the use of light fixtures and appliances. In order to have better results in keeping particular rooms cool during the warmest parts of the day, plan in advance how you use lights and appliances.
Try to refrain from using heat-based appliances like stoves, ovens, and laundry machines during the hottest part of the day. By using major heat-generating appliances outside of peak daytime hours, you can prevent your air conditioner from having to work overtime in maintaining a cool temperature.
If you can keep the use of appliances and lights to a minimum in the rooms you wish to keep coolest, you will have a better control of the temperature in those particular spaces.
Don’t Cool Unused Spaces: Needless to say, air conditioning running to cool an empty room is simply wasteful. Instead of wasting energy, resources, and money towards utility bills, it is of paramount importance to ensure that you are not cooling empty space.
When using centralized air conditioning system, closing the vents in empty rooms will push the bulk of the cool air towards the open vents in rooms where it is mostly needed. Additionally, close any other doors like closets or cabinets to prevent those spaces from needless consumption of cool air.
Fans and Ventilation: Often overlooked as an effective way to cool specific areas are fans and ventilation tactics.
The mere presence of a ceiling fan can keep air flowing liberally in a particular room thus maximizing the efficiency of your air conditioner.
Compared to traditional air conditioners, a fan (ceiling fan or floor oscillating fan) operates at a fraction of the cost of running an air conditioner. Combining these methods is perhaps the best way to go.
Strategic closure of air conditioning vents in centralized air conditioning, and the addition of a fan or two, you will gain the advantage of quick cooling and trapping of cool air in the room that mostly needs it.
Keep the Hot Air Out: In your quest to keep the cool air in, you also need to put some effort in keeping the hot air out.
Cracks in the seals, damages on weatherstripping, walls, or poor caulking of a room enable the entry of unwanted heat. By diligently checking the integrity of your window seals, walls, corners, and weatherstripping, you can prevent hot outdoor air from creeping in.
Maintaining the small structural components of doors and windows, you are at a better situation in preparing the room for efficient cooling that can stay that way without much of the wasted energy.
With just a few simple modifications in the ways you use and control air conditioning, you will feel hugely rewarded in your endeavor of keeping certain rooms cooler.
While most of these tactics take mere minutes to execute, the overall impact to the room temperature will be immediately noticeable.
Implementing these strategies does not only allow you to reach your goal of keeping the particular room comfortably cool but also saves you time, energy, and money in the long run.
Penelope Smith
June 25, 2019 at 4:34 am
This is some really good information on the limits of air conditioning. It is good to know how important to regularly check your system. That does seem like a good thing but I would sure need a professional.
Johnny McCarron
July 20, 2019 at 4:00 pm
Thanks for the idea to not cool unused spaces. We were thinking about installing air conditioning in some more rooms. We’ll want to make sure we keep track of our energy usage, though.
Zoe Camposz
June 29, 2020 at 10:07 am
Thank you for reminding us that we have to cover cracks in the walls and damages caused by the weather in order to effectively cool the rooms that we wanted to be well-ventilated by our air conditioning system. We’ve lived in this house for over a decade already, so poor maintenance might be the reason why we’re experiencing irregular temperatures in different areas of the house. It might be better if we can hire experts in air conditioning services to see what should be done about it.