How to Improve Air Conditioner Performance
Before looking at the air conditioner itself consider first how you can use your home to help reduce the heat load.
Homes that are "leaky" make the air conditioner work harder to keep it cool. In Australia it's said we live in glorified tents due to the amount of air leakage of our homes.
Gaps around windows and doors allow heat from outside to come inside which the air conditioning has to fight against and can greatly affect the performance of a system. So take steps to ensure all external doors and windows are properly sealed.
For more information about sealing your home check out Your Home | Passive Design | Sealing Your Home
Direct sunlight through glass can have a big impact on your air conditioning system. You know what it's like to get in a car after it has been in the sun in 40 degrees all day. So shade your windows using curtains and blinds and use exterior shutters if you have them.
Have a look at Your Home | Passive Design | Passive Design Shading for more information.
This is one of the first things that we check and the cause of 90% of under-performing air conditioning systems. Filters that are blocked with dust restrict air flow, reducing the amount of cooling. Sometimes they can reduce airflow enough to freeze your air conditioning coil. So check your filter regularly and change or clean when it's dirty.
If you would like us to come check and clean your filters. Please contact us.
Operate system in relation to weather. Setting the temperature to 21°C while its 40°C outside is inefficient and will cost you money in high energy bill costs and put strain on the system. Likewise in winter set temperature low rather than 25°C+. Ideal temperature settings are 22-24°C in summer and 19-21°C in winter, but this is just a guide and everyone's comfort levels are different. Also operate system before extreme temperatures. If the forecast is 40°C+ start the unit earlier or setup an automatic schedule.
If after taking all these steps the system still doesn't perform as you expect, it may be time to consider a service or upgrading to a newer more energy efficient unit.
An air conditioning system like any mechanical product, for example your car, requires ongoing maintenance to keep them performing. A preventitive maintenance schedule, a check-up of your system, is a sound investment that can keep your system healthy. We provide maintenance servicing for all of our previous customers.
Please get in touch with us if you would like to know more.
Are you one of our previous customers? We would love to hear your feedback on your system that we installed for you!
