Last blog post we celebrated Energy Awareness Month and continuing the trend, we’re going to talk about energy bills and how they relate to your home air conditioning. It’s no secret that air conditioners rely on a large amount of electricity coming from your home. So it’s important that we talk about how you feel in regards to your energy bill and some of the trends it might be presenting you with.
Are you seeing a decrease in your energy bill? Great! Then you’re doing something right and we congratulate you.
However, if you’re one of the many homeowners in our area that are dealing with spiking energy bills that are frustrating and sometimes even devastating, then we’re here to help. We want to talk about why a high energy bill might point to the need for air conditioning repair in Lake City, FL.
How Much Energy Does an Air Conditioner Use?
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average price that homeowners in our area were willing to pay in 2015 just on air conditioning alone was over $500. Since this is an average, it’s easy to assume that some homeowners in our area probably pay more than $500 or $600 a year in energy costs contributed to air conditioning alone. If you’re devoting this much of your yearly budget to AC costs, it’s important that you recognize this and plan ahead.
Thankfully, we don’t need to pay energy costs on a yearly basis. We get monthly energy bills, which means we can take a micro-level approach to the problem at hand when we suspect our AC system is running inefficiently.
One great thing you can start doing is either keeping all your energy bills from the past years together in a folder or cabinet, or even starting a spreadsheet to keep track of the numbers and do calculations for you. Then, when a surprisingly high energy bill comes your way, you can instantly compare it to other energy bills you’ve had in the past and see if there’s a big difference.
What Causes a High Energy Bill
So, let’s say you’ve just noticed that your energy bill for October was quite higher than last year or the previous years. What gives? Well, there could be a wide variety of things wrong with your AC that lead up to this. Here are just a few:
- Clogged air filter. Did you forget to change out your air filter this season? Don’t worry, once you change it things should go back to normal.
- Skipped maintenance. It’s estimated that your system can lose up to 5% of its efficiency per year of skipped maintenance, so make sure you schedule this on a routine basis.
- A budding repair need. Sometimes a higher energy bill can signify the need for AC repairs from a professional.
- An old system. If you’re noticing a general trend over the years of your AC system getting more and more expensive to run no matter what you do, then it could mean your AC is ready to retire.
How We Can Help
Our team can provide AC services like repairs, maintenance, and replacement when you need them. Just give us a call.
