Where we live, the intense heat and humidity of summer are never too far from our minds.
I know that it’s Christmas and the heat pump is silent right now.
But I’m still thinking of ways to mitigate the high cost of air conditioning a home all summer. There isn’t a great deal of demand when it comes to heating in this region. There are normally a few periods of less than a week that the heat pump might kick on with some heating. But again, that’s just about all the heating demand that we need. So the heat pump is resting up for the coming air conditioning workload. For a lot of people in this region, the cooling demand can start as early as mid March. Our spring comes early and the temperatures get to the eighties pretty quick. And that’t when most people reach for the thermostat and some air conditioning. We don’t as this is one of the main principles in our air conditioning cost saving strategy. Along with an air conditioning tune up in the spring and thermostat discipline all summer, we try to acclimate to the heat. That means we wait until the temperatures are consistently in the nineties before we kick on the air conditioning. This allows our bodies to become accustomed to the heat which reduces the demand for so much cooling. I also make sure to stop any and all direct sunlight heating as well as keeping the house sealed up tight. The sun can really do a number on the weather stripping down here so I make sure I replace weather stripping as needed. It’s still winter but I’m already adding to my list when it comes to air conditioning cost saving strategies.