An air conditioner is an essential part of the home. It’s responsible for your comfortable stay. When the weather is unbearable both indoors and outdoors, the system will offer comfort during the day and night. Nowadays, most home heating and air conditioning systems are energy-efficient. Thus, you don’t have to worry about the energy bills.
Most homes have an air conditioning system. However, it all starts with understanding the basics. If you’re thinking of getting a new system, the guide below will help you choose your family.
How the AC System Works
The heating and cooling system has three components: a cooling or warming channel, the air passage channel, and a control that helps regulate the thermostat. The cold and warm air systems use the same control and distribution channels. Meaning, cold and warm air passes through the same ducts and is controlled by the same thermostat. It occurs when the house has a central air conditioning system.
A functional system draws warm air from the furnace or the air handler to the duct. The heat comes out of the furnace as the air blows across the evaporator coil, which cools down the air. The refrigerant absorbs the removed heat and pumps the heat to the condenser located outdoors.
The condenser then cools the refrigerant by expelling heat into the outside air, sending it back indoors, and returning to the starting point. If you experience a malfunction in the cooling and heating systems, there may be a technical problem.
Types of Air Conditioners
The two types of heating and cooling systems are packaged and split units. The split system is commonly used in most homes. It works by distributing air through the duct. The refrigerant circulates in the inside and outside units by absorbing and expelling air, respectively. The cooling refrigerant then makes the air cool, and the furnace blower circulates the cold air throughout the home.
According to HVAC experts, You can change the settings and maintain your desired temperatures. You’ll find the AC evaporator coils close to the air handler or furnace. There needs to be an integration of the split system and a furnace to get a cost-efficient system.
The second type is the packed central AC. This type has its condenser located outdoors while its evaporator is located indoors. It has both components in one unit, and you’ll find it installed beside the home and on the ground. It works by pumping warm air from home and passing it to the outdoor packed air conditioner. The air gets cooled and flows back to the house.
The Air Conditioning Heating and Cooling Systems
After heating and cooling the air at the heat and cold sources, it gets distributed to the indoor, and it’s accomplished through three systems. The systems are forced air, gravity, and radiant.
Forced-Air Systems
When the furnace produces heat, the forced-air system circulates the heat. The system also distributes the cold air provided by the central AC through a blower. The blower is electrically powered and forces air through the ducts into the rooms.
You can control the amount of air coming to the home by either adjusting it higher or lower. The central AC and the blower use the same forced-air system to dispense cold air into the home and also takes back warm air to get cooled.
The major challenge faced by the forced air system occurs in the blower. It might turn out noisy, which increases energy consumption. However, it’s an effective system since it uses the blower to distribute heat or cold air.
Gravity Systems
It connotes the rising of hot air and sinking of the cold air. The gravity system can’t draw out cold air from the AC. The blower is located either below or near the floor. In the gravity system, the warm air rises and flows in the home through the ducts and the registers.
The heat registers need to be at a higher level and are usually located on the walls if the furnace is on the floor. Warm air flows toward the rooftop, and the cold air sinks and flows into the ducts. It then gets back to the furnace for heating.
Radiant Systems
The radiant system is a heat distribution channel. Its source of heat is hot water. The hot water flows through the pipes, usually on the floor, wall, or ceiling after getting heated by the furnace. Then the air in the room gets warm.
Some radiant systems generate heat with electric heating panels, and the heat is circulated into the rooms. The panels are suitable in places where electricity is less costly, mostly in warm climatic conditions. This type of system cannot discharge cold air from the air conditioning system. Radiant systems need gravity to circulate hot water from the boiler into the radiator. Most of these types are constructed on a concrete slab.
Air Conditioning Filters
Air filters are an essential element of the heating and cooling system. It plays a significant role in keeping dust and dirt off the system. It filters the contaminants and prevents the household from experiencing irritants that might cause discomfort and health challenges. The air filter also cleans the air and makes it fresh. You need to replace and maintain the filters regularly to keep the system functional.
Benefits of an Air Conditioning System
- The heating and cooling system reduces the possibility of asthma attacks. It also decreases exposure to allergens and dust mites. You can avoid such occurrences by changing the air filters often.
- It keeps the home secure because the doors and windows remain closed. There is no exposure to outside elements that can be a hazard to the family
- The air conditioner offers a fresh and comfortable environment that keeps you and your family refreshed all day. You can comfortably carry out your daily exercise and house chores without worrying about the heat.
- The AC is cost-effective, and you don’t incur many energy bills.
How to Reduce Your Home Cooling Costs in the Hottest Months
Just because it’s sweltering outside, it does not mean you can’t take a few steps to cool down without taxing your AC system. Try these things.
1 – Sit By the Window
The window is one of the main ways to let cool air into your home. Plan to do this, especially on the ground floor, on the side facing away from the sun. So, be sure to sit by the window as often as possible during the summer months!
A window seat is a good way to add value to your home on its own, seeing as you can build a little breakfast nook there, which always works great on the market. But alongside this, why not think about installing a new bay window in your kitchen or living room as well? You can lean on the bigger window sill, and when you open up the window in summer, you’ll have somewhere comfy to lean as you use your laptop, phone, or read a good book.
2 – Use Ice Cubes and Cold Water
It’s something office workers have been using for decades, so why not put it to good use within your own home? Because if you don’t have an air conditioner, but you’ve had a desk fan since you first moved in, all you need is a bowl of ice cubes and cold water. Place it in front of your fan and let the air blow towards the bowl, creating a cold mist in the air and allowing it to settle onto your skin where you need it most.
Sure, you might have to change the water quite often, and you’ll have to add more and more ice cubes as time goes on, but it’s definitely a viable and cheaper way to ensure you’ve got cool air headed your way when you most need it!
3 – Add Shade to the Outside of Your House
Is the sun bearing down on your house all day long? Then, make sure you create some shade around the outside of your house. One of the best ways to do this is by planting some trees in your front or back garden. You will create a barrier against the sun. And this allows the trees themselves to soak up all the sunny goodness.
But if you can’t do this, you could always add a porch top to your windows, even on the upper floors. This practice ensures there’s some shade right outside your window. That means any air that comes in from there will be much cooler, even if there’s little to no breeze outside.
4 – Avoid wasting your AC
Air conditioning can be a god’s send in the warmer summertime months, helping to keep you cool and comfortable even on the hottest days.
But if your A/C is broken for whatever reason, it can put your system into overdrive. Disrepair makes it work harder – costing you more money. You need to find out where your AC is failing to make sure you don’t run up some expensive bills.
If you find that your AC isn’t working as it should be, bring in some air conditioning specialists to help you get it fixed. You’ll be glad you did it when your home is kept cool, and you get to keep your expenses down!
5 – Turn your home into a smart home
Turning your home into a smart home can be an excellent way to save some money. Smart devices help you control your lighting, heating, and many other electrical devices around your home. It sounds a bit gimmicky, but it could actually make a big difference to your bills. Especially see if you can set routines and put devices on programs based on peak and off-peak usage or even free nights and weekends.
Check out some of the best smart home systems to help you see what’s out there and give your home a modern tech update.
6 – Spend more time outdoors
If you want to keep your costs down indoors this summer, why not spend more time outdoors? Using your backyard or outdoor space to relax and unwind can be a great way to spend your time, and will drag you away from the TV too! It’s nice to chill with friends and family, enjoying a barbeque or drinks, and can help you make the most of the summer weather.
7 – Make an effort to go green to offset higher cooling costs
One way to keep your energy costs low in the summer, and for good, is to make your home greener. There are all kinds of ways to make your home green, including the following ideas:
- Installing solar panels
- Keeping your thermostat low
- Conserving how much water you use.
Small changes soon add up, helping you reduce your energy costs while helping the environment too.
8 – Make good use of fans
Fans will help to cool down the air if there isn’t much of a breeze coming in from the outdoors. You can improve the effectiveness of fans by using multiple fans. Also, make sure that there are no obstructions in the way. There are various arguments as to where the best place is to position fans.
As long as you’re not putting a fan directly facing a wall, it’s unlikely to make too much of a difference. Placing a bowl of ice in front of a fan can be a great trick for making the air coming out of your fan cooler.
9 – Change your bedding
It could be worth changing your bedding for something cooler. You don’t want to be using a duvet on a summer night. However, for those that still like the comfort of a blanket, there are cooler slimline duvets. Bamboo sheets meanwhile are the best option for keeping you cool at night.
Not only are they more breathable than regular cotton sheets, but they’ll soak up any sweat without leaving you with wet sheets. You can even consider investing in a chillow to rest your head on – these pillows stay cool throughout the night so you don’t have to turn them over to find the cold side.
10 – Use your oven less often
Here’s a common-sense tip that some people forget.
Ovens radiate a lot of heat which could make your home even hotter indoors. So on hot days, try to cook exclusively using the microwave or the barbecue. Modern ovens are a lot less likely to expend heat as wasted energy – if you’re willing to make the investment, upgrading your old oven for a new one could help to keep your home cooler in the summer when you cook while also saving you money on your energy bill.
The Bottom Line: Understand Your Home Heating and Air Conditioning System to Get the Best Benefits
The home heating and air conditioning system requires close care by ensuring that you keep it well maintained and carry out the necessary repairs before further damages. When choosing the right AC for your home, you’ll need to consider the available space and heating and cooling needs.
She has a B.S.Ed. in Secondary Education/English and a Spanish Minor. In addition, she holds a Certificates in Natural Health and Herbology from accredited programs. She pursued these natural wellness certifications due to her love for herb gardening.
Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."
Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.
Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and two rescue pets a sweet toy fox terrier and a cat who showed up one day and moved into the house. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.
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