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During the heat of an Australian summer, a home air conditioning unit is essential to keep you and your family cool and comfortable. Air conditioning can even help to guard against threats to your health such as heatstroke and pollen allergies. Unfortunately, if you do not configure and use your air conditioning unit correctly, the cost of running it may be much higher than it needs to be. Below are a couple of ways in which you can improve the energy efficiency of your HVAC unit.

Use Your Thermostat Correctly

The thermostat is the input which controls the temperature level the air conditioning unit will attempt to achieve. By using your thermostat properly, you can dramatically reduce your energy bills. You should avoid setting your thermostat too low during the warm summer months. Although it can be nice to have a chilly indoor environment, it will massively increase the amount of energy the air conditioning unit needs to use to chill a room by several degrees. Furthermore, moving from a warm environment to a really cool interior can be uncomfortable. You should aim to keep your thermostat only a few degrees below the outside temperature. Doing so will allow you to cool off while also saving you money on your energy bill.

You should also consider installing a programmable thermostat, which will allow you to set up the unit so it responds to the different temperatures throughout the day. For example, you could program the thermostat so that your air con works hardest during the warmest hours in the afternoon but then shuts off as the sun gets lower in the sky. You will also be able to turn your air con off when you are not home and program it to switch on half an hour before you get back.

Add Ventilation Fans

By adding ventilation fans to the walls or ceilings of your home, you can help to reduce your reliance on your air conditioning unit. Ventilation fans will help to create a breeze which will naturally cool the interior of your home as it blows through. Ventilation fans can also make your air conditioning unit more efficient. You may notice that when your air con unit is in operation that there are warm and cool patches around your home. This is because of a restricted air flow which is preventing the proper circulation of air around your home. Vent fans can help to boost the movement of air, which means your air con unit won't have to work so hard.

If you would like further advice about air conditioning systems, you should contact residential air conditioning services today.