Fixes for Your Heat and Cooling Problems
In the winter, you don’t just want to stay warm. You want to stay cool, too. Even with air conditioning running in offices and houses, the outside temperature can occasionally drop below freezing. This can cause your air conditioner to overheat and get stuck running nonstop for hours on end. If this happens, there’s not much you can do except wait it out or call a service tech to come out and fix the problem. The other option is to find a way to make the best of the situation and deal with the issue as it arises. But what if you have air conditioning problems that don’t arise during the summer months? What if these problems occur year-round? Without any effective ways of dealing with them, your home will start to feel cold at night and could develop mold problems during colder months. Follow these simple fixes for your heat and cooling problems so that you can go back to enjoying those nice fall days at home. Read more about Appliance repair here.
Check Your Air Conditioning Filter
The first and most important step to keeping your home comfortable is to ensure that the air filter is clean. When the air conditioner is operating, a fine dusting of dust is allowed to get into the room where the air conditioning is located. This is harmful to your health because it can cause an embarrassing range of problems – such as increased asthma attacks. And because dirt and dust are also attracted to your skin, they can end up inside your lungs where they do more damage. While cleaning the air filter is easy – most air conditioners come with a special dusting brush – doing so every month or so will do the trick and keep your system running smoothly.
Change Your Thermostat
The thermostat is one of the most important mechanical devices in your house. It’s what regulates the temperature inside your house and improves the quality of your air. It’s also what’s causing your air conditioner to run. But what if you change the setting too quickly? What if you let the air conditioner run for too long a period of time before opening the windows or doors to let some fresh air in? The stale air in an air conditioning system can cause a number of problems, including reduced effectiveness and shortened life. Make sure the thermostat is set exactly as it should be – this is the most important step in allocating cooling and heating resources. If you’re not sure how to set up your air conditioner, hire a contractor to do so for you.
Check Your Airducts
Your airducts are the pathways that cold air is forced into in your house. When the temperature drops, these airducts narrow, restricting the amount of air that can flow through the system. This can cause your air conditioner to overheat, potentially damaging it. If this happens, call a service technician to come out and fix the problem.
Install a Humidifier
Humidifiers are small appliances that are placed in strategic locations such as the attic, crawlspace, and small rooms where the air is drier. The goal is to keep the air in your home moist so that the inside of your home is cooler than the outside. Unfortunately, moist air cannot hold as much heat as dry air so your air conditioner has to work harder to keep the same temperature inside your home. Plus, humidifiers attract dust and other particulates. This means that when your air conditioner crawls into this location, it’s drawing in more air pollutants than it would otherwise. To avoid drawing in more air pollutants and causing your air conditioner to work harder, install a humidifier in another location in your house.
Open The Damp-Proof Zones
Damp-proofing your home is a process of sealing off areas that are too damp and trap air that’s too dry. In your house, this is usually the bathrooms and kitchen. If you can keep these areas dry, your home will be less prone to mould growth and will cool more efficiently. However, if not, you can periodically open the doors and windows to let some fresh air in. If the air inside your home gets too damp for too long, simply open the doors and windows a crack to let some fresh air in. This will help to dry the air out and stop your air conditioner from working so hard.
Don’t Use Canned Heat
Canned heat is great in winter when you don’t have the ability to open the windows and doors to let in some fresh air. However, it’s not great for summer when you want to be able to leave the house without flipping the air conditioner on full blast. In summer, using canned heat is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. While it might damage your air conditioner, it’s not going to do much to help you stay warm. Canned heat also uses a lot of energy so it’s not really a good option for saving money on energy bills.
Don’t Keep Home Too Hot Or Cold
Keep your home at the correct temperature for the season. This means you don’t keep it too hot or cold. A warm or cold home makes for a less efficient air conditioner. And, as we already talked about, an air conditioner that works harder will generate more heat and pollution.
Conclusion
Winter can be pretty lonely. The cold weather and lack of company can make you want to retreat into your own space, which is where a cozy indoor chair and a blanket come into play. But, when it comes to keeping your home warm, you don’t want to sacrifice function. You want to keep your air conditioner running, but you don’t want it running too hard. And that’s where these common household repairs come in. By following these steps, you can make your air conditioner run more efficiently and keep your home from getting too cold or hot.
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