Keeping your home cool

Usery said if your home’s air conditioning unit feels like it’s not working like it used to, it may be because it’s having to work overtime.

It is no secret that the nation has been experiencing record high temperatures this summer.

Joey Usery, owner of Superior Heating and Cooling said his company receives a large influx of calls during the months of July and August when the daily high temperatures top 90 degrees and the nighttime lows hover around the mid-70s.

Usery said if your home’s air conditioning unit feels like it’s not working like it used to, it may be because it’s having to work overtime.

It’s not the hundred-degree temperatures that make the difference, Usery said. “People don’t understand it’s not that 100-degree day, it’s the 75-degree low.”

Usery said air conditioner units work during the day and never get a chance to rest at night because temperatures remain high.

“They just don’t have relief from the heat. Unless we get a late afternoon rain shower to release some heat from the attic space.” he said.

Another mistake Usery said he sees is people setting the thermostat to a high degree when they leave for the day to conserve energy. This, he said, is an example of what should not happen.

Not only has the temperature risen in the home, the humidity has also crept up and the first thing a air conditioner has to do before it can reach the sensible (72 degree reading) is remove the excess humidity,” he said, thus, the system has to work twice has hard to get back to a cooler temperature.”

He said if you set the thermostat to 78 when you leave and it’s 90 degrees or above outside, it’s going to take until the sun goes down for it to get back down to 72 degrees.

He advises to set the thermostat from 72 to 75 degrees and leave it there through the day and night.

“Houses are sized in North Alabama to maintain a temperature 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature on a 93-degree day,” Usery said. “This means that if it’s 93 degrees outside, the system is designed to maintain 73 degrees. Air conditioners are designed to maintain temperatures, not drastically reduce temperatures.”

Tips to keeping the home cool:

-Make sure your home is well insulated.

– Do laundry after the sun goes down.

-Keep blinds, window covering closed during the hottest parts of the day.

-If a home is 10 years or older, have insulation in your attic checked.

-Check your filter every month when you pay your light bill.

-When you’re outside mowing grass, blow the grass away from air condition.

-If you’re washing your car, spray off the outdoor coils of your heating and air system. Don’t damage the fins, (do not use pressure washer).

-Check insulation in attack and  make sure you have 14 in. of blown insulation or an R38 equivalent.