Which are the cool air conditioners to make a hot summer not just bearable but downright comfortable and which are not?
Keeping cool during hot weather is a favorite pastime of mine that I take pretty seriously. After all, why should anyone have to feel hot and sweaty and altogether uncomfortable when a perfectly workable solution already exists and is available in a store near you?
I say, don't sweat it, cool it!
On the contrary, keep as cool as you want to be. Just like that girl in the picture there, if you can imagine being that cool when the sun is beating down on the world outside, you're in a very good place indeed!
OK, maybe you don't really want to be so cold in your home that you're forced to wear a thick sweater and long johns cause you got too cold, but I'm sure you know what I mean.
While it might seem appealing at first glance, I can tell you straight you really don't want to set that thermostat so low it feels like Greenland in your living room. Aside from it being uncomfortably cold, it will cost you an absolute fortune to run the AC in such a crazy way!
The sensible person uses sensible tactics when employing the AC in their home. At least they do so if they want to enjoy all the benefits it can bring without it needing to cost so much in massively inflated electric utility bills.
Sensible thermostat operation is at the heart of a sensible air conditioning scenario. I say aim for comfort when setting that dial!
What is comfortable? Well, think about it like this: What is comfortable during winter?
If you said around 75°F then you'd be around about the right ballpark. So if that's a comfortable temperature during winter, why would it not be a comfortable temperature during summer also?
The quick answer is that it's comfortable all year round.
Sensible, right?
Not just sensible from a comfort perspective, but also very, very sensible from a household budget perspective when you need to keep costs as low as you can. That's one very solid way to do that.
While it might seem like everything is just dandy and nothing bad ever happens in fairytale land, we live, unfortunately, in the real world where things do go wrong. What's worse is the things you don't want to go wrong invariably do go wrong when you really don't want them to.
Like when the summer comes around along with high temperatures and as soon as you crank up the AC, it cranks down again with a groan, a splutter and a death rattle.
Man, you do NOT want that to happen just as things are getting hot and sweaty! So what can you do to keep that awful disaster from happening (at least to the best of your ability)?
Well, the simplest and often most common thing you can remedy is to make sure your vents and ducts are clear. Sometimes falling leaves and other debris get trapped in vents and sometimes it gets into ductwork. blocking the free flow of air that really helps an air conditioner work at its best efficiency level.
It's not a hard job but one that can get a little dirty, but it is certainly one that most people with a hint of practicality in their bones can perform. A simple hand brush can take care of clearing out leaves and dust bunnies from vents. A gloved hand can reach into ducts and grab anything that might be blocking the works near enough to the ends where you can reach them.
Sure, there may be times when you need some professional help to completely clear ducts from one end to the other. That's when having a maintenance contract with a local HVAC service company comes in very helpful indeed.
However, if you get the feeling your AC is not blowing as cold as it could, a simple bit of detective work around vents can often uncover easy-to-clear blockages that can restore the air flow and help your AC do its job more efficiently (and for that, read more cheaply as it will use less energy to do its job).
What's left to do now is to grab a cool drink, pull up a chair, relax and enjoy the coolness and comfort of your home the way it is meant to be enjoyed. Cheers!
Oh, one last thing. Take a look at this cool air conditioning video: