Extreme heat: 5 things you can do to get more out of your air conditioner

When the sun beats down like it is in the Miami Valley this week, it can put a lot of stress on our air conditioning units.

Bill Wireman, Logan Services Field Service Manager, told News Center 7 five ways you can lighten the load on your AC in 90-degree plus temperatures.

One, consider turning the temp on your thermostat up a few degrees.

“Just so it doesn’t run quite as long or quite as hard to try to maintain that low-temperature setting,” Wireman said.

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Two, Wireman says to keep no more than a 20-degree difference between the outside temperature and inside your home.

Otherwise, he says your system may run all day trying to keep up and you’ll add to your electricity bill.

“That’s a reasonable expectation that if it’s 90 degrees outside, you can hopefully maintain 70 degrees inside,” Wireman said.

Three, Wireman says to clean your outdoor coil once a month with your garden hose.

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“What we recommend is like a shower setting,” Wireman said. “Do not use a high-pressure setting or else you could damage the fins and then that’s a big repair.”

Four, check and replace your air filter when it gets dirty.

“If you get a plugged filter, it’s definitely going to affect the performance of your system,” he said. “It sounds funny on a hot day, but it may freeze up the indoor coil and then you have no cooling.”

Lastly, Wireman says to be sure to keep up with regular maintenance of your HVAC system — getting your heating and cooling systems each checked once a year to stay ahead of any potential problems.

“Maintenance is one of the biggest things we recommend. We come out, check your system out, make sure all the components are within factory specifications, and if it’s not maintained or if you haven’t checked your filters recently, it will affect the performance and you may not be able to maintain that temperature you want your house,” Wireman said. “[Maintenance] doesn’t mean you won’t have a breakdown, but it lessens the chances you’ll have a breakdown.”

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