Many people are good about leaving the air conditioner at 78 degrees F. Some even take it upon themselves to set the temperature even higher when there is no one at home. If you make this a practice in your house, make sure that no one drops the temperature below 78 in order to cool the house down faster. The air conditioner cools at the same rate no matter the setting. Adjusting the temperature to 70 degrees will not help your house get to 78 degrees any faster than if it were left at 78. paul mansfield photography/Moment Open/Getty Images Natural light can help reduce your lighting costs, however when no one is in a room it is best to keep the curtains closed during the day. This is especially true for houses with windows on the eastern and western sides. Keeping the sun's direct rays from entering the house helps reduce the amount of effort your air conditioner puts forth to keep the house cool. To maximize this, open the drapes. blinds, or curtains in the evening to allow heat to escape through the windows of your house.

In some climates, you can turn the air conditioner off at night and just let ceiling or floor fans provide cool air for your comfort. The energy used by a fan is far less than that of the air conditioner.

If you live in a warmer climate, fans can still provide a comfortable breeze. Using the fans at night may allow you to set the air conditioner above 78 degrees saving a great deal of energy. Fans can also help move cool air around the house to ease the work load of the air conditioner. Use an exhaust fan when cooking to help expel hot air from the house. If you don't have an exhaust fan, cool the room by setting up a floor fan in the kitchen while cooking. The fan not only cools the air, but can also help move it out of the kitchen. Marius Hepp / EyeEm/Getty Images The ideal location for a central air conditioning unit is on the north side of a house. While this may not be practical in every case, the general idea of keeping the unit out of the sun can be achieved in other ways.

Landscaping does more than make your yard look nice. By planting shrubs or trees around your air conditioning unit, you can help it cool your home more efficiently. The shade from this landscaping can also be used to keep the sun's direct rays off your home! Blend Images - Inti St Clair/Getty Imageshow to make an ac generator model While cooking can heat up the kitchen, so can using the dishwasher to dry the dishes. york ac unit fan not workingClothes dryers located in the house can have the same effect. ac power supply test equipmentThese tasks are better left for the evening time or, better yet, when no one is home.

Taking on labor intensive tasks can also make you feel uncomfortable during the hottest times of the day.

If possible, do them in the evening or the early morning when the heat isn't so bad.The COOLAdvantage Program provides rebates for energy efficient central air conditioners or heat pumps as well as "best practices" on proper sizing and installation that affect operating efficiency.You can now Apply Online! Note: The SEP funding is currently available for oil, propane and municipal electric customers who wish to participate in the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR, WARMAdvantage and COOLAdvantage Programs.The installation and maintenance of HVAC systems in commercial buildings has traditionally been implemented with a focus on building code compliance, statutory requirements for health & safety and providing comfortable conditions for building occupants and visitors. Oftentimes, due to timing pressures and cost constraints, inferior equipment and maintenance agreements are put into place, with little consideration given to the long-term effects on efficiencies, property value and the fluctuating environmental effects on comfort level.

When energy efficiency gains are neglected and life cycle costs are not taken into consideration, consequences of higher energy and maintenance spend are not addressed. In addition to substandard equipment and maintenance agreements, fewer than half of companies perform preventive or predictive maintenance on their building HVAC systems. What property owners and facility managers need to consider, is that studies have shown that good maintenance can cut HVAC energy costs while also extending equipment life, improving occupant comfort, and increasing uptime. Effective maintenance can reduce HVAC energy costs by 5 to 40 percent depending on the system or equipment involved. Proper maintenance is just one important factor for commercial HVAC systems – here are 6 other best practices you need to know: The control system on your HVAC system has a specific purpose and can be as simple as an electronic programmable thermostat or as complex as a robust automation system. Regardless of your system’s level of sophistication, the controls should be used to best optimize the overall HVAC system.

Additionally, your controls offer the best opportunity to eliminate energy waste and avoid comfort issues. Working with an efficiency expert can help you substantially decrease energy costs over the lifespan of your equipment. Simultaneous heating and cooling can increase operational costs. When the central system delivers cooler air than required, the zone reheat coils must temper the air before it is delivered to the space. At this point the heating and cooling system may be working against each other. This creates additional wear on equipment. Chillers and boilers may run when none are needed, or a larger chiller or boiler may be sequenced on when a smaller one could have met the load. Electric reheat coils are turned on when they could have been left off. Variable-flow chilled-water and hot-water systems operate at higher flow rates than necessary. Equipment capacity is reduced because the heating and cooling systems are working against each other. This can lead to under-heated or under-cooled areas, discomfort for visitors, and maintenance costs that are sure to be affected.

Most conventional building HVAC systems are designed to operate fans and pumps at a constant speed. Building needs, however, are anything but constant. In a conventional system, some form of mechanical throttling can be used to reduce water or air flow in the system. While mechanical throttling can provide a good level of control, it is not very efficient. A variable frequency drive (VDF) offers an effective and efficient alternative. Facility managers and maintenance professionals understand that one of the most successful energy management tools applied to building HVAC systems is the VDF. VFDs are installed on fan and pump motors in a range of variable load applications. When in place, typical energy savings vary from 35 to 50 percent over conventional constant speed applications, resulting in a return on investment in approximately six months to two years. When building systems are properly controlled during unoccupied times, significant cost reductions in commercial buildings can be achieved.

Night, weekend and off-hour setback and scheduling is easy to implement, and simple to track and administer. The goal is to shut off systems whenever possible or whenever they are not needed, and refrain from starting up the system for minimal or occasional use. Many times, night-time operations can be the most costly, if roughly only a small percentage of staff are working and all heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment is running. A few basic tactics to remember include -Turn things off when not in use -Change room set points when spaces are unoccupied -Close outdoor air dampers when the building is unoccupied -Disable chillers and cooling equipment during unoccupied hours if possible A closer look at a building’s past energy performance and energy-use pattern, and comparing it to typical similar buildings energy use can further identify problem areas. The energy-use index (EUI) is the amount of energy used by a building per square foot of building floor area.

By normalizing energy use to floor area, buildings can be benchmarked and compared for relative energy performance. An EUI can be based on whole-building energy use or on specific end uses such as lighting or heating. A whole-building EUI is a good measure of overall energy-savings potential. While your HVAC contractor or facilities manager is likely your best resource, other tools are available to help with calculating EUI. A few other operation and maintenance tips to consider as best practices for your property(s) include: – Tighten belts or switch to notched belts – Regularly test refrigerant charge to ensure optimum conditions – Clean outdoor coils (condenser) by using a pressure sprayer. Be careful not to damage/bend aluminum fins – Keep filters clean for sufficient air flow and heat transfer. Clean filters require less fan energy to deliver air Establishing best practices and implementing regularly scheduled maintenance of HVAC systems can increase energy efficiency and longevity of equipment.