Air conditioner or heat pump operating cost guide: this article explains how to calculate the actual cost of operating an air conditioning system in easy to understand language This article series answers most questions about air conditioning systems. We continue to add to and update this text as new details are provided. At SEER RATINGS & OTHER DEFINITIONS we explained SEER ratings that measure air conditioning system efficiency, and we explained how we can determine how much energy an air conditioner uses either by the hour of by the season of use. At the end of that section we knew how much energy our air conditioner used, either on an hourly basis or for use during the whole We were able to express the total air conditioning energy used in BTUs or in Kilowatts per hour or per season. the process of translating air conditioner use into actual dollar costs. In the United States for December 2007 the average retail price of electricity

paid by residential consumers ranged from about $0.063 per kWh (Idaho) to $0.287 per kWh (Hawaii). Your electrical bill will indicate the current charge per kilowatt hour kWh of electricity you use. How to use the air conditioning cost formula given just belowWhile I have the good fortune of living in Seattle, with a fairly even climate and temperature plus, even when you do need to use the heater in winter, electricity costs little... others are not as fortunate, living in places with bitterly freezing winters, blazing hot summers and expensive electricity: running the air conditioning (A/C) and heater constantly pushes many monthly electric bills into the hundreds of dollars.I feel your pain. I grew up in Las Vegas, a place where, if you didn't have air conditioning in the dead of a 115 degree summer day, you got cooked. The desert winters felt surprisingly harsh, dropping temps into the 20's and 30's, a bitter cold for people accustomed to blazing summers.I learned over time how to manage your thermostat and, ultimately, your electric bill, developing these key principles:If you're not home, leave the air conditioning offAir conditioning is designed for your comfort, but what good does that comfort do you if you aren't home for it?

Granted, coming home to a cold home in winter or a hot house in summer can feel miserable, but the unpleasantness is temporary as turning on the air conditioning improves the temperature within a few minutes.Throw it on once you get home, if you need it, and it shouldn't take long for the home's temp to normalize. air handling unit upgradePeople who work during the day in hot locales benefit most from this approach.best ac unit portableSet the thermostat at 78 degrees in the summerThe normal comfort zone temperature sits around 72-73 degrees, but an air conditioner isn't a highly scientific machine. how to wire home ac unitIn hot weather, air conditioners only blast cooling freon with air into the room until its internal thermometer reaches the indicated temperature, then stops until it goes a couple degrees above, then starts again until it returns to that temperature, and back and forth it goes.

The difference in where you set the thermostat only affects how much cold air it blows into the room. The lower temperature at which you set the thermostat in summer, the more air it blows in.Setting the thermostat at 78 degrees typically keeps enough cool air in the room for comfort. Unless you developed a keen temperature sensitivity, you won't likely notice the difference between 73 degrees and 78 degrees. But your electric bill will certainly show it, as your A/C will not run as frequently, and as long. And if you spend the day outside in the heat, coming inside to 78 degree indoor air feels a lot better anyway.Set the thermostat at 60 degrees in winterBasically as I said above, except replace the cold freon of the air conditioner with the heated air of the heater.You won't notice the cold while asleep as long as you have sufficient blankets. Buy a down comforter for bed, and how warm it keeps you may surprise you.Some recommend shutting the heat completely off before bed. While normally sound, I understand that in places where the temps drop precipitously low at night, below the teens and such, this can make the room temperature dangerously low.

If you live in such a place, please wear layers at night and, if you must, keep a heating source on.Make sure air circulates during the summerBuy oscillating fans and use them in each room. On milder days, shut off the A/C, crack the windows and try to get by on just circulated air as long as you can. Often, air feels hotter simply because it stagnates indoors and doesn't circulate.Find inexpensive excuses to go outSince you won't use your A/C when you're not home (right?), try to spend time away from home during your free time, so you have an excuse not to use the A/C. Go to a bookstore. Go out to dinner. Go to a concert, go run some needed errands, go hang out with friends... anything to get out of the house... and remember to shut off your thermostat before you leave, of course. (Obviously, if you drive, try to multitask so you don't drive too much, or you may use so much gas that it offsets any cost savings)One added bonus: most of these places have air conditioning.While by no means a comprehensive guide, these starting suggestions should help you save electricity and, utlimately, money on your electric bill.

Below are materials that can further help you save energy and lower your energy bills:) -- Using a special additive or cutting off your A/C won't really cut your gasoline consumption. But myths like these run rampant in the minds of American drivers.Right now, the price of gasoline is again setting record highs. The average price for a gallon of regular hit $3.087 Tuesday, the third record in a row. So before you attempt a half-baked scheme to stretch your gas dollars, here's a look at what's fact and what's fiction when it comes to fuel economy: There have been additives, special magnets and even a pill that has promised to improve a car's fuel efficiency by as much as 30 percent in some cases.While the promise of stretching your gas dollars seems awfully lucrative, especially when they cost under $20, most of these products provide a negligible, if any, improvement in fuel efficiency, said Rik Paul, the automotive editor for the publication Consumer Reports.Consumer Reports and the government's Environmental Protection Agency, have tested dozens of these products finding that none of them offer any significant improvement in fuel economy."

With all the pressure car companies are under, if one of these inexpensive devices dramatically did improve fuel economy, they (automakers) would be all over it," said Paul.There's the old saw that leaving your windows rolled down creates an aerodynamic drag on your car, cutting down on your fuel efficiency. And there's the notion that the fastest way to drain your gas tank is by running your air conditioning.Neither one is exactly spot on. looked at how running the A/C and opening the windows affected the fuel economy of a sedan and an SUV traveling at highway speeds.What they found was that running the air conditioner, while it did draw power from the vehicle's engine, only reduced each vehicle's fuel economy by about 1 mile per gallon. That's not a big difference unless you drive an already gas-hungry SUV.The Consumer Reports' study revealed that, while opening the windows does increase the aerodynamic drag on a car, it does not have a measurable effect on the vehicle's fuel economy even at highway speeds.

Do what's most comfortable when driving on the highway since you're not going to save a whole lot of gas either way, say experts.If you're driving around town on errands, you might save some gas rolling down the windows instead of using the A/C.Some drivers insist the best time to buy gasoline is on a Wednesday, when pump prices have cooled from the weekend run-up when oil companies typically raise prices.That's true to a point, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices tend to be higher on the weekend, but there's no ideal day of the week to purchase your gas.Geoff Sundstrom of the motorist organization AAA notes that gas prices fluctuate from day to day and are determined by gas station owners who look at a variety of factors including wholesale gasoline prices, competitors' prices and food and drink sales if they have an attached convenience store., which allows consumers to find the cheapest gas in their area simply by entering their zip code.