Energy Efficient Cooling and Air Conditioning Tips
Air conditioning and cooling are one of the most important inventions in the past century. They helped make summer blockbusters and wartime planes and other equipment possible.
However, cooling puts a large strain on electricity systems and causes huge amounts of pollution. This particular IEA report raises awareness about the impact of this demand and provides solutions.
Energy Efficiency
When you are choosing the right cooling system energy efficiency is a key aspect. The upgrade to a more efficient conditioner will save on your expenses for energy and reduce environmental impact. Air conditioners are rated with several different energy efficiency ratings, such as SEER, EER, and HSPF. These ratings indicate how much an air conditioner can cool for a given amount of electricity consumed. The higher the rating the more efficient the unit is. You can locate a SEER rating of a system on its yellow Energy Guide label or by searching for “SEER ratings” on the internet.
If you are in the market for an air conditioner for the first time pick one with an excellent rating. This rating reveals how efficiently the unit can perform during a season under normal conditions. A higher SEER rating can lower your energy costs and consumption if you are replacing an older model.
Other things can influence the efficiency of energy in air conditioning systems too. Insufficient humidity in the indoors, lack of maintenance and leaks in ducts, for instance, could all make your system perform more efficiently and consume more energy. Routine maintenance and sealing leaks in ducts are simple ways to increase the efficiency of your system.
Large commercial cooling systems have their own energy efficiency considerations as well. They use a combination of split- or packaged compressors, as well as huge pipe networks to distribute cooling throughout the building. These systems may also include steam systems that require special maintenance to keep the pipes from becoming blocked.
A lot of these huge systems can also be controlled with a Building Automation System, which connects the cooling and heating systems into one centralized system. Verde has helped clients optimize the performance of these systems by providing simple retrocommissioning suggestions that usually have quick paybacks and incentives to implement.
The global effort to reduce climate change is heavily dependent on energy efficiency in cooling and air conditioning. We need to ensure that cooling appliances are extremely efficient and that consumers want them. In the meantime, there are a variety of actions we can take to help cut our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air quality can be a serious health concern for many people who spend a substantial portion of their lives in buildings. There are fortunately numerous ways to improve IAQ that can help prevent common problems such as asthma, allergies, and fatigue.
Particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and carbon dioxide are the three most frequent pollutants in modern homes and offices. These pollutants can be released into the atmosphere through a variety of actions such as cleaning, cooking and smoking. They can trigger allergies and respiratory problems.
The high levels of humidity can also cause havoc on the quality of air. Mildew and mold can thrive in humid air, and can cause respiratory problems. Monitoring humidity and keeping the moisture level low is essential to avoid these issues. The best way to accomplish this is by regularly dusting and vacuuming, cleaning furniture and bedding and utilizing an air dehumidifier and humidifier if necessary based on hygrometer readings.
Aside from the obvious health benefits in improving IAQ can enhance the comfort in homes. A home with high levels of air pollutants, for example, can smell musty. It can also cause irritated or itchy eyes, as well as a stuffy sensation. Installing an air purifier as well as maintaining the HVAC system can help keep these issues from happening. Also, make sure that you open windows and doors for ventilation when needed.
Symptoms of poor air quality can be a variety of symptoms and can include headaches difficulty in concentrating, and general feeling of malaise. The symptoms can resolve after leaving the space however prolonged exposure to poor quality air could exacerbate existing health issues or even trigger serious health issues.
Ventilation is the main aspect that influences IAQ. This can be affected by the weather, room occupancy rates, as well as the design of the structure. There are a few easy ways to improve IAQ. This includes adding plants to the home, opening doors and windows as often as feasible, and making sure that the HVAC system works correctly. For those who would like to take a more thorough approach, it is suggested to consult a Comfort Specialist about an assessment of indoor air quality.
Smoke Pollution
While heat pumps and central air conditioners do an excellent job of filtering out most biological pollutants, including bacteria, molds and pet dander pollen, they’re not designed to eliminate smoke particles. The tiny particles of wildfire smoke are very dangerous and can easily enter your eyes, nose, and throat causing symptoms like burning or itchy eyes congestion, runny nose, and coughing. They can also irritate the lungs and worsen chronic lung and heart conditions. The invisible fine particles in smoke can lodge deep into your lung, triggering a myriad of health effects such as aggravated asthma, bronchitis, and damage to your lungs and heart.
The haze that engulfed New York City last week was caused by forest fires raging in Canada. It is also causing dangerous air quality conditions throughout large parts of the south and north of the United States. The thick smoky haze decreases visibility and causes respiratory stress for anyone who must be outdoors.
Unfortunately there is no way to completely block smoke from entering your home or business through windows and doors particularly older homes with a lot of drafts and cracks. You can take steps to lessen the amount of smoke that enters your home or business.
Keep all doors and windows closed when it is smoky outside. This can reduce the amount of smoke in the outside air by 30%. If possible, place wet towels around the door frames and cracks in order to slow the movement of smoky air into your home or office.
If your HVAC system is in the recirculation feature, make sure to turn it off during smoky conditions. This will allow your HVAC to exhaust the smoky indoor air to the outside, rather than recirculating it. If you have ducts within your building connected to areas that may produce high concentrations of pollutants, like parking garages with attached loading docks, be sure that those ducts are separated from the rest of the duct system.
The EPA recommends that you change your HVAC filters more frequently in the event of smoke to ensure that they are eliminating pollutants from the air in your home. Select a filter that has an efficiency reporting value (MERV) of 13 or higher, as these filters are specially designed to remove smoke and other gaseous air contaminants.
Supercooling
Supercooling is a trend to save energy that has become more popular in recent years. It’s based on the idea that electricity doesn’t cost the same amount at all times of the day. In reality, the majority of energy companies offer “time-of-use” plans that provide different rates for off-peak and peak times. Supercooling lets homeowners to cool their homes in advance during off-peak times, so they don’t need to run air conditioners at those expensive summer peak hours.
This requires a programmable thermostat that can adjust automatically. However, even with this, homeowners should be sure to examine their electricity consumption patterns and decide the most cost-effective time to run their air conditioning. A lot of people save 25% or more off their energy bills using this method.
To keep the home cool homeowners should set their AC to an lower temperature the following morning and then keep it there for a few hours. This cools the floors, walls furniture, fixtures and furniture of the house as well as the air inside. Then, when peak energy-cost hours arrive, the homeowner turns the air conditioner up and runs it until it’s off for several hours.
This strategy is effective because cooling isn’t just about keeping the air inside the home cool. It’s crucial to prevent heat from getting into your home through windows, doors and other points that leak. This is why homeowners should ensure that their homes are properly insulated and make sure to insulate any drafty or leaky areas. Also, they should cover windows to block the sun, especially in areas that get direct sunlight during the hottest hours of the day. It is also important to make sure that all windows and doors are sealed tightly to prevent air from escaping when cooling cycles are in progress. Additionally, they should think about installing smart thermostats that will help them remember to start and stop cooling at the most optimal times of the day. This will allow homeowners to cut down on their energy costs without worrying about forgetting when to switch on or off the system.
