During 1995-2001, a test was performed by a group of scientists in USA to find “What happens if there are no air conditioners”. In the study, they found that people were unable to adapt to live without air conditioners in discomfort (sweat and fatigue) caused by rise in room temperature, humidity and circulation of polluted air. Moreover, scientists found people who did not have air conditioners were visiting hospitals more frequently than who had air conditioners. This prompts us to have air conditioner in homes or offices to stay healthy and even when we do our work-outs.
Therefore, air conditioners have become necessary appliances to maintain cool work environment. This article, helps you make to take care of things before installing a new air conditioner in your home.
Insulation to your home
Before installing a new air conditioner, check whether your home is insulated properly. If walls are not insulated, outdoor hot air will raise the temperature of walls in turn increase room temperature. This makes one to make air conditioner at a higher level to get more cooling, which in turn increases power consumption. Researchers from Florida Solar Energy Center found insulating home will save cooling energy. Provide insulation with light color paints on exterior walls, roof as well as inside the house. It helps you reduce overall energy consumption for cooling.
If it is possible to grow vegetation around your home, provide plantation to make the sunlight less intense. This will ensure you to minimize the heat coming from outside, which saves you money by reducing cooling energy.
Verify electrical system the house
Figure it out whether your home electrical system is operating between 115 to 230 volts. If you have an electrical system that operates at 115 volts, it is better to purchase room air conditioners. Room air conditioners work best with 115 volt operating circuit.
If you have plans for purchasing air conditioners like split, ductless and central air conditioners, make sure your home is operating in 230 volts or in a special circuit that supports your need. Verifying electrical circuit in the home will help you to increase overall lifetime of air conditioner.
Choosing AC based on your needs
This is another parameter to look at while purchasing an air conditioner to reduces the overall cost for air conditioning home.
- Plan based on necessity
Make a plan for your air conditioner needs at home. If you provide air-condition to specified rooms (bedrooms, kitchen and other important room for you) will reduce considerable cooling energy. - Size of room
This is another important factor to consider while purchasing air conditioner. The bigger the room you have, the more powerful air conditioner is required to match your room. If you purchase a smaller air conditioner for a big room, you will have to put more power load for cooling the room. Therefore, matching between size of the room and type of the air conditioner is essential. - Energy efficiency
With the rising trend in consumption of electricity, there is an increase in pressure on power grid. This makes it necessary to develop technology that utilizes minimum power. There are different types of air conditioners with a range of energy efficiency available. Choosing an air conditioner with higher energy efficiency will help you reduce cooling power load and ensures that you save on power bills. - Noise levels
Before purchasing, look for an air conditioner that gives less sound power level (Ls). Avoid purchasing air conditioners that have higher sound power value (Ls). If you already have such one, locate it in the home which is likely to make it less noisy. - Location
After purchasing, search for the place in the home where heat from sun shine is less. If the location of air conditioner is affected by heat from more sun shine, it will reduce overall performance and efficiency in terms of power consumption.
Following these points, you can help yourself minimize your total expenditure, including reduction in power utilization and you gain knowledge on efficient utilization of the air conditioner.