Commercial Comfort: How to Cut Down on Your Air Conditioning Expenses
It’s hard to overstate the importance of a good air conditioning system for your business. It keeps employees happy and productive, and customers who are comfortable are more likely to have a positive impression of your business. However, running an AC system can be an expensive undertaking. Despite knowing how many great benefits there are to having a cool and comfortable environment, it can be hard to maintain on a tight budget. If you would like to cut down on your AC costs, this useful list of tips and tricks could help.
Maintenance Matters
One of the biggest costs associated with running a commercial air conditioning system, is not so much running it, but paying for repairs or replacement when it breaks down. The best way you can prevent problems and keep your AC system running as effectively and economically as possible, is to look after it. This means regular quality maintenance to ensure all systems and equipment are running as smoothly and efficiently as possible to reduce on your energy costs. An efficient cooling system is not only more effective, it’s also on for less time, which means less energy used and lower energy bills.
Take Care to Clean
Regular cleaning of the filters and vents of your air conditioning unit can improve your system’s efficiency by 5 to 10 per cent. Blocked filters can restrict air flow, which means your system has to work harder to push air out, increasing the energy used and decreasing the quality of the air. All you have to do to prevent this is take the time to clean it out every few months. You don’t even have to hire a professional. Thanks to the internet, you can learn you how to do it yourself.
Control the Temperature
If there are areas of your building that aren’t used as frequently as others, you can shut off the vents in those places to keep costs down. You can also use a zone control system, which allows you to set different temperatures for different areas of your business’s building. It can also be a good idea to install a programmable thermostat. If you can set the temperature for different times of the day and night, you don’t have to worry about remembering to turn the cooling off at night before you leave.
Program your system to start up in the morning before you get there while it’s still cooler, and before the day heats up, which saves you money on having to cool the place down quickly.
Properly Seal Your Ducts
You would be shocked if you knew just how much money you can save simply by ensuring that all your ducts are properly sealed. It’s all too common in commercial systems to find places where air is escaping, decreasing the efficiency of your cooling system. The best way to make sure this is done properly is by hiring a professional technician to check all your ducts and seal them properly. This effect can be further improved by wrapping insulation around exposed ducts as well.
Upgrade Your System
If you’ve followed all these tips and you’re still not seeing any savings, then it might be time for an upgrade. It can be quite expensive to replace your AC system, but the savings in energy and maintenance costs in the long run can be well worth it, particularly if your system is prone to breaking down. If you do decide you need to upgrade your system, there are plenty of great energy efficient options on the market at the moment. Make sure you discuss your business’s specific needs with a professional to get the most out of your new system.
(Photo by National Institute of Standards and Technology – Efficiency of Commercial Air Conditioning, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51196122)
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