Energy Efficient Cooling and Air Conditioning Tips
Air cooling and conditioning is one of the most significant inventions of modern history. They made summer blockbusters, wartime planes and supplies possible.
Cooling, however puts an enormous strain on the power system and generates massive quantities of pollution. This particular IEA Report raises awareness of the issue and provides solutions.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is among the most important factors to consider when choosing a new cooling system. Upgrade to an efficient air conditioner and reduce your energy costs and also reduce your environmental impact. The energy efficiency of air conditioning units is assessed in various ways that include SEER and EER. These ratings indicate how much an air conditioner can cool using a specific amount of electricity. The higher the rating, the more efficient the unit is. You can find a system’s SEER rating on its yellow Energy Guide label or by searching for “SEER ratings” on the internet.
If you are in the market for a new air conditioner look for one that has an A+ rating. This rating indicates how efficiently the unit will perform during a season under normal conditions. A higher SEER rating can lower the cost of energy and consumption in the event that you replace an older model.
Other factors can affect energy efficiency in air conditioning systems too. Insufficient humidity in the indoors, insufficient maintenance and leaks in ducts, for example, can all cause your system to work harder and consume additional energy. Routine maintenance and sealing ducts leaks are easy ways to increase the efficiency of your system.
Commercial cooling systems are also susceptible to concerns about energy efficiency. These systems make use of a combination of split or packaged compressors as well as massive pipe networks to distribute cooling throughout the building. These systems could also incorporate steam systems that require specialized maintenance in order to prevent the pipes from becoming blocked.
A lot of these huge systems can also be controlled with an Building Automation System, which integrates the cooling and heating systems into a single centralized system. Verde has been able to improve the performance of systems by providing retrocommissioning strategies that offer rapid paybacks.
The global effort to combat climate change is heavily dependent on energy efficiency in cooling and air-conditioning. Ultimately, we need to ensure that manufacturers bring super-efficient cooling appliances to market, and that consumers are demanding them. In the meantime, we can take other steps to reduce our energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air quality is a serious health concern for those who spend a large part of their lives inside buildings. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to improve IAQ, which can stop common issues like asthma or allergies, as well as fatigue.
Particulate matter and volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide are three of the most prevalent pollutants in modern office and home buildings. These pollutants are released into the air due to various activities, such as cooking, cleaning, or smoking cigarettes, and can lead to respiratory issues and allergic reactions.
High levels of humidity can also create havoc on air quality. Mildew and mold can flourish in moist air, which can cause respiratory problems. To prevent this from happening it is essential to keep an eye on humidity levels and keep the moisture at a minimum. This can be done by regularly cleaning and vacuuming, washing bedding, cushions and using a dehumidifier or humidifier that is based on the humidity gauge.
Aside from the obvious health benefits, improving IAQ can increase comfort in the home. For example, a home with high air pollutants can be stale and smell unpleasant. It can also trigger irritation to the eyes, itchy skin and a feeling of suffocation. Installing an air purifier and maintaining the HVAC system can help to 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 varied and can include headaches difficulty in concentrating, and general malaise. These symptoms may resolve after leaving the area, but prolonged exposure to poor quality air can worsen existing health conditions or even trigger serious illness.
Ventilation is the most important factor that impacts IAQ. This can be influenced by the weather, occupancy rates, and the design of the building. There are simple ways to improve IAQ. This can be done by adding plants to the home, opening the doors and windows as often as possible, and ensuring that the HVAC system is operating properly. If you’d like to take an even more comprehensive approach, it is recommended to speak with a Comfort Specialist regarding an assessment of indoor air quality.
Smoke Pollution
While central air conditioners do a fantastic job of removing the majority of biological pollutants, such as molds, bacteria, pet dander, and pollen, they’re not specifically designed to remove smoke particles. Smoke from wildfires is a source of microscopic particles which can cause symptoms like burning or itchy eye congestion, runny nose, and coughing. They can also irritate your lungs and cause worsening of chronic lung and heart problems. The fine particles that are invisible in smoke can clog your lung, triggering a myriad of health effects, including worsened asthma, bronchitis and damage to your heart and lungs.
The smoke that has blanketed New York City this week was caused by forest fires in Canada, and it is causing hazardous air quality conditions across a large portion of the northern US and southern Canada. The thick smoke haze can reduce visibility and causes respiratory stress for anyone who has to be outdoors.
Unfortunately there is no way to completely stop smoky air from getting into your business or home through doors and windows, especially older homes with lots of cracks and drafts. You can take steps to lessen the amount of smoke entering your building.
Keep all doors and windows closed when it’s smoky outside. This will reduce the amount of smoky air by 30 percent. Put wet towels in cracks and around door frames to slow down the flow of smoky ai.
If your HVAC system has a recirculation function, make sure to switch it off when the air is smoky. This will allow your HVAC system to exhaust the smoky indoor air outside instead of recirculating it. If your building has ducts connecting to areas where contamination is likely to be high, for instance loading docks and parking garages it is important to ensure that the ducts are separated from the rest of.
The EPA recommends changing your HVAC filters more often during times of smoke to ensure that they are effective in removing the toxins from the indoor air. Choose a filter that has the minimum reporting value (MERV), which is 13 or greater. These filters are designed to eliminate gaseous air pollution and smoke.
Supercooling
In recent years, supercooling has been an increasingly popular method of reducing energy consumption. It’s based upon the notion that electricity isn’t priced the same amount at any given time of the day. The majority of electricity companies offer “time of use” plans that offer different peak and offpeak rates. Supercooling allows homeowners cool their homes in advance during off-peak hours, meaning they don’t require air conditioners during those costly summer peak hours.
This method requires an automatic thermostat that can be programmed. Even so homeowners should be aware of their usage patterns for electricity to determine when their air conditioner is the most efficient. Many people save about 25% or more on their energy bills through this method.
To supercool homeowners, they set their AC to a lower temperature in the morning and maintains it at the same setting for a few hours. This cools down the floors, walls furniture, fixtures and furniture of the home as well as the air inside. When peak energy-cost times arrive the homeowner, he or she turns the air conditioning on and runs it until it is turned off for several hours again.
This method is efficient since cooling doesn’t just refer to making the air inside the home cooler. It also aims to prevent heat from entering the home through doors, windows and other leak points. This is why homeowners should ensure that their homes are properly insulated and insulate any leaky or drafty areas. Also, they should make use of window shades to block out the sun, especially in areas that are exposed to direct sunlight during the hottest parts of the day. It is also important to ensure that all doors and windows are tightly sealed to prevent air from getting out during cooling cycles are in progress. Additionally, they should think about using smart thermostats to assist them in ensuring that they start and stop cooling at the most optimal times of the day. This will allow homeowners to keep their energy costs low and not worry about forgetting to switch off or on.