Energy Efficient Cooling and Air Conditioning Tips
Cooling and air conditioning are one of the most important inventions of the past century. They helped make summer blockbusters, wartime planes and supplies possible.
However cooling puts a huge burden on electrical systems and creates massive amounts of pollution. This particular IEA Report aims to raise awareness of the effects and provides solutions.
Energy Efficiency
When you are choosing the right cooling system, energy efficiency is a crucial factor. Making the switch to a more efficient air conditioner will help you save on energy bills and reduce environmental impact. The energy efficiency of air conditioners is evaluated in a variety of ways that include SEER and EER. These ratings tell you how much an air conditioner can cool with a certain amount of electricity. The higher the rating, the more efficient the unit. You can find the 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 look for one that has an excellent rating. This rating shows how well the unit performs under normal conditions in a given season. A higher SEER rating could reduce your energy consumption and costs when replacing an older model.
Other factors can affect the efficiency of air conditioning systems, too. For instance high levels of humidity in the indoor and a lack of maintenance and duct leaks can make your system more efficient and consume more energy. Maintaining your system with regular maintenance and sealing duct leaks are easy ways to improve your system’s energy efficiency.
Large commercial cooling systems come with particular energy efficiency considerations as well. They usually utilize the combination of split or packaged compressors and massive pipes to distribute cooling throughout the building. They may also incorporate steam systems that require special maintenance to prevent the pipes from becoming blocked.
Additionally to that, many of these huge systems are controlled by what’s called a Building Automation System (BAS), which integrates all cooling and heating systems in the building into one central system. Verde has been able to improve the efficiency of systems by providing retrocommissioning recommendations that provide rapid paybacks.
Energy efficiency in cooling and air conditioning is a key element of global efforts to reduce climate change. Ultimately, we need to ensure that manufacturers bring highly efficient cooling devices to market, and that consumers are demanding these appliances. In the meantime, there are other steps we can take to help reduce our energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Indoor Air Quality
A large portion of people live their lives in buildings and these structures could pose significant health threats when the indoor air quality is poor. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to improve IAQ, which can prevent common problems such as asthma, allergies, and fatigue.
Particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and carbon dioxide are the three most common sources of pollution in modern offices and homes. These pollutants can be released into the air through a variety of activities such as cleaning, cooking, and smoking. They can cause respiratory issues and allergies.
A high level of moisture may also have a negative effect on the quality of air. Moisture can encourage the growth of mildew and mold which can cause respiratory issues. Monitoring humidity and keeping the moisture level low is key to preventing these issues. This can be accomplished by regularly vacuuming and dusting, washing bedding, furniture and using a humidifier or dehumidifier that is based on the humidity gauge.
In addition to the obvious health benefits of improving IAQ It can also increase the comfort in your home. For example, a home with high air pollutants can be stale and smell unpleasant. It can also cause itchy skin, irritated eyes, and a stuffy feeling. This can be addressed by installing an air purifier, maintaining the HVAC system, and ensuring that windows and doors are opened to allow air circulation when required.
Poor air quality can cause headaches, concentration problems, and a general malaise. These symptoms may improve when you leave the room, but prolonged exposure to poor air quality can worsen existing health conditions or even trigger serious illnesses.
The main factor that affects IAQ is the speed of fresh air replacing stale air, a process that is known as ventilation. This is affected by the weather, occupancy rate of rooms and the design. But, a few simple steps can be taken to enhance IAQ by adding plants to the home and opening doors and windows as much as is possible and ensuring that the HVAC system is operating correctly. If you’d prefer to take a more thorough approach, it is recommended to speak with a Comfort Specialist about an indoor air quality assessment.
Smoke Pollution
Heat pumps and central air conditioning systems are excellent at removing biological pollutants such as bacteria, molds pollen, pet dander, and mold. However they are not able to remove smoke particles. The tiny particles that make up wildfire smoke pose a risk and easily get into your nose, eyes and throat, and cause symptoms such as burning or itchy eyes, congestion, a runny nose and coughing. They can also irritate your lungs and worsen chronic heart and lung conditions. Smoke particles can cause a range of health issues such as bronchitis and aggravation of asthma.
The smoke that blanketed New York City last week was caused by forest fires raging in Canada. It is also causing dangerous air quality conditions across most of the south and north of the United States. The dense smoky fog reduces visibility and can cause respiratory stress to anyone who is required to be outside.
Unfortunately there is no way to completely prevent smoke from entering your home or business through doors and windows particularly older homes with a lot of cracks and drafts. You can take steps to reduce the amount of smoke that enters your building.
Close all doors and windows when it’s smokey. This will reduce the amount of smoke from outside air by 30%. Put wet towels in cracks and around door frames to stop the flow of smoky air.
If your HVAC system is in the recirculation feature, make sure to turn off the recirculation mode during smoke conditions. This will allow the system expel the smoke directly outside, rather than returning it to inside. If your building has ducts connecting to areas where contaminants are likely to be high, such as loading docks or parking garages, you should ensure that these ducts are isolated from the rest.
The EPA recommends changing your HVAC filters more often during times of smoke to ensure they’re effectively eliminating the toxins from the air inside. Choose a filter that has the minimum reporting value (MERV) that is 13 or more. These filters are designed to remove the smoke and gaseous pollution from the air.
Supercooling
Supercooling is a green trend that has become more popular in recent years. It’s based off the idea that electricity prices are different at different times of the day. The majority of electricity companies offer “time of use” plans with different peak and offpeak rates. Supercooling allows homeowners cool their homes ahead of off-peak hours, so they don’t require air conditioners at those expensive summer peak hours.
This requires an automatic thermostat that can be programmed. Even with this, homeowners still need to be aware of their patterns of usage of electricity to determine when their air conditioner will be most cost-effective. A lot of people save 25% or more off their energy bills through this method.
To supercool the home, the homeowner set their AC to a lower temperature in the morning and maintains it at the same setting for a couple of hours. This cools down the floors, walls furniture, fixtures, and furniture of the home as well as the air inside. When energy costs are high, the homeowner will increase the temperature of the air conditioner and then leave it running until the next time it is turned off.
This strategy is effective because it doesn’t only mean making the air in the home cooler. It also aims to prevent heat from entering the house through windows, doors and other leak points. It is essential that homeowners check their homes’ insulation and seal any drafty or leaky areas. It is also recommended to use window shades to block the sun’s rays particularly in areas that get bright direct sunlight during the hottest hours of the day. They should also make sure that all doors and windows are sealed tightly to prevent air from getting out during cooling cycles are in progress. Also, they should consider using smart thermostats that can help them remember to start and stop cooling at the best times of the day. This allows homeowners to keep their energy bills low and not worry about forgetting to turn off the system or on.