Summer will arrive soon and now is the perfect time to assess your home cooling system to ensure that your energy costs don’t soar when the temperatures do. Home cooling and heating account for the largest portion of your home energy use – so it’s important to choose the right cooling system and to properly maintain it.
You can also make a big difference when it comes to managing your comfort and energy costs by taking advantage of our incentives for switching to high-efficiency cooling equipment. ENERGY STAR-rated cooling equipment will not only reduce your energy use and costs, but it will also reduce maintenance problems and create a quieter, more comfortable home.
Check out our tips for choosing the best cooling equipment for your home and for finding incentives available to support your commitment to energy efficiency.
- Know the rating – Switching to high-efficiency ENERGY STAR® cooling equipment, especially if your system is more than 10 years old, can cut your annual energy bill by more than $115, depending on where you live. ENERGY STAR certified models have an Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) of 11.5 or higher and use 10 percent less energy than a non-certified model, which means you could save more than $60 over the lifetime of the unit.
- The Goldilocks rule – Selecting a cooling unit that is too small or too large for the room it’s cooling will cost you comfort and money. Before shopping for your next air conditioner, be sure to measure your space to calculate its square footage to help determine the size of the air conditioning unit, which is measured in BTUs, or British Thermal Units – the higher the BTU, the more cooling power you’ll have for a larger room. You may also want to enlist the expertise of local professionals, who will take into consideration the size of your windows, the amount of insulation in your home and the climate you live in to help you choose just the right unit for your home.
- Know your options – There are a wide variety of energy-efficient systems available to cool your home including:
- Heat Pumps: New energy-efficient systems use a refrigerant to move hot air from inside your home to the outside as either part of a central system with ducts or a ductless system with individual air handlers. This makes heat pumps two-to-three times more efficient than traditional air conditioning, which can reduce heating and cooling costs by 25 to 50 percent.
- Portable/In Window: Many older New England homes do not have central air conditioning, but the efficiency of portable and window units has improved significantly. ENERGY STAR-rated models can reduce your annual energy costs for cooling, costing on average less than $75 per year to run.
- Central Air: The most common type of cooling system is a central air unit, which is installed outside the home and uses ducts to circulate air. An ENERGY STAR-certified central air conditioner is 15 percent more efficient than a standard system and newer units manufactured after January 2010 are more environmentally friendly as they use ozone-friendly refrigerants.
- Tap into seasonal discounts – Keep an eye out for seasonal discounts with major retailers. During the winter and spring, retailers don’t have as much inventory and will often offer special discounts on a previous year’s model.
Also, if you will need installation, keep in mind contractors’ busy seasons, which are summer and winter.
- Eversource rebates – Eversource residential customers may be eligible for other rebates, discounts and special financing, such as a $200-$500 rebate on qualifying ENERGY STAR central air conditioners or instant discounts of up to $500 per home for qualifying ductless heat pumps. Customers enrolled in the Home Energy Solutions (HES) program may receive deeper discounts on certain HVAC units.]
Not shopping this year? Homeowners and renters who are not in the market for an air conditioning unit also have ways to improve energy savings, such as:
- Programmable thermostats: You can better manage your energy usage by setting a timer on your window unit or using a programmable or Wi-Fi thermostat for your central system. Wi-Fi thermostats allow you to adjust temperatures using a mobile app wherever you are.
- Change air filters: Dirt and dust build-up will restrict the cool air flow, causing your cooling system to work harder - increasing your energy use and costs.
- Schedule a tune-up: Annual maintenance by a qualified technician will help ensure that your system is working efficiently and safely.
- Sealing and insulating: While those cracks and gaps in walls, windows, attics and door frames are hard to see and reach, that’s where the cool air often escapes, causing your air conditioner to work overtime. Make your home energy smart by signing up for Home Energy Solutions/Home Energy Assessments/Home Performance with ENERGY STAR. An Eversource-authorized contractor will seal those drafts to help keep your home comfortable year-round.
For more information, visit Eversource's website at
https://www.eversource.com/content/ct-c/residential/save-money-energy/energy-efficiency-tips/seasonal-energy-saving-tips.
