Energy Efficient Cooling and Air Conditioning Tips
Air conditioning and cooling is among the most significant inventions of modern history. They made summer blockbusters possible and helped boost manufacturing for wartime supplies and aircrafts.
However cooling puts a huge demand on electric systems and creates massive amounts of pollution. This special IEA report aims to raise awareness of the negative impact of this demand and offers solutions.
Energy Efficiency
When you are choosing the right cooling system, energy efficiency is an important aspect. The upgrade to a more efficient cooling system will lower your energy costs and also reduce the environmental impact. Air conditioners are rated according to a variety of energy efficiency ratings, including SEER, EER, and HSPF. These ratings show how much an air conditioner can cool with a certain amount of power consumed. The higher the rating, the more efficient the unit. The SEER rating of a unit can be located on its yellow Energy Guide Label or by searching “SEER ratings”.
When you are looking for a new air conditioning system, look for one with a good SEER rating. This rating shows how well the unit performs under normal conditions during a given season. A higher SEER rating can lower your energy consumption and costs in the event that you replace an older model.
Air conditioning systems can be affected by other factors as well. For instance high levels of humidity in the indoor and a lack of maintenance and duct leaks can all make your system work harder and use more energy. Regular maintenance and sealing of ducts leaks are easy ways to increase the efficiency of your system.
Commercial cooling systems are also subject to energy efficiency concerns. They use a combination of packaged or split-compressors and huge pipeline networks to supply cooling throughout the building. They may also have steam systems, which require specialized maintenance in order to ensure that the pipes do not become blocked.
Additionally to that, many of these huge systems are controlled by something called a Building Automation System (BAS), which integrates all heating and cooling systems in the building into one centralized system. Verde has assisted in optimizing the efficiency of these systems by providing retrocommissioning suggestions that have quick paybacks.
The global effort to curb the impact of climate change is largely dependent on the efficiency of energy used in cooling and air conditioning. We need to ensure that cooling appliances are extremely efficient and that consumers want these appliances. In the meantime, there are a variety of ways we can help cut our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Indoor Air Quality
A lot of people spend the majority of their lives in buildings and these structures could pose significant health threats if their indoor air quality isn’t good enough. There are fortunately numerous ways to improve IAQ, which can stop common issues like asthma, allergies, and fatigue.
Particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and carbon dioxide are three of the most frequent sources of pollution in modern homes and office buildings. These pollutants are released into the air due to many different activities, including cooking, cleaning, and smoking cigarettes, and can cause respiratory problems as well as allergic reactions.
A high level of humidity can also wreak havoc on the quality of air. The humid air encourages the growth of mildew and mold that can trigger respiratory problems. Monitoring humidity and keeping the moisture level at a minimum is crucial to avoid these issues. This can be accomplished by regularly cleaning and vacuuming, washing bedding, cushions and making use of a humidifier or dehumidifier based on the humidifier or hygrometer.
In addition to the obvious health benefits of improving IAQ in your home, it can improve the comfort of your home. A home that has high levels of air pollutants such as radon, for instance, can smell musty. It can also trigger irritated eyes or itchy eyes, as well as a stuffy sensation. Installing an air purifier and maintaining the HVAC system can help to prevent these issues. Also, ensure that you open windows and doors for ventilation when needed.
Symptoms of poor air quality are varied and can include headaches difficulties in concentrating, or general feeling of malaise. These symptoms may improve after leaving the space, but prolonged exposure to poor air quality can aggravate existing health issues or cause serious illnesses.
Ventilation is the primary aspect that influences IAQ. This can be influenced by the weather, occupancy rates, and also the design of the building. But, a few simple steps can be taken to improve IAQ, including introducing plants into the home opening up windows and doors as much as possible, and ensuring that the HVAC system is operating correctly. If you want to go a step further, we suggest that you consult a Comfort Specialist regarding an indoor air assessment.
Smoke Pollution
Central air conditioning systems are great at filtering out biological contaminants like molds, bacteria pollen, pet dander, and mold. However, they do not remove smoke particles. Wildfire smoke contains microscopic particles which can cause symptoms like burning or itchy eyes congestion, runny nose and coughing. They can also cause irritation to your lungs and aggravate lung and heart conditions that are chronic. The fine particles that are invisible in smoke can get stuck in your lungs, triggering a variety of health issues, including worsened asthma, bronchitis and damage to your lung and heart.
The smoke that has blanketed New York City this week has been caused by forest fires in Canada, and it is causing dangerous air quality conditions across much of the northern US and southern Canada. The thick fog of smoke reduces visibility and may cause respiratory stress to anyone who is required to be outside.
There is no way to keep smoke from entering your home through doors and windows especially in older houses with a lot of drafts and cracks. However you can make steps to limit the amount of smoke entering your building.
Close all windows and doors when it’s smokey. This can cut the amount of smoke by 30 percent. If possible, place wet towels on the door frames and cracks to stop the flow of smoke into your business or home.
If your HVAC system is in a recirculation mode, be sure to turn it off during smoky conditions. This allows your HVAC system to take the smokey indoor air outside instead of returning it. If you have ducts in your building which connect to areas that can have high concentrations of contaminants, such as parking garages that are attached to the building and loading docks, make sure that those ducts are independently isolated from the rest of the duct system.
The EPA recommends that you change your HVAC filters more often in the event of smoke to ensure that they are eliminating toxins from indoor air. Select a filter with a minimum efficiency report value (MERV) of 13 or higher, as these filters are specially designed to eliminate the smoke and other gaseous air pollutants.
Supercooling
In recent years, supercooling has been an energy-saving method that is popular. It’s based on the notion that electricity prices vary at different times of the day. In fact, many power companies offer “time-of-use” plans that offer different off-peak and peak rates. Supercooling allows homeowners to pre-cool their homes during off-peak hours, so they don’t have to use their air conditioners during those high-cost summer peak hours.
This requires an automatic thermostat that can be programmed. However, even with this, homeowners need to be sure to look up their electric consumption patterns and decide when it’s most cost-effective to run their air cooling system. This could save you as much as 25 percent on your energy bills.
To cool the house, the homeowner should set their AC to lower temperatures the next morning and keep it there for a few more hours. This cools the floors, walls furniture, fixtures, and furniture of the house as well as the air inside. When energy costs are high homeowners, they turn the air conditioning up and leave it on until the next time it’s turned off.
This strategy is effective because cooling doesn’t just mean making the air in the home cooler. It’s also about preventing heat from entering the house through doors, windows and other leak points. This is why homeowners should ensure that their homes are properly constructed and insulated, and also cover any drafty or leaky areas. Also, they should consider using window coverings to block sun light particularly those that receive bright direct sunlight in the hottest hours of the day. It is also important to make sure that all doors and windows are sealed tightly to stop air from escape during cooling cycles occur. They should also consider using smart thermostats to help them remember when to begin and stop cooling. This will allow homeowners to keep their energy costs low without worrying about forgetting to turn the system off or on.