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Air Conditioner maintenance and operation tips for electricity savings

By on April 22, 2016

One of the best ways to make sure that you save some money in summers is by making sure that your air conditioner is running well. And to make that happen, it is very important to make sure that the air conditioner is properly maintained and it is in good shape before every summer. Once installed, we hardly make any efforts to make sure that the air conditioner is in good shape and call a mechanic only when it fails. But an air conditioner that is not properly maintained can significantly increase your electricity bills.

Things to take care while air conditioner installation:

1) Make sure that there is enough space for installation, maintenance and repair of the air conditioning system at the place where you decide to install the system. If installed at a cramped space, it will be difficult to do the maintenance and it can increase your electricity bills. Make sure that it is easy to remove filters to clean them.

2) It is important to install the unit (or outdoor unit for split air conditioners) in a shaded spot. North or east side of the house is better for installation as it prevents direct sunshine on the air conditioner.

Air Conditioner maintenance and usage tips:

1) Make sure that you get the filters of the air conditioner cleaned before the start of summers. Dusty filters impact the inflow of air into the air conditioner thereby making it work harder (consume more electricity) to get the indoor air. If you are not aware about the cleaning tips, you can call a certified mechanic to do the same for you.

2) Recycle or change the air conditioner refrigerant periodically and get the condenser cleaned regularly to make the air conditioning more effective. You may call for professional help to do the same.

3) Check the air conditioner settings and make sure that ‘fresh air’ vent is closed. ‘Fresh Air’ vent is used to get the air outside into the room. But as air conditioner works by cooling indoor air, opening the ‘fresh air’ vent will get more hot air from outside into the room and the condenser will have to work harder to cool it.

4) Lights, computers, televisions and all light emitting appliances radiate heat. Make sure that these devices are shut down when not in use, else they can increase air conditioning load. In fact incandescent lights (old bulbs) radiate a lot of heat and can increase units consumed by the air conditioners.

5) Maintain right insulation of the room where air conditioner is installed for effective cooling. More details on insulation are available in insulation section of our website.

6) Keep air conditioner at ideal temperature of 24-25oC for right amount of cooling and energy saving. Check our article on ideal air conditioner temperature to get more details.

7) Do not place lights, computers, televisions and other light-producing device near air conditioner thermostat, as it will impact the proper functioning of the thermostat and thereby make the air conditioner condenser work longer and consume more electricity.

8) Using a ceiling fan with air conditioner helps in reducing air conditioner load. Check our article on ceiling fans that provides more details.

9) If you have a very old air conditioner and it needs repair regularly, it is better to replace it with energy efficient BEE star rated air conditioner. It will be cheaper to buy a new air conditioner than repairing and maintaining an old air conditioner that consumes a lot of electricity.

Maintaining and operating an air conditioner right can save a lot of electricity and can help you reduce a lot on your electricity bills. So do make sure that you get your ACs in right condition before next summers.

Here is a short video for tips to reduce power consumption of air conditioner in India

About the Author:
Abhishek Jain is an Alumnus of IIT Bombay with almost 10 years of experience in corporate before starting Bijli Bachao in 2012. His passion for solving problems moved him towards Energy Sector and he is keen to learn about customer behavior towards Energy and find ways to influence the same towards Sustainability. .

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