7 Ways to Lower Your Energy Bills This Summer
When the summer sun settles over the Central Valley, bringing with it long days of intense, dry heat, our air conditioners transform from a modern convenience into an absolute necessity. These powerful systems work tirelessly for months on end to provide a cool, comfortable sanctuary inside our homes. This essential comfort, however, comes at a cost. For most homeowners in the Modesto area, the highest energy bills of the year arrive during the summer, driven almost entirely by the constant operation of the air conditioning system. It is a reality many have come to accept as an unavoidable part of living in our climate.
The good news is that you are not powerless against these soaring summer utility costs. You do not have to choose between staying comfortable and breaking your budget. By adopting a strategic approach that combines simple habit changes with professional HVAC optimization, you can significantly reduce your energy consumption without sacrificing your comfort. This article will share seven proven, practical ways to lower your energy bills this summer. From simple thermostat adjustments to the long-term benefits of professional maintenance, these tips can help you take control of your energy usage and enjoy a cool, comfortable, and more affordable summer.
Tip #1: Optimize Your Thermostat Settings
Your thermostat is the command center for your entire cooling system, and how you use it has the single greatest impact on your summer energy bills. The most common mistake homeowners make is setting the temperature to a very low level and leaving it there all day. A few small, strategic adjustments can lead to substantial savings. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends setting your thermostat to 78°F or higher when you are at home and awake. While this may sound warm, it is an excellent baseline for energy efficiency. When paired with other cooling strategies like using ceiling fans, this setting can feel perfectly comfortable while dramatically reducing your AC’s runtime.
The most significant savings, however, come from adjusting the temperature when your home is empty. There is little reason to pay to keep your house at a chilly 72°F when no one is there to enjoy it. By setting your thermostat to a higher “away” temperature, such as 85°F, you can prevent your air conditioner from running unnecessarily during the hottest parts of the day. The easiest way to manage these daily changes is with the help of technology. A programmable thermostat allows you to “set it and forget it,” creating a consistent schedule for your system to follow.
For the ultimate in efficiency and convenience, a modern smart thermostat is a game-changing upgrade. These Wi-Fi-enabled devices can learn your family’s schedule, automatically adjusting to an energy-saving mode when you leave and beginning to cool the house just before you return. Many use geofencing technology to track your smartphone’s location for even more precise control. It is also important to consider your thermostat’s placement. If it is located on a wall that receives direct afternoon sunlight or is too close to a heat-producing appliance, it can get a false reading and cause your AC to run longer than necessary.
Tip #2: Schedule Professional HVAC Maintenance
An air conditioning system is a complex piece of mechanical equipment, and just like your car, it requires regular maintenance to operate at its peak performance. Neglecting your system and waiting for something to break is a recipe for inefficiency and expensive, unexpected failures. Scheduling a professional pre-summer tune-up is one of the most effective investments you can make in lowering your energy bills. Over time, your system naturally loses efficiency due to dirty components, minor mechanical wear, and fluctuating refrigerant levels. A tune-up is designed to correct these issues and restore your system to its factory-fresh condition.
During a comprehensive maintenance visit, a certified technician from Zuzu will perform a series of critical checks and services. We will thoroughly clean the indoor evaporator coils and the outdoor condenser coils. A layer of dust and grime on these coils acts as an insulator, forcing your system to work much harder and use more electricity to transfer heat. We will also check the system’s refrigerant charge to ensure it is at the manufacturer’s exact specifications, as an incorrect charge can drastically reduce efficiency. Our technicians will also inspect and test all electrical components, such as the capacitors and contactors, clear the condensate drain line to prevent water damage, and calibrate your thermostat for accuracy.
A clean, properly calibrated, and professionally serviced air conditioner uses significantly less energy to produce the same amount of cooling. This means that after a tune-up, your system will not have to run as long or as hard to keep your home comfortable, leading to direct savings on your monthly bills. Furthermore, this preventative service allows our technicians to spot and resolve small, developing issues, like a weakening capacitor or a worn fan belt, before they can cause a catastrophic breakdown in the middle of a Modesto heatwave.
Tip #3: Seal and Insulate Your Home
Your air conditioner’s job is to cool the air inside your home, but its efforts can be completely undermined if that cool air is constantly escaping or if hot, outdoor air is seeping in. Running your AC in a poorly sealed and insulated home is like trying to keep a refrigerator cold with the door wide open. One of the most effective ways to lower your energy bills is to improve your home’s thermal envelope by sealing air leaks and ensuring you have adequate insulation.
Air leaks are common in almost every home, especially around the edges of windows and doors, through penetrations in your walls for pipes and wiring, and around attic access hatches. These small gaps and cracks may seem insignificant, but they can add up to a significant amount of energy loss. You can address many of these leaks yourself with simple materials like caulk and weatherstripping. Taking the time to seal these gaps is a low-cost project that can have a noticeable impact on your AC’s workload.
The most significant area of heat gain in most homes is the attic. During a hot Central Valley summer day, your attic can reach incredibly high temperatures. Without a sufficient layer of insulation on the attic floor, that intense heat will radiate down through your ceilings and into your living spaces, forcing your air conditioner to work much harder. A professional can assess your current insulation levels and add more where needed. This thermal barrier is a critical defense that keeps the outdoor heat out and the indoor cool air in, providing one of the highest returns on investment for summer energy savings.
Tip #4: Use Ceiling Fans and Ventilation to Your Advantage
One of the most affordable and effective tools for summer comfort is already installed in many homes: the ceiling fan. A common misconception is that a ceiling fan actually lowers the temperature of a room. In reality, it does not change the air temperature at all. Instead, it creates a “wind-chill effect” by moving air across your skin, which accelerates the evaporation of perspiration and makes you feel cooler.
This effect is so powerful that it allows you to raise the setting on your thermostat by as much as four degrees without any noticeable loss of personal comfort. As we have discussed, every degree you raise your thermostat can save you a significant amount on your cooling costs. This synergy between your ceiling fans and your air conditioner is a key strategy for major energy savings.
To ensure you are getting the full benefit, make sure your fans are rotating in the correct direction for summer. The blades should be spinning in a counter-clockwise direction, which pushes the air straight down into the room. It is also important to remember that fans cool people, not rooms. Be sure to turn off any ceiling fans when you leave a room to avoid wasting electricity.
Tip #5: Keep Sunlight and Heat Out
The sun is a powerful source of heat, and when it shines directly through your windows, it can rapidly raise the temperature inside your home, an effect known as solar heat gain. Actively managing the amount of sunlight that enters your home is a simple but highly effective way to reduce the load on your air conditioner.
During the hottest parts of the day, especially for windows on the south and west sides of your home, you should use window coverings to block the direct sunlight. Blackout curtains or thermal blinds are particularly effective, as they are designed with a special lining to block both light and heat. Reflective window films are another excellent option that can block a significant amount of solar heat while still allowing you to see outside.
You can also think about long-term, natural solutions. Strategic landscaping can make a major difference in shading your home. Planting deciduous trees on the south and west sides of your property will provide dense shade during the hot summer months, but because they lose their leaves in the fall, they will allow the welcome winter sun to warm your home.
Tip #6: Upgrade to an Energy-Efficient AC System
If your current air conditioning system is more than 10 to 15 years old, is in need of frequent and costly repairs, and is struggling to keep your home cool and your energy bills manageable, it may be time to consider a long-term solution. While a full system replacement is a significant investment, a modern, high-efficiency air conditioner can provide such a dramatic reduction in your energy consumption that it becomes a financially wise decision over time.
Modern air conditioners are rated by their SEER, or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. A new unit with a high SEER rating is vastly more efficient than a typical unit that was manufactured a decade or more ago. Upgrading from an old, inefficient system to a new, high-SEER model can cut your summer cooling costs by a substantial amount.
While the upfront cost of a high-efficiency system is higher, the long-term benefits are clear. The significant, year-after-year savings on your electricity bills, especially in a relentlessly hot climate like ours in the Central Valley, can help the new system pay for itself over its lifespan. Furthermore, many utility companies offer rebates for the installation of high-efficiency equipment, and flexible financing options are often available to make this important investment more accessible for homeowners.
Tip #7: Change Filters Regularly
The simplest, cheapest, and most fundamental step you can take to keep your air conditioner running efficiently is to change its air filter regularly. A clogged and dirty filter is the number one cause of reduced system performance and increased energy usage. It forces your system’s blower motor to work much harder to pull air through, which restricts the amount of cool air that can be delivered to your home.
This strain on your system not only leads to higher energy bills but can also cause more serious problems, such as a frozen indoor coil, which can shut your system down completely. During the heavy-use summer months in the Modesto area, we recommend checking your air filter every month and replacing it at least every three months, or more often if you have pets or live in a particularly dusty area.
When choosing a filter, it is important to find the right balance between filtration and airflow. A high-quality pleated filter will do a much better job of capturing airborne particles than a cheap, basic fiberglass filter, which will improve your indoor air quality. However, it is also important to choose a filter with a MERV rating that is appropriate for your specific system to ensure you are not overly restricting airflow.
You do not have to be a victim of high summer energy bills. By taking a proactive and strategic approach to your home’s cooling, you can achieve a comfortable environment while keeping your costs under control. The most effective strategy is a comprehensive one that combines simple, daily habits, like optimizing your thermostat settings, using your ceiling fans, and blocking out the sun, with a commitment to the long-term health of your HVAC system.
The foundation of an efficient and reliable air conditioner is professional care. We encourage all homeowners in the Modesto and Central Valley area to be proactive about their home comfort. If your system has not been serviced recently, or if you are interested in learning more about how a smart thermostat or a new, high-efficiency unit can lower your bills, we are here to help. We invite you to contact Zuzu Plumbing Heating and Air to schedule a professional maintenance visit or to request a free, no-obligation energy-efficiency consultation.
