How to Prepare Your Home for Summer Heat

Summer in California is known for beach days, vacations, and week after week of beautiful weather. Unfortunately, this beautiful weather also can sometimes include temperatures that soar well into triple-digits for weeks on end. This means you’ll likely be cranking up your air conditioner to cool off your home and seek relief from the sweltering heat outside. However, by following a few simple preparation steps, you can increase your air conditioner’s efficiency, meaning it will work better, you’ll save money, and stay more comfortable all season long. Here are three things you should do to get your home ready.

Reverse Your Ceiling Fan Direction

Ever wondered what that little black switch is below the blades on your ceiling fan? It’s not a master light switch; it’s for reversing the direction on your fan. Warm air regularly rises to the top of each room, so during winter, you want the fan to blow the air from the top of the room down. During the summer, the hot air in your home will rise to the ceiling and you want to keep it there. Reversing the fan creates a breeze, which studies have shown can help you keep the room with the fan significantly cooler without running your air conditioning as much. Be sure to dust off the blades of your fan and then flip the switch to change the direction.

Test for Ventilation Leaks

No matter how great your air conditioner is working, ventilation leaks are sapping your energy bills by allowing the cooled air to escape. You can call a professional for an energy audit, but there are a few places you can check for yourself and find many of the major ventilation leaks in your home. The biggest offenders are windows and doors, which often have worn out weather stripping that you can seal with a replacement or some caulk. Next, check the insulation in your attic, which may have compacted and become less effective over the years. If you need to add more insulation you can, but remember, it can get messy.

Get an A/C Tune-Up

You trust your air conditioner to work when you flip the switch, but it may not be at its best condition when you fire it up for the first time after months of sitting stagnant. An air conditioning tune-up services will often involve changing your air filter, cleaning your coils, straightening out your condenser fins, clearing out debris, and more. These services can usually be performed in an hour or two, but the immense value they can have for the life of your air conditioner can make a huge difference. Not only will your system run more efficiently, which means you will need to run it less and save yourself money on your energy bills, but it will also last longer and you won’t have to fix any serious breakdowns or blowouts for far longer.

Since 1927, Moe Plumbing Services has provided southern Californians with high-quality repair and maintenance services for their heating and air conditioning systems. Many of our Glendale HVAC experts have been with our team for 15-20 years or more, providing exceptional service and quality workmanship to obtain your complete satisfaction. Whether you need an urgent repair or a beginning-of-summer tune-up, Moe Plumbing Services can get the job done right the first time.