Cooling and heating are by far the biggest sources of energy usage in most homes. Trying to keep a house cool in Florida’s hot, humid climate can be especially expensive. The fact that an HVAC system can use so much energy is why it’s essential that you make sure the system in your home is operating at its peak and is as energy efficient as possible. If you’re looking for ways to improve efficiency and save on energy bills, here are some HVAC upgrades you should definitely consider.
Smart Thermostat Installation
One of the best and easiest ways to make your HVAC system more energy efficient and optimize its performance is by replacing your old thermostat with a Wi-Fi smart thermostat. Smart thermostats provide far more than just the added convenience of being able to control your HVAC system from your phone or other mobile device.
The best units use AI and algorithms that enable them to learn from your household’s behavior patterns. They can then take this information and automatically turn the temperature up or down at different times to limit the amount of energy the HVAC system uses. For instance, the motion sensor in the thermostat enables it to learn the times when the house is normally unoccupied. When you have your AC switched on, the thermostat will then start turning the temperature up a few degrees at these times so that your air conditioning doesn’t run as much. The thermostat will also learn what time people start getting back home and turn the temperature back down ahead of time to ensure the house has already cooled back down before someone arrives.
Most studies have shown that a good smart thermostat will help reduce the energy usage of an HVAC system by 8-12% on average. In Florida where an AC system gets a huge amount of use, this can potentially add up to savings of over $100 a year. Another great thing about having a smart thermostat is that it can reduce the amount of wear and tear your HVAC system experiences. That means it can potentially help you get more life out of the system and lessen the chances of it breaking down.
Zoning Controls
Upgrading your HVAC system with zoning controls is another great way to make it much more energy efficient. A zoned HVAC system divides the house into sections or zones that can each be cooled and heated individually. The way it works is that there’s a thermostat in each zone that can control the HVAC system instead of just having a single, central thermostat. There are also automatic dampers or gates in the supply ducts that can open to allow air to start flowing to a zone or close to block the airflow off.
It’s fairly rare for all parts of a house to heat up or cool down at the same rate. This is where zoning controls can be extremely beneficial as they help ensure that the HVAC system keeps each zone at whatever temperature you want. That means the system often won’t run as much or need to work as hard since it will only heat and cool each zone as needed instead of always having to supply cooling or heating to the entire house. If you have part of your house that is rarely occupied during the day, you can save even more energy by adjusting the thermostat for that zone. That way the zone won’t get heated or cooled as much as the other zones and your HVAC system has to do less work.
Upgrading an existing HVAC system with zoning controls can be a fairly complex and somewhat expensive project. In most cases, you’ll need to have at least some of your ductwork redone or adapted to accommodate the dampers. There’s also the added expense of having to purchase and install additional thermostats for all of the zones. Nonetheless, zoning controls can make a bigger improvement in the energy efficiency of your HVAC system than almost anything else you could do. You’ll also usually see a significant improvement in your home comfort and eliminate most hot and cold spots in your house.
Whole-Home Dehumidifier Installation
The fact that Florida can be extremely humid throughout so much of the year means many houses frequently have issues with high indoor humidity. High humidity negatively impacts comfort as our bodies always feel hotter the more humid the air is. That means many people end up cranking their AC up even further when their house is overly humid in an effort to feel cooler, resulting in their energy bills increasing.
The bigger issue when your house is overly humid is that it decreases your AC system’s performance, making it cool less quickly and work less efficiently. That’s because the system must first remove much of the moisture from the air by causing it to condense on the evaporator coil before it can start capturing heat and cooling the air down.
This issue is one reason why installing a whole-home dehumidifier can be extremely beneficial. The unit gets installed in the return air ductwork just before it connects to the air handler where the evaporator coil is located. When your AC is running, the fan in the dehumidifier continually draws air through the unit. Inside the dehumidifier is what’s basically another evaporator coil that causes moisture to condense and get removed from the air. The result is that the air flowing into the AC air handler is drier, allowing more heat to be removed from it and the AC system to cool a bit more effectively. The dehumidifier technically won’t make your AC system more energy efficient. Nonetheless, it can still save you money by allowing you to turn your thermostat up a few degrees without feeling too hot.
Duct Sealing
Unless all of your ductwork was installed within the past few years, there’s a fairly good chance it has at least some areas where air continuously leaks out of it while your HVAC system is running. Duct leaks are among the biggest contributors to poor HVAC efficiency. In some cases, they can lead to more than a 25% drop in energy efficiency as a result of so much of the cooled or heated air leaking out and being wasted. This is why most experts recommend having your ductwork inspected every year and having your ductwork fully resealed at least every 10 years. Sealing up all of the air leaks and having any damaged parts of your ductwork replaced will improve your HVAC system’s performance and make it more efficient by reducing energy waste.
Duct Cleaning
While technically not an upgrade, having your ductwork professionally cleaned can also make a big improvement in the energy efficiency and performance of your HVAC system. This isn’t something you usually need to do yearly, but it is recommended you have it done at least every three to five years.
The main issue when a ductwork system is dirty is that all of the piles of dust and debris create barriers. That means they reduce the amount of air that can flow through the ducts and lead to the air encountering additional resistance. The result is that the HVAC system can’t circulate as much air around the house and isn’t able to circulate the air as effectively. This leads to it cooling and heating more slowly and using more energy each day.
As the top HVAC contractor in Florida, M&S Air Conditioning can expertly assist with all of your residential cooling and heating needs. We’ve been serving Leesburg, The Villages and all of the surrounding areas for more than 20 years, and we can help when you need any HVAC upgrades. To schedule an appointment for ductwork, duct sealing, duct cleaning, smart thermostat installation or anything else, contact us today.
