Common Mistakes With Air Conditioning

We’re experts in air conditioning here at Askews, and over the years our heating and cooling engineers have seen people make all sorts of mistakes with their air conditioning systems. This can have a range of consequences, from reducing the efficiency of the unit to even preventing it from doing its job properly at all. This week on the blog, we’ve compiled some quick tips to help you get the most out of your air con unit this summer.

Keep Windows Closed When Using Your Air Conditioning

This is one of the most common mistakes we see people making. The thinking behind the idea is that the air con system cools the room, while the windows let in even more fresh air. However, that’s not the case! In fact, what you’re doing by opening the windows is letting out the cool air that’s being processed by the air conditioning unit, putting it under more stress to keep the room at a manageable temperature. You’ll not only end up being warmer, but will see this inefficiency reflected in your energy bills. What you should do instead is close all doors and windows in the room. While this might seem counter intuitive, it allows the air conditioning system to do its job faster and more effectively in a closed environment.

Don’t Set The Temperature Too Low

Though it’s obviously a temptation, we’d advise you try to resist setting the temperature to an extremely low setting immediately. If you want to have your office at 22oC, setting the thermostat to 15oC won’t help it to get there any faster. It will only ultimately end up wasting energy if you’re only going to bring the temperature back up anyway, and you’ll more than likely see the results of this on your energy bills.

It’s worth bearing in mind that studies have shown humans are capable of adapting to new temperatures (e.g. from cool to warm, warm to hot) pretty quickly. The general estimate is that we’re fully adjusted within a week or so. Meanwhile, other research suggests that you can save an average of 3% on your air conditioning bill for every degree you let the temperature rise.

So, instead of setting an arbitrarily low temperature right from the off, it’s a good idea instead to see what’s the maximum amount of heat your workplace can tolerate and simply work down from there. We’ve previously discussed the ideal workplace temperature (21-22oC) but you may find that you and your colleagues/employees can withstand temperatures slightly higher than that – which can allow you to make decent savings on your energy bills, especially in the summer. As the popular saying goes, every little helps!

We’ve got more advice to give yet! Tune into the blog next week to read about more of the most common air conditioning mistakes, and see how you can avoid them to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of your unit.

Meanwhile, if you’ve got a problem with your unit – or you just want to get it ready in time for summer – you can click here to get a free quote, or give us a call on 01282 863 825.

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