We totally understand. You’ve been paying even higher summer cooling costs to keep your house comfortable during this long, sweltering Arizona monsoon season. Temperatures are still consistently ranging from 100 degrees to over 110 degrees, even though fall is right around the corner. You want relief and may be tempted to close room vents to help save some of those precious, hard-earned dollars.
Don’t go down this path.
It may make sense that if you shut room air vents, you’ll be using less air to cool down your home. Unfortunately, air conditioning doesn’t quite work that way. Room vents are not installed in your house to restrict airflow. Rather, their purpose is to control the direction of air movement as it passes into a room.
Shutting a vent all the way doesn’t provide an effective seal, and it can cause damage to your HVAC system components. The motor that powers the blower fan in your system’s air handler is designed to push against a maximum air pressure. If the pressure is increased due to a blocked vent, it impacts the motor and will result in a drop in airflow throughout the system. If your system’s blower has a variable speed motor, this pressure will cause the motor to ramp up to its highest power level, which will result in higher monthly utility bills and even greater stress on the AC motor. Over time, this can lead to problems with the compressor and evaporator coils.
Better Ways Than Closing Vents
Now that you know that shutting vents isn’t an effective way to save money and may actually cause additional issues with your HVAC system, it’s good to know that there are some simple DIY tips you can do to lower your home cooling costs. Here are four easy strategies that you can complete quickly.
- Maintain a thermostat reading around 78 degrees during the day.
- Change air filters at least once a month through the end of October.
- Clean vent covers and ensure they’re not blocked.
- Keep your outdoor AC unit clean so that it can expel heat properly.
We’re Here for You
Would you like to learn more about reducing your monthly home cooling expense? Call your expert technicians at Cool Blew at 623-872-2900 today. Even though it’s late in the Valley of the Sun’s air conditioning season, it’s never too late to call for maintenance or service. You still need your AC unit to run in tip top shape to keep cooling costs in check. Take this opportunity now to pick up the phone and call your locally owned air conditioning business, Cool Blew.
