Tips for Buying an Air Conditioner

Air conditioners are a must if you live in a warm climate. You’re probably all too aware that it’s easy to warm up if you’re cold, but cooling down when it’s hot and humid is a different matter entirely. If you’re worried about staying comfortable in the summer, then a good HVAC system is a must-buy. It will help you and your family, and pets, to stay at a healthy, comfortable temperature so you can work, play and remain in a good mood.

There are more than 6.5 million air conditioning units sold each year, and according to Energy Star the average family spends around 13 percent of their yearly utility bill on running those units. For this reason, it’s really important that you buy a good unit – one that has affordable running costs and that will keep you comfortable while not making a lot of noise or running up your bill any more than necessary.

A good air conditioner will keep the entire room at a comfortable temperature, and will cool the room at a steady pace, running quietly, and gradually reducing the moisture level in the room so that you don’t end up feeling cold and clammy.

Some units are HVAC units that will both cool and heat – and these are the best for year-round comfort. Some just cool the room – and with these you have to think about how they work – if they’re nothing more than glorified fans, then they could be distracting during the day, and they could end up waking you up if you have them running at night.

To get the most out of your air conditioning unit, you should make sure that it is quiet, that it is large enough to cover the area that you want it to cover (but not over-sized to the point that it would waste energy or too quickly cool the room) and that it is also easy to maintain. If you are going to struggle to keep the filter clean then it’s probably not worth having the unit.

Make sure that the unit is at window-level and that the controls are easy to reach. Many modern units have a remote control app so that you can monitor and adjust the settings using your smartphone. This is really handy if you want to set your air conditioner off when you are on your way home from work.