One of the most common questions we understandably get about air conditioning systems is how homeowners can use them most efficiently, in order to lower their energy costs. Considering how uncomfortably warm in gets in our climate, and how long it lasts, it’s only natural that you might wonder this as well.
We have good news! There are a number of actions you can take to lower your bills, including scheduling routine maintenance. Spending a little money now on tuning your air conditioner up each year can actually save you even more in the long run throughout the year. There are also various HVAC and indoor air quality products that can help, such as a dehumidifier that will allow the air to feel cooler so you can turn your thermostat up a couple of degrees and your AC won’t have to run as long.
Read on as we dive deeper into this topic to help you save energy and money!
While other parts of the country are scheduling heating maintenance and starting to shut down their air conditioners for the season, we’re still using our cooling systems on a regular basis. That said, this is commonly the time of year that air conditioners begin to experience problems—the reason for this is because it’s been going since last spring.
In other parts of the country, it probably seems pretty strange to be talking about air conditioners this time of the year, unless they’re talking about winterizing them. But winterizing just isn’t a thing here in the Gulf Breeze. Even though our fall and winter seasons are notably and relatively cooler than our summers, it doesn’t mean they are cool. 
First off, you might be wondering what R-22 is. It’s refrigerant—the substance needed for your central air conditioner or heat pump to function at all. Perhaps you have a basic understanding of how refrigerant works, and you might have even had someone tell you that refrigerant needs to be refilled (called recharged in the HVAC industry) every once in a while.
“Wait, isn’t ice development a normal part of air conditioning? After all, it is a cooling system right?”
The reason we talk about repair needs and malfunctions so much this time of the year is because this is the time of year they’re most likely to occur! And AC repair is one of those services you need to schedule ASAP and not wait on. We see a lot of systems, unfortunately, that are near failure simply because homeowners waited too long to call for repairs.