PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — It’s another day of high heat across the Tampa Bay area, and the soaring temps might also mean your AC is working on overdrive.
No matter where you go right now, it can feel hard to escape the heat.
“It’s like you walk into the sun,” said Samuel Prescod.
Just about the only place you might find some relief is inside your air-conditioned home.
“I like it cold,” said Prescod. “73 all day long because the house has to cool down, heat up, so I keep it constant.”
While your home’s AC works overtime to keep up with rising temps, Arlen Zell’s business is trying to keep up with a flood of calls.
“We’re doing about 35 service calls a day, four to five installs a day,” said Zell, the owner of Pleasant Air Conditioning. “It’s very, very busy.”
Zell said one sign to watch for if your AC is having problems is if it’s running consistently all day long.
“Definitely make sure that you’re on some kind of a maintenance program so that somebody’s coming out every six months,” said Zell. “Making sure that everything's tested, cleaned, and running thoroughly.”
Energy Saver, the U.S. Department of Energy's consumer resource, said you can save as much as ten percent a year on heating and cooling by turning your thermostat back seven to ten degrees for eight hours a day from its normal setting.
It said the smaller the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill will be.
“Keep all the doors closed. Seal them up,” said Prescod. “I put in the weather strips. Make sure the windows and doors are all sealed up to keep the AC in.”
Energy Saver also said avoid setting your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you first turn on your AC because it won’t cool your home any quicker and could mean an unnecessary expense.
