With each passing year, summer temperatures here in Temple Terrace, FL keep climbing. As that happens, homeowners here rely more and more on their AC systems to keep cool. The problem is that air conditioners have limits to how much heat they can deal with and remain effective. And as the temperature outside climbs, their efficiency starts to wane. Here’s everything you need to know about how high temperatures affect your AC efficiency.
Your Air Conditioner’s Limitations
Although you may not know it, your air conditioner isn’t designed to keep your home at the temperature you desire. It’s designed to lower your home’s indoor temperature by about 20 degrees Fahrenheit compared to the outdoors. So, when it’s close to 100 degrees outside, you can only expect your AC to keep your home at about 80. Also, the majority of air conditioning systems are only built to handle temperatures of up to about 95 degrees.
Those limitations are a result of some design choices made by your HVAC manufacturer. They’re also a result of some decisions made when you had your system installed. This is also where your AC efficiency starts to enter the equation. Ideally, you want your AC to be large enough to cool your home but not too large. Efficiency is the reason why. A system that’s too small would run constantly and may never cool your home sufficiently. A system that’s too large will cycle on and off frequently. Not only may it make your home colder than you want, but it will waste energy while doing it.
How Air Conditioners Cool Your Home
To understand the connection between the outdoor temperature and your AC efficiency, you must understand how ACs work. An air conditioner relies on the refrigeration cycle to cool your home. To do it, they manipulate the temperature and pressure of a refrigerant to capture and move heat energy. The whole process relies on some interesting scientific principles.
The most important principle that allows your AC to function is the fact that heat moves spontaneously toward cold. So, to move heat from one place to another, all you need is a cold substance to carry it. That’s where refrigerants come in handy. Refrigerants are substances that readily absorb and release heat. To take advantage of that, air conditioners use a few more interesting bits of science.
You see, when you increase the pressure on a volume-limited gas, its temperature will increase. Pressure also affects the boiling points of liquids and the temperature required to convert them into gasses. This is why your air conditioner begins its cycle with a low-pressure liquid refrigerant. This guarantees the refrigerant will be cold and ready to absorb heat. It also means the refrigerant has a low boiling point.
As the refrigerant passes through the evaporator coil in your indoor unit, a fan blows hot indoor air over it. In the process, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air and boils into a gas in the cycle. However, the boiling point of the refrigerant limits how much heat the refrigerant will absorb. Therefore, the hotter it is in your home, the more times the refrigeration cycle must run to cool it. That’s one of the reasons that high temperatures harm your AC efficiency. The other happens inside your AC’s outdoor unit.
Once the refrigerant absorbs as much heat as possible and transforms into a gas, it travels to your outdoor unit. There, a compressor increases its pressure and temperature. Upon leaving the compressor, the average AC refrigerant will reach between 120 and 140 degrees. From there, it passes through a large condenser while a fan blows outdoor air across it. As long as the refrigerant is hotter than the outdoor temperature, it will release heat. In the process, it will condense back into a liquid.
The problem is that the hotter it gets outside, the less heat the refrigerant will release into the air. This is the second point where your AC’s efficiency will suffer. It guarantees that your AC will require even more complete cycles to try and cool your home. At high enough temperatures, it may even fail to ever reach your desired setpoint.
Improving Your AC’s High Heat Efficiency
Fortunately, there are a few ways you can improve your AC’s efficiency on the hottest days of the year. Here’s what they are.
Have Your AC Serviced Before Summer
The first thing you should do is have your AC serviced before the summer begins each year. During a maintenance visit, our technician will clean and adjust your AC and make sure it has enough refrigerant. This will help it operate at peak efficiency, no matter what the summer has in store for it.
Consider Installing a Dehumidifier
The high humidity in our area means that your AC is working in sub-optimal conditions at the best of times. Humidity makes you feel hotter in your home and also makes it harder for your AC to absorb heat. So, you should consider installing a dehumidifier to eliminate some moisture in your home’s air. This will help your AC work more efficiently at all times. You can do this by placing a portable dehumidifier near your HVAC system’s air intake. Or, you could install a whole-house dehumidifier for even better performance.
Use Shade Plants to Your Advantage
Finally, one of the best ways you can help your AC remain efficient in hot weather is to use shade plants. By strategically positioning shade plants around your home, you can limit the solar gain your home experiences. That will decrease your home’s indoor temperature and reduce the load on your AC system. According to the US Department of Energy, the right shade plant strategy can lower your home’s temperature by six degrees. Ideally, you should plant high-crowned deciduous trees on the southern side of your home. And you can mix in some lower-crowned trees to the west. This will ensure maximum shade all day but still allow plenty of sun into your home in winter.
Your Local AC Efficiency Experts
If you’re looking for an expert to improve your Temple Terrace home’s AC efficiency in the summer, Ahoy! Cooling & Heating can help. We’ve served local homeowners since 2010, offering complete HVAC installation, maintenance, and repair services. We also handle commercial systems, ductless AC, air quality, and zoning systems. Plus, our team of HVAC technicians has ample training and years of on-the-job experience. We even offer peace-of-mind guarantees and up-front, flat-rate pricing. That’s why we have such a long list of positive reviews from local homeowners just like you. So, for all of your AC efficiency needs in Temple Terrace, call Ahoy! Cooling & Heating today!
