Getting a good value is something I’ve always been keen on.
I prefer to get my money’s worth on things, and also get things that are efficient.
That’s how it is with my car – it’s not much to look at, but it’s extremely reliable, gets good gas mileage, and I’ve gotten my money out of it. I feel the same about heating and cooling systems. Where we live, we use heat pumps. Winters are mild and don’t require much energy. However, we need the best air conditioning we can get over our long, stifling hot summers. So, I have always tried to get the best deals and most efficiency out of air conditioning. It starts with a tune-up in the spring. Having an HVAC professional perform essential work on the air conditioner ensures it will operate at maximum efficiency. From there, it’s up to me. I can’t just set the controls and walk away. That’s wasteful for several reasons. I program it so that the temperature rises during the day and comes down at night before bedtime, so we have a comfortably cool home to sleep in. It’s not rocket science, but it does require some attention to get the most out of our HVAC system in the summer, in a way that isn’t too expensive and provides a fantastic value as well.