Have you ever experienced stress while waiting for your air conditioner to cool your house? Perhaps this is a very common experience that every homeowner suffers through occasionally. This may lead you to often wonder how long it really takes to cool a house with AC.
A number of factors need to be taken into consideration to answer this question more accurately. There may be certain times when you feel like your house has cooled down relatively quicker than other days, or maybe the opposite. The following are the factors to be considered in order to cool your house with AC more quickly.
Factors Affecting the Cooling Time of Air Conditioning
1. Size of AC Unit
It is a common mistake for homeowners to unconsciously buy the wrong AC unit appropriate for their living spaces. To determine the proper size of your AC unit, you can calculate the time it takes to cool your house down and check whether or not they are within the standard estimations.
For you to be guided accordingly, an average four-bedroom house (1500 – 2500 sq ft) is estimated to be cooled down by 1 degree Fahrenheit with a central AC within 18 minutes. Subsequently, they are estimated to cool down by 10 degrees Fahrenheit within 3 hours of use.
Of course, the size of the house will play a large role in the time it takes for it to cool down, as well as determine the size of the unit you need to get. An appropriate AC unit should be able to cool your living spaces down within those estimations without any temperature inconsistencies in certain areas.
2. Air Filter Maintenance
In the course of time, you may notice your AC having lower airflow as compared to when you first bought it. This is because air filters may be polluted with dust, animal fur, dirt, or basically any indoor pollutants causing it to restrict airflow and hinder the cooling process.
Dirty air filters are supposed to be cleaned or maintained at least every few months. Depending on the kind of air filters your AC unit has, you may either get it replaced or just plainly clean it in the comforts of your home and reuse it after.
Also, the schedule with which you clean your air filters is dependent on the pollutants you have in your home. You may need to consider the environment in your living space that may cause said pollutants. The more vulnerable your AC unit is to these pollutants, the more you need to tend to them.
3. Proper Insulation in Your Home
Most houses usually have insulation installed in them already. However, if you notice that your house is easily affected by outdoor temperature, be sure to check the condition of your home’s insulation. If you aren’t sure how to check the presence of insulation in your house, you may conduct a home energy audit.
Also, unnoticeable cracks, holes, or basically anything that allows any amount of air to travel from the outside to the inside or vice versa are usually common in each household. Check your walls and ceilings for these possible air leaks.
Insulation is very much a crucial factor to consider in the cooling process of your home. This also includes the windows and doors in your home. The amount of sunlight that they allow inside affects the cooling process. If you ever want to make the cooling process quicker, we recommend buying blackout curtains or heavy drapes for less sunlight exposure.
4. The Climate of Your Area
Although very few people consider it, your geographical area is also one of the factors that affect the cooling process within your home. Living in an area that is more prone to immense heat means that your set temperature for your AC unit is going to be higher, and lower if you’re in a cooler climate.
If you are living somewhere that gets a ton of sun on a daily basis, we recommend buying an AC unit with a bigger capacity relevant to the size of your house.
When moving, wherever you choose to live is up to you, but I hope you bear in mind the living conditions of the area in which you chose to live. Make sure to live in a place where your body is able to adapt easily and won’t be affected by the sudden change of weather conditions for even an AC can’t fix this.
5. Condition of Your AC
Just like any appliance, AC units also get old and rusty. You can’t expect an old AC unit to compete with newer units or even function as well as it did when you first bought it. No matter how high the quality of the AC was when you bought it, after a certain amount of time, its efficiency will certainly deteriorate.
Of course, just as with any appliance, there is always a way to, at least, lengthen the lifespan of an AC. Making sure that everything that is mentioned above is tended appropriately is one way of taking care of it.
Many contractors are also willing to do a replacement of defunct parts, such as the condenser unit, although this will be subject to certain criteria such as the cost efficiency of such an air conditioning repair.
6. The Type of AC Unit
It is vital to know that there is more than one kind of AC available in the market. It is vital for you, the homeowner, to identify whether your AC is a central air conditioner, inverter AC, window AC, or even a portable AC.
We have been talking about AC units for a while now, however, the different kinds of AC units were never mentioned above. The estimations done earlier are tailored to central ACs for they are the most common and popular one.
Conclusion
Many considerable factors in cooling a house with AC are mentioned and were exhaustively discussed above. To properly assess which factor is hindering the cooling process of your house may sometimes need a professional eye but that doesn’t mean you can’t try.
Needless to say, a perfectly fine AC unit wouldn’t necessarily have to go through any change. However, if you are in a dilemma about the things that you need to do to take care of your AC properly, then don’t ever shy away from expressing your concerns.