{"id":947,"date":"2023-08-28T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/?p=947"},"modified":"2023-08-27T11:51:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-27T16:51:19","slug":"how-to-set-your-ac-during-a-texas-heatwave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/air-conditioning-service\/how-to-set-your-ac-during-a-texas-heatwave\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Set Your AC During a Texas Heatwave"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/How-to-Set-Your-AC-During-a-Texas-Heatwave.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/How-to-Set-Your-AC-During-a-Texas-Heatwave-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Texas-home-with-state-flags-on-porch\" class=\"wp-image-948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/How-to-Set-Your-AC-During-a-Texas-Heatwave-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/How-to-Set-Your-AC-During-a-Texas-Heatwave-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/How-to-Set-Your-AC-During-a-Texas-Heatwave.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Summer is here for a while yet, and with summer comes the risk of extreme heat. Here in Texas, we\u2019re no strangers to heatwaves. And we expect our air conditioners to be able to keep up. But can they? How much should you expect of your air conditioner in a Texas heatwave? How should you set your thermostat? What else can you do? Let&#8217;s answer these questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your Air Conditioner\u2019s Capabilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a limit to what air conditioners can do in terms of lowering the temperature inside your home. They\u2019re designed to be able to change the temperature by about twenty degrees. Why so little? Obviously, more powerful refrigeration is possible, as we see in situations like the large freezer cases at the grocery store. But such powerful cooling is extremely inefficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trying to push a home air conditioner past that twenty-degree mark will also lead to inefficiency, increasing your energy bills. But worse than that, it\u2019s bad for the air conditioner itself. It would have to run constantly, putting a huge amount of strain on the system. Hard-working components like the fan motors and the all-important compressor can burn out. Repairs become much more likely, and the whole air conditioner could face an early death and require replacement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So if the temperature outdoors is a scorching 100 degrees, don\u2019t set your air conditioner\u2019s thermostat any lower than 80.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your Other Cooling Options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To reduce the strain on your air conditioner and survive setting the thermostat higher than you\u2019d otherwise like to, consider other ways of maximizing the cooling in your home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Make sure that when the sun hits your windows, the curtains are closed. Insulated curtains are best, but any kind of window covering will make a difference. Sunlight hitting glass causes the greenhouse effect, and you want to be comfortable in your house, not be able to grow tropical orchids. <\/li><li>Make sure that any gaps where conditioned air could leak out get closed up, using door-bottom seals, weather stripping, or caulk. <\/li><li>And don\u2019t forget about your ceiling fans. During the summer, they should spin counter-clockwise, and the movement they provide makes your body feel cooler because as each molecule blows against you, it carries a bit of your heat away with it. More movement equals more molecules, which equals more of your heat carried away.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AC Cleanup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s been months since your AC maintenance appointment this past spring. (Or if you skipped it, despite knowing it will maximize efficiency and effectiveness and ensure that your air conditioner lives a long life while requiring as few repairs as possible, it may have been years rather than months!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Make sure you\u2019re changing your air filter every month to give your AC unit the airflow it needs. <\/li><li>Gently bow any visible dust off your indoor unit\u2019s evaporator coils with a can of compressed air so the refrigerant will be able to absorb heat from your home easily. <\/li><li>Use a low-pressure hose to gently rinse dust, lawn clippings, or other messes off your outdoor unit\u2019s condenser coils so that heat can dissipate easily before the refrigerant cycles its way back into your home.\u00a0<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Get Repairs Promptly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To make sure you\u2019ll have the cooling you need when the hottest weather hits, don\u2019t let a worrying issue continue. Catch it right away and get <a href=\"\/air-conditioning\/maintenance-repair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AC repair in Houston, TX<\/a> so you don\u2019t end up with a system breakdown.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Reach out to <\/strong><a href=\"\/contact\/send-message\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Cool Care Heating and Air Conditioning<\/strong><\/a><strong>, The Best Care for Your Air.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How much should you expect of your air conditioner in a Texas heatwave? How should you set your thermostat? What else can you do?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[39,88],"class_list":["post-947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-conditioning-service","tag-ac-repair","tag-houston"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":950,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947\/revisions\/950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolcareac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}