HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Recent power outages have residents concerned going into the height of the summer months. "Unrelated to the heat, what we've been having, what I would characterize as routine outages," Director of Community Relations for Huntsville Utilities Joe Gehrdes shares. "We've had one caused by a squirrel recently. Often, they're caused by a vehicle accident, and we've had a lot of severe weather around recently. So, while it may seem like outages are up, we actually just ran those numbers and we're right on par with our regular reliability."
When it comes to reliability, the experience of extreme cold outages have some wondering if they’ll experience the same with the heat. "The grid is in stable condition," Gehrdes shares. "The supply is stable. A lot of folks are concerned about what we saw last Christmas with the rolling blackouts and that was a unique situation, certainly not typical. TVA's supply is stable, ready to serve when that demand comes."
A whopping 90% of Americans use air conditioning in their homes, according to a report by the Energy Information Administration. Out of that large percentage, it's safe to say many are not keen on overheating or overspending while keeping cool.
"This is actually a great time of year to get prepared for summer," said Joe Holmes of Decatur Utilities. "We're starting to get a hint of those warmer temperatures, but it's not really hot yet."
That means it's the perfect time to take care of maintenance relating to your air conditioning system. "The number one best way to reduce your power consumption is to have your cooling equipment serviced," Gehrdes shares. "It can be something as simple as changing out the air filter on that cooling equipment, because if it doesn't get the airflow, it needs to get the heat exchanger to cool your house, it won't and so you'll be using energy to not get your house comfortable."
Beyond calling a professional to check out your units, trying to keep your home cooler manually will also help lower that bill. "Anything you can do to naturally cool the home and to naturally keep heat out of the home is going to help your unit not have to work quite as hard," said Holmes.
Holmes suggests keeping blinds and shades closed during the day. Doing so keeps unnecessary heat from spreading inside your home. "Anything you add to your home, heat-wise, that units got to overcome," he advised.
Another tip comes with a certain degree of sacrifice, especially if you're used to keeping things much cooler inside. But if your main goal is to keep overall costs down...
"We recommend that you set your thermostat as high as you can comfortably bear it," said Holmes. "78 is the optimum. A lot of people don't like to hear that, and I understand. We want you to be comfortable, but [78] is the optimal temperature for your unit to be able to overcome the outside temperature, keep the home comfortable and not have to work so hard that it runs that bill up."
Having a ceiling fan installed will help offset the higher thermostat setting - if you have it running in a certain direction.
"Set your ceiling fans on counter-clockwise," Holmes advised. "What that's going to do is create a downward wind chill, brushes across your skin, makes you feel a couple of degrees cooler."
