SAN ANTONIO – The thermostat stuck on 78 degrees was John Drought’s first clue that his air conditioning unit was struggling.
Drought said that, normally, at bedtime, he lowers the thermostat to 75 degrees.
“The air conditioning ran all night long and it never got to that temperature, so I knew this morning for sure that I have a problem,” Drought said.
He said that luckily, he was able to get a technician to come by who’d already been on three other calls before arriving at Drought’s home.
Even so, Drought said, he’s bracing for a higher CPS Energy bill because his unit wasn’t running properly.
John Moreno, spokesman for CPS Energy, said the rain earlier this month helped keep temperatures down for a few days.
Now, due to the run of triple-digit heat since then, Moreno said next month’s bill, for July, could be among the highest of the year.
As it is, he said, “It is safe to say that this time of year, we typically see increases in our customers’ utility bills.”
But Moreno said people can still lower their energy bills by taking simple measures like raising the thermostat.
He said each degree higher could lower bills by 5 to 10 per cent.
CPS Energy also advises setting the thermostat 20 degrees lower than the temperature outside.
“If it’s 100 degrees outside, keep it 80 degrees inside,” Moreno said.
Moreno also recommended avoiding using appliances, such as dishwashers and clothes dryers between the peak time from 3 to 7 p.m.
He also said the biggest mistake people make is turning off their air conditioning when they leave for the day, heating up the house and everything in it.
“That means, in the afternoon when you come back, all that has to cool down before you start feeling comfortable,” Moreno said.
Chase Anderson, co-owner of Shafer Services, said refrigerant leaks like the one in Drought’s unit, said air conditioning systems often run all the time, creating their own heat.
“But then you add 107 degrees with the air surrounding it, it really pushes it past its limits sometimes,” Anderson said.
Also, he said, the more refrigerant used to cool the system, the greater the pressure, “putting a lot of strain on all the different welding joints, the different connection points throughout the system, then the major components themselves.”
Drought said his best advice is don’t make the same mistake he did.
He said, “I’m pretty bad about this. I think you’re supposed to get your air conditioning checked, like, once a year and I don’t.”
Drought said that, next year, he will.