Unity EarthCare Tip of the Month of July

July 2025

Use fans in addition to your air conditioning

When the weather gets hot, most of us will use air conditioning at home to cool off.

• Whether an AC system, one or more window air conditioners or even the newer free-standing air conditioning units, don’t feel guilty about using it when the weather and humidity warrant it.

• True, air conditioning uses a fair bit of energy, so it’s prudent to turn down the thermostat while setting it to air only when truly needed.

• Particularly on our warming planet, air conditioning is less of a luxury and more of a necessity for staying comfortable enough to function as a human. It’s just like using heat during the winter!

• Your electronic devices need to stay cool to avoid overheating, so do it for them if not yourself.

Using fans along with air conditioning is the best solution.

• Using fans with your air conditioner can enhance comfort and potentially save energy. 

• Ceiling fans, in particular, help distribute cool air more evenly, making the room feel cooler at a higher thermostat setting, and allowing you to raise the thermostat setting by about 4°F without sacrificing comfort. This can lead to significant energy savings over time. 

Here's more on why using fans with AC is beneficial:

• Improved Air Circulation: Fans, especially ceiling fans, help circulate the cool air from your AC unit throughout the room, eliminating hot spots and ensuring even cooling. 

• Enhanced Comfort: The wind chill effect created by fans can make you feel cooler by evaporating sweat, even at higher room temperatures. 

• Extended AC Lifespan: By reducing the workload on your AC unit, fans can potentially help extend its lifespan.

Tips for using fans with your AC:

• During the summer, ensure your ceiling fan is rotating counterclockwise to push cool air down. 

• Consider using a fan in the room where you spend the most time to maximize comfort. 

• Fans cool people, not rooms, so turn them off when you leave to avoid wasting energy.

Unity EarthCare Tip of the Month

June 2025

Use an electric heat pump to cool and heat your home. 

This is a follow-up to our April Tip of the Month and to our April 13 Earth Day service presentation by Caron and Steve Wenzel, entitled, “Decarbonize Your Life.”

What is a heat pump? 

A heat pump system is an energy-efficient way to heat and cool your home year-round. Because heat pumps are powered by electricity rather than by fossil fuels, they are considered an environmentally friendly alternative to the standard furnace and central air conditioning system – another way to Decarbonize Your Life.

Like your refrigerator, heat pumps use electricity to transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space, making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer. 

• During the cooling season, heat pumps move heat from your house to the outdoors.

• During the heating season, they move heat from the cool outdoors into your warm house. Yes, even in the dead of winter, there heat is present in the air.

Because they transfer heat rather than generate heat, heat pumps can efficiently provide comfortable temperatures for your home. 

What are some things about heat pumps to be aware of?

There are different forms of heat pumps, and an expert HVAC professional would need to evaluate your house to recommend the optimal type of heat pump system based on the specifics of your situation.

• “Air Source” Heat Pumps delivers heat from the outside air. “Ground Source” Heat Pumps deliver heat from the ground, where well below the surface, the temperature remains fairly constant. 

• Heat pumps are ideal to use in conjunction with electricity powered by the sun or other non-fossil fuel electricity sources.

Disadvantages include possible inefficiency in a house that is drafty rather than well insulated.