If you need an air conditioner that can provide both cooling and heating service in your home, a reverse cycle air conditioning installation is the best option for you. But before you can jump into the process of installing this kind of air conditioning system in your home, it is important that you optimise your home's energy efficiency first. Here's a run-through of some things that can be done in that regard:
Draft-proofing your home
There are many potential sources of air loss in the home, including cracking on the walls around windows and doors and the gaps or openings in the attic. If these building defects are left unattended, they can result in loss of precious conditioned air.
During the summer, your reverse cycle air conditioner will run to lower temperatures inside your home. It will do this by replacing hot indoor air with cool outdoor air. If there are gaps or openings in the envelope of the building, the cool air that your air conditioning equipment will have worked so hard to provide will become leaked outside. In wintertime, your air conditioning equipment will function to warm up your interior space by replacing cold indoor air with warm air. If your home hasn't been properly draft-proofed, the warm air will also escape from your interior space.
A construction contractor that specialises in making residential building repairs can help you draft-proof your home. Hiring a building inspector before then can help reveal the areas of your home that need to be air-sealed.
Insulating your home
During the cold winter months, insulation helps prevent the loss of heat from the home, and on hot summer days, it prevents heat gain via the walls and ceilings. There are many different types of insulation products available for walls and ceilings, including insulated plasterboard, glass wool insulation, batt insulation, etc. These products, however, vary in terms of cost and effectiveness. Insulation acts as a thermal blanket that prevents heat gain and loss that may cause you to spend lots of dollars on increased air conditioning costs.
Avoiding the heat
Another effective way to improve the energy efficiency of your home is to shade it from the heat. This may mean installing window coverings like tints and external awnings to help prevent heat from reaching the interiors of the home in the first place. Less heat inside the home on hot days means less work for your reverse cycle air conditioner. This, in turn, leads to lower air conditioning costs.
