Your AC Isn’t Broken. Your Bill Is Just Telling You Something

Every August we get the same call from homeowners in Fair Oaks, Carmichael and Citrus Heights, and
it usually starts the same way: “Nothing’s wrong with the AC, but my bill doubled. Is that normal?”

Sometimes it is. A Sacramento Valley summer asks more of an air conditioner than almost anything
else in your house. When outdoor temperatures sit above 100°F for days at a time, your system isn’t
cycling on and off the way it does in June, it’s running for long stretches to hold the same
indoor temperature, and every one of those hours shows up on your statement.

But “normal” and “necessary” aren’t the same thing. Most of the high summer bills we look at have
two or three fixable causes behind them.

What Actually Drives Your Summer Cooling Cost

1. How hard the system has to work, not just how long it runs.
The bigger the gap between outdoor and indoor temperature, the more energy it takes to move heat
out of your house. A thermostat set to 68°F on a 105°F afternoon isn’t a small change from 76°F,
it’s a much longer, harder run.

2. Time-of-day pricing.
Both SMUD and PG&E charge more for electricity during peak late-afternoon and early-evening hours.
Cooling the house hard at 5 p.m. costs meaningfully more than doing the same work at 10 a.m.
Pre-cooling in the morning and easing off during peak hours is one of the few changes that costs
nothing and shows up immediately.

3. Airflow restrictions.
A clogged filter, closed registers or crushed flex duct all force your blower to work harder while
delivering less cool air to your rooms. The system stays on longer to reach the same setpoint.

4. Refrigerant charge and coil condition.
A system that’s slightly low on refrigerant, or one with a condenser coil packed with dust and
cottonwood fluff, loses capacity long before it stops cooling entirely. You don’t notice a
breakdown, you notice a bill.

5. Equipment age and efficiency.
Efficiency standards have moved a long way. A 15-year-old system in good repair can still cost
substantially more per hour of cooling than a current high-efficiency unit doing the same job. If
you’re weighing a replacement, that difference belongs in the math.

6. What the house itself is doing.
Attic insulation, west-facing windows without shade, and duct runs through a 140°F attic all add
load your equipment has to overcome. Sacramento-area homes built before the 1990s are often
carrying all three.

Six Changes That Actually Lower the Bill

1. Set it and leave it. Pick the highest temperature that’s genuinely comfortable and hold it.
   Big swings up and down cost more than a steady setpoint.
2. Pre-cool before peak pricing. Bring the house down in the morning, then let it drift a couple
   of degrees through the expensive late-afternoon window.
3. Change the filter monthly in peak season. Every one to three months is fine in spring and
   fall; during heavy summer use, with pets or nearby construction dust, monthly is safer.
4. Clear the outdoor unit. Two feet of clearance on all sides, no landscaping crowding it, and
   no accumulated debris on the fins.
5. Use a whole house fan on cool nights. When the Delta breeze drops overnight temperatures
   into the 60s, a whole house fan can flush the day’s heat out of the house and let the AC start
   the next morning from a lower baseline.
6. Get a tune-up before the worst of the heat, not after. A system running on low refrigerant or
   a dirty coil quietly costs you money for months.

When the Bill Is a Warning Sign

There’s a difference between a high bill and a rising one. If your usage has jumped compared to the
same month last year and nothing about your household has changed, that’s usually a mechanical
issue, a refrigerant leak, a failing capacitor, a duct that’s come apart in the attic, and it
tends to get worse and more expensive, not better.

That’s the point where a diagnostic visit pays for itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How much does it cost to run an air conditioner in the Sacramento area?
A: It depends on the size and efficiency of your system, your utility’s rate plan, and how many
hours the unit runs. The more useful comparison is your own bill against the same month last year,
a big year-over-year jump with no change in household habits usually points to a mechanical problem
or a maintenance issue rather than the weather.

Q: Does turning the thermostat way down cool the house faster?
A: No. Your system cools at one rate. Setting 65°F instead of 76°F doesn’t speed anything up, it
just runs longer and costs more.

Q: Is it cheaper to leave the AC on all day or turn it off while I’m at work?
A: In a Sacramento summer, a moderate setback (a few degrees, not off entirely) usually wins. Turning
it fully off means the house, and everything in it, soaks up heat all day, and your system has to
remove all of it during the most expensive hours.

Q: Can a dirty filter really change my bill?
A: Yes. Restricted airflow means longer runtimes for the same cooling, and in bad cases it can freeze
the evaporator coil, which stops cooling altogether.

Q: Would a new system actually pay for itself?
A: Sometimes, especially with rebates in play. It depends on your current equipment’s efficiency and
condition. We’ll give you the honest version of that math, including when the answer is “keep what
you have.”

If your summer bill jumped and your AC seems fine, something usually isn’t. Call Absolute
Comfort Heating & Air at (916) 224-7159 for a straight answer on what your system is costing you, and what can be done about it.