ARKANSAS, USA — Is it just me, or does it feel like it’s getting hotter? The 5NEWS Weather Team has the mid-90s forecasted for the foreseeable future. If you’re anything like me, that means your air conditioning is your best friend to beat the heat.
But as temperatures continue to stay up and are likely to get hotter as we move into the heart of summer, how does the heat impact your unit?
Buford Martin with Airco Services has the answer.
“The hotter it gets, the more it has to work, the more hours a day it’s running. All this stuff is mechanical and it can break and the harder it has to run, the easier it is to break,” says Martin.
Martin tells 5NEWS that supply chain issues are creating unwanted delays – especially during this heat. A reality, one Fayetteville landlord found herself in last week.
“I think the part was ordered Thursday, it was supposed to be home Friday and it was not,” said Laura Undem. “It did arrive today and it should be installed today.”
Undem and her husband quickly made necessary arrangements to help their tenants avoid the sweltering heat, but the delay in getting parts not only is a result of supply chain issues but is coming at a hefty price.
“It’s not something we can predict or save for, it was almost $6,000,” says Undem.
Martin agrees. He says Airco has had to pass the price increase on to customers, absorbing some of the costs when they can, but just like everyone else, they have to wait for parts like motors, copper, flex duct and control boards to come in before installing them.
“It depends on what week it is, on what we can and can’t get,” said Martin. “We’ve waited as much as a week for a control board and this time of year, it’s not fun waiting a week if it’s your control board you’re looking for.”
With all the talk about rising heat, rising costs, and the potential for your air conditioner to go out – you’re probably wondering how our energy grid can keep up with excessive use.
SWEPCO officials say there’s no cause for concern.
“We don’t have any controlled outages planned at this point. The last time we had a significant low-shed or planned outage, such as a rolling blackout, was in February 2021 with the winter storm that impacted much of our service area,” said Tara Muck, a SWEPCO spokesperson.
Arkansas energy is supplied by the Southwest Power Pull (SPP) which supplies power to 14 states. SWEPCO is just one company, among many, that use the SPP to supply energy to customers and has not experienced any strain to their system due to the recent heat.
Muck did say, with the increase in costs to natural gas, unfortunately, customers are being passed along those increased fees as well, but to no profit for SWEPCO.
If you’d like to try to reduce your energy consumption, Muck suggests running appliances and other big power consumers during non-peak hours and to keep blinds and doors closed to help insulate your home.
Martin echoed the advice by saying to reduce the chances of air conditioner repairs during the hottest months of the year, set your thermostat to a comfortable temperature and only turn it up or down by a few degrees at a time while you are home or away. Doing so helps decrease the stress on the system while keeping you cool.
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