Most offices and homes today think of air-conditioning more as a necessity than a luxury. Is it because of the vagaries of the weather? Or is it because we've been accustomed to having a uniform temperature that we feel comfortable in? Whatever the reason, air-conditioning is an expensive proposition. To maintain it and pay the bills means a dent in most pockets every month. How can we keep the comfort and yet save on the running costs? Here are a few tips in that direction. Tips that could help you not just bring down your costs but bring them down a great deal.

The first thing to do is to choose right. Make sure that the air-conditioning that you install is the right size for your room or building. If your room is very small, why on earth would you install a very large horsepower unit? You need expert advice here. You need to know exactly what size of air-conditioning you need given the area you have. Nothing more and nothing less – it's just got to be right.

We take our air-conditioning for granted and only think about it when it's not on and we're uncomfortable. But do you realize that it need not be on all the time? That you can be perfectly comfortable even if it's off for a while? Maybe you could turn it on just after it turns hot. Or, if you have more than one unit, you could use the ones you have in rotation. There may be a case for using just a few out of the many you have. All you need is that the building is comfortable and cool. You could perhaps work out some kind of an air-conditioning on-off schedule to maximize your savings.

To keep your air-conditioning units running well, you must remember that they need to have regular maintenance. When you maintain your machines well, you increase their performance. Maybe you feel that regular maintenance is yet another recurring cost that drains you but in the long run, it means savings because if your units run efficiently, the cost of running them reduces. Units that are badly maintained incur much more by way of running costs than those that are kept in good running order. Units that do not run at their peak efficiency tend to use more power than they actually need so you end up paying more for units that cool less.

Make a note to turn off the air-conditioning ½ an hour before you stop work. Most people tend to turn them off as they are leaving the building. But it makes more sense to turn it off 30 minutes before that. Why is that so? Because it takes as long for the temperature to get to an uncomfortable level. So by the time it gets to that level, you're on your way home.

Just a little bit of thought and you could save big on your bills. Pay a little attention to your air-conditioning and it will serve you with more than just comfort on a hot day – it will show you the way to savings.