Yarbrough & Sons on FOX Weather: Staying Cool and Saving Money

Darren Yarbrough explains ways to keep your home cool while saving money, especially during summer heat waves, on FOX Weather on July 17, 2024.

Transcript from video:

Host: Extreme heat is baking the Northeast, with 75 million Americans under heat alerts today alone. As people settle in and hide from the heat, we wanted to let you know some ways to keep cool and hopefully save some money as you do it. Darren Yarbrough, owner and founder of Yarbrough & Sons Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing, joins us this morning on FOX Weather First to talk about budget-friendly tips for beating the heat. Darren, good to see you. Thank you for your time. Obviously, things are really expensive now when it comes to AC. Money is hard to come by.

Darren Yarbrough: That is true. Everything just gets more expensive every day. But we do have some things that we can do to help mitigate that and keep the cost down with your air conditioner. Probably the biggest deal is to keep things clean—change your filter regularly, once a month or whatever the recommendation is. One of the biggest deals is to wash your condenser coil outside. When you’re mowing your grass and the clippings blow up against your air conditioner, that stops the flow. It’s best to turn the power off and get a water hose to wash that off. Also, close your blinds during the day. The West sun coming in of the evening heats up the house. These are easy tips that are affordable and most people can pull off.

Host: I have a big question for you, Darren. When it comes to the temperature on our thermostat, what’s better—bumping up the temperature just slightly when we’re not home, or turning it off when we’re not home?

Darren Yarbrough: I think probably taking it up a couple of degrees is fine. If you take it up too much during the day, when you get home, it has to run for so long to catch up. If you turn it off during the day and get home at 5 or 6, it’s going to run until you go to bed before it cools back down. I would say just take it up a couple of degrees and keep it consistent.

Host: That’s probably easier, right?

Darren Yarbrough: Yes, that’s true. The average thermostat setting varies—some people set it at 78, some take it down to 70. I always tell everyone I can control their electric bill if they’ll let me control their thermostat. It helps with the bills for sure.

Host: Also, I wanted to ask you about fans. If people have ceiling fans, this is one of those reminders to switch the direction of the fan, right?

Darren Yarbrough: Yes. During winter and summer, you should switch the fan direction. In summer, you want to blow that cold air around better because hot air rises. If you have air movement hitting you, that helps a lot too. Fans are a big deal.

Host: Darren, before we let you go, in the summer, sometimes we lose the AC. Do you have any quick tips that are budget-friendly in case you need to cool down your house?

Darren Yarbrough: If you lose your AC, open the windows to get some cross wind blowing through. Maybe do your cooking outside on the grill. That’s a huge help.

Host: I wouldn’t have thought about that because, of course, the AC goes out, or you lose power, and it’s an expensive appliance to fix. Sometimes there’s a long wait too. Cooking outside is so simple but effective.

Darren Yarbrough: Yes, that’s true. The fewer heat sources you have in your house during that time, the better off you are.

Host: Darren Yarbrough, thank you so much. We appreciate your time. Best wishes to you. Thank you for helping us save some money and putting money back in our pocket during summer. Have a great day.

Darren Yarbrough: Anytime, guys. Thank you.

Host: Thanks. Stay cool.

About Yarbrough & Sons Heating, Cooling & Plumbing: Yarbrough & Sons has been serving Oklahoma City since 1988, providing top-notch home comfort solutions. With over 450 years of combined experience, our family-owned business is dedicated to quality, comfort, and caring for our community. Trust us for all your HVAC needs.