Energy App Helps Users Find the Right Air Conditioner - East Idaho News
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Energy App Helps Users Find the Right Air Conditioner

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GETTY 7513 AirConditioner?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1373023337185iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — With blistering summer temperatures set to intensify as we head toward the dog days of summer, finding the right air conditioner unit can mean the difference between surviving until fall or ending up a puddle in your living room.

But picking the machine that will effectively cool your home without wiping out your bank account or trip your circuit breaker can be a delicate balance.

The Econofy web application can help users find the right unit by letting them personalize their searches. Users can plug in what kind of space the air conditioner will be used in, in addition to each room’s dimensions and electricity rate.

Lauren Lee Stuart, co-founder and CEO of Econofy, said it can be difficult for consumers to decipher which air conditioner unit is appropriate for different spaces by crunching BTUs.

“It’s something [that] is hard to figure out without pulling out a spread sheet and doing calculations,” said Stuart. “If you get an air conditioner that is not powerful enough, you’ll be running it on high 24/7 and it will cost you an arm and a leg in electricity.”

The results on Econofy not only feature each air conditioner’s unit and price, but also its estimated annual operating cost.  Users can even factor in their preferred temperature to see just how much it will cost them to keep the living room at a frozen 65 degrees rather than a balmy 72 degrees.

The web application is just the first step for Econofy; later this year, the company plans on releasing an energy-monitoring light switch.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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