‘Do’s and ‘don’t’s of home cooling in a heat wave

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – From pools, to splash pads, some water features in Albuquerque are beating inside temperatures in some homes.

“Swamp coolers are not really working right now because it’s usually got a 20 degree temperature difference between the outdoor air, and the air being blown inside,” said Daniel Jaramillo, owner of Daniels Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, LLC. “So if it’s 105, 110 degrees outside, you know, you may be getting 90 degrees, 85 degrees humid temperature coming into your house.”

Jaramillo has been in the HVAC business for more than a decade. He says after a relatively mild June, he knew it was only a matter of time before we saw heat like this.

“It’s rough right now,” he said. “A lot of times these systems are operating to their capability, best of their capability.”

The most common call right now is about no cooling at all. But Jaramillo says there are a few things you can do at home before you give them a call.

“You just have to make sure that you know your pump’s working, all the distributor tubes are going and that’s about it. And your pads are halfway decent right now,” said Jaramillo.

He added central air users should make sure your filter’s clean, and swamp cooler users should make sure the pads on your unit are getting wet.

Professionals say if you’re able to keep your home at 74 degrees, no matter what method or machine you’re using, that’s pretty good in a heat wave like this.