Air conditioning tips to save homeowners money during heat wave

CHICAGO (WGN) – People all over Chicago are looking for ways to beat the heat.

At Montrose Beach, WGN-TV met David Moir, one of the many folks hanging out at Chicago’s lakefront to find relief from the intense heat and humidity.

“It’s really hot. It’s really humid so I just needed to cool off,” he told WGN-TV. “You can tell people are really trying to beat the heat which is cool. It’s nice to see people out and about.”

A Heat Advisory is in effect through Thursday night, and this heat wave is the hottest stretch of weather so far for Chicagoland in 2025.

“Our call volume is through the roof the past couple days. It’s been climbing every hour here,” General Manager of Deljo Heating and Cooling Luke Weiden said.

The dangerous heat has many people opting to stay indoors, but some may be finding problems with their air conditioning systems.

“One thing homeowners can do is make sure their temperature is set on hold and not programmable so the air conditioning is not going up and down throughout the day,” Weiden said.

Weiden also shared a few more tips that can save homeowners hundreds, even thousands of dollars in repair or replacement costs.

“Homeowners want to make sure they have a clean filter. Dirty filters are the number one cause of any immediate repairs for systems and checking your filters is always very important when there’s times like this,” Weiden said.

He also advises homeowners pay attention to their A/C systems overnight.

“Air conditioners will be running all night long and be extremely taxed. It’s going to be critical to make sure temperatures are set at an even temperature throughout the night, so it doesn’t have to try and recover in the morning when you wake up,” Weiden said.

There are also many cooling locations available for those looking to find relief from the heat. A list of locations can be found here.