Is the summer heat starting to get to you? Are you tired of your home just being too hot to be comfortable? Whether your home is too warm because you currently have no air conditioner or because your current air conditioner has finally given up, you're going to need a new air conditioning unit in order to get comfortable. 

But, as you may have guessed, buying an air conditioner is slightly more complex than simply going to the store and getting the first one you see. That's not to say that it's a complicated affair, but there are definitely things that you should keep in mind. Some of these things include the following. 

1. Usage: If you live in an area of the country that only has a few really hot days per year, it may not make much sense to pay for a whole-house air conditioning installation. Instead, you may want to consider having a smaller window unit installed in the bedrooms. 

This will allow you to be comfortable while you sleep without having to pay for the expense of cooling the whole house down when it's not necessary. The bedroom can also be a place to retreat to if you should happen to be home when it happens to be one of the hottest days of the year.

2. Square footage: Whether you're replacing a worn-out unit or you're going with a completely brand new air conditioning installation, the first thing that you need to do is to find out the square footage of the area to be cooled. Choosing the wrong size now, whether because it seems to be cheaper or simply because you don't know what to buy, can result in your air conditioner needing to work extra hard to cool off your home. 

This inefficiency can cost you much more in electricity than you might have saved by choosing the wrong size unit and can result in your new air conditioner dying much more quickly than if you'd simply purchased the correct size in the first place.

3. Maintenance: In order to make sure that your air conditioner lasts as long as possible, it's important to have yearly maintenance performed. Without having an annual inspection and/or tune-up, small issues can go unnoticed and build up into big problems later. 

These issues can also become more expensive to fix as time goes on, eventually requiring a brand new air conditioning installation for you to have a cool home once again. Generally, the company who installs your unit will be able to provide maintenance as well, but this is something that you should find out before it's actually needed. 

For more information, contact a company like D & R Service Inc.