Your landscaping may be raising your energy bills. It’s true. If you’ve planted trees or shrubs or allowed them to become overgrown around your air conditioning condenser, they may actually be hindering the operation of the unit and reducing the efficiency of the whole home air conditioning system, thus raising your energy bills. Your condenser needs to be able to suck in fresh air from the outside in order to blow cool air inside. If your condenser is blocked by trees, shrubs or even very full flower beds, it may be working extra hard to cool your home. If your system isn’t keeping your Harrisburg, Hershey, Carlisle, Middletown and Palmyra area home as cool as it used to, before you worry about having to replace or repair anything, check around that condenser. It’s a simple thing to trim back all vegetation – or even pull out plants that are too close entirely — to create a clear zone about five feet wide on all sides around your condenser. This will allow for the free flow of air, and your home air conditioning system won’t have to use so much power to do the same work.