The start of the warm weather is finally here, which means it's time to turn on those air conditioners! But not understanding the efficiency of the a/c system in your home can hinder your knowledge on money savings via lower energy bills. Air conditioner efficiency is rated using what's called the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. As noted in one of my recent blog posts, the SEER ratings for parts of the country have changed. For example, all new A/Cs and heat pumps installed in the southeastern United States now require a minimum rating of 14 SEER.
To calculate the energy efficiency of an air conditioner, the SEER rating system measures the cooling output of the unit with the total amount of electricity it uses during an entire season. The higher the energy efficiency, the lower it costs you to run it. Viz-a-vi, the higher the SEER rating of the unit, the more energy efficient it is. With the benefit of SEER ratings, you can more easily choose the most energy efficient a/c unit to fit your needs and your wallet / purse. With the rising costs of energy usage, you can't afford not to know about getting the most from your heating and a/c system. The Lennox website has a simple SEER calculator to help give you a general idea on savings with different SEER systems.
Basically, if you know your air conditioner is getting old and you think it might be about time to see about purchasing a new system, now is the time! Like I said above, whenever the government comes down with these SEER changes, the price on new systems goes up, so don't say we didn't warn you! At Environmental Heating & Air of NC, we give free estimates on system replacements and we would be glad to help you out today!
-Nickadeemus
www.enviro-nc.com
919-535-8422
