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Text Box: •  Systems with a 10 SEER rating usually have a smaller warranty package than systems with a SEER rating of 12 and above.  So, this is something that you would need to check into when purchasing a system.  Text Box: The Main Point to consider when making the decision between efficiency levels in regards to equipment purchases is, would you rather save some money on the initial installation or would you rather save money every month on your utility bills for many years to come as you continue to use your system.  Text Box: •  In most cases, the lower the SEER rating, the less costly the initial installation of the system will be; however, the more costly it will be to operate in regards to monthly utility costs.For some consumers, the immediate bottom line is the most important factor when making the SEER ratings decision, but for others the continual monthly cost of high utility bills is more important.  Simply put, each consumer must weigh immediate economical desires and needs against the long term cost of operating the system.  •  Always ask about the SEER rating when having an a/c condenser or heat pump system installed.  AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) - The AFUE rating describes the efficiency of your furnace by describing how efficiently the furnace converts fuel into heat.  To explain, a furnace that would be described as 80% efficient, would utilize 80% of the fuel of the 100% that it takes in, which would mean that 20% of the fuel basically goes up the flue pipe.  •  As with a/c condensers, the government mandates minimum efficiency levels in regards to furnaces being manufactured & installed today.  Currently, the minimum level states that a furnace must be at least 78% efficient.  Most of the furnaces currently being installed today are 80% efficient.  Furnaces that are 80% efficient are considered to be in the mid efficiency range.  •  Furnaces with an AFUE rating of 90% or above are considered to be in the high efficiency range since most of the fuel consumed is utilized for heating. •  Many furnaces manufactured before 1992 have efficiency ratings as low as 60%, which basically means that nearly half of the fuel being consumed is being wasted.   •  If your furnace is very old and/or has a very low efficiency rating, upgrading your furnace to a more efficient furnace could cut down a great deal on your heating costs since most of the fuel being consumed would actually go towards heating.  In the long run, this extra savings could pay for the cost of upgrading to a new, more energy efficient furnace.  HSPF (Heating Seasonal Performance Factor) - This rating system is used to describe the efficiency level of heat pump systems.  Basically, the higher the HSPF rating, the less it will cost to heat your home in regards to electricity consumption.  •   As with a/c condensers and furnaces, the government mandates heat pump minimum efficiency levels, also.  Currently the minimum is set at 6.8 HSPF for new heat pump system being installed.   •  Most heat pump systems manufactured and installed before 1992, have ratings below 5.0  HSPF.  Currently a rating of 7.5 HSPF or higher is considered to be in the high efficiency category.            Text Box: Efficiency Ratings     Text Box: Text Box:    Efficiency levels are very important in regards to both initial system installation choices and system replacement choices.  All systems are not alike.  Simply put, some systems will cost you much more to operate than others.  There are three different rating systems used in regards to a/c & heating efficiencies.  These three rating systems are:         SEER rating (cooling)        AFUE (gas heating)        HSPF (heat pump heating)    To learn more about these efficiency ratings, and how they effect the cost of operating your a/c & heating systems, please see below.  Matching Your System - Also, of great importance in regards to efficiency ratings, is a properly matched system.  Simply put, the indoor equipment and/or copper line set must be properly matched to the a/c condenser or heat pump being installed to obtain the desired efficiency level.      For example, if you are replacing your outdoor equipment with a high efficiency a/c condenser, but do not match the indoor equipment with the new a/c condenser and/or make sure that the copper lines are the correct size for the new condenser, then you will not obtain the high efficiency level that you are trying to get.  Simply put, you won’t get the high efficiency savings in regards to your utility bills that you paid for when purchasing a high efficiency system.     To further illustrate, data provided by Trane noted that when a 13 SEER a/c condenser was matched with existing indoor equipment which was 10 years old, the SEER rating dropped to 9.2.  Thus, drastically diminishing the energy savings that the newly installed high efficiency system should have provided.  SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) – It is a measurement of the cooling capacity, which describes the efficiency levels of an a/c condenser or heat pump system versus the amount of electricity used.  It is basically a number, such as 10 or 12, etc. that describes the efficiency level of the condenser. •  The current units being sold today start at a 10 SEER rating and go as high as a 19.5 SEER.  Generally speaking, systems with a 12 SEER rating are the standard in the current market until January 2005 (see next point).  With systems with a 13 SEER rating and above being classified as high efficiency, in most cases.    •  Due to Federal regulations in regards to SEER ratings & energy efficiencies, equipment with a SEER rating of 10 or 12 will no longer be manufactured as of January 26, 2006.  Some manufacturers are scheduled to stop producing this equipment in July of 2005 with only their remaining stock being available in these SEER ratings. •  Simply put, the higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the system will be, which means that it will cost less to operate, and thus save you money on utility bills.                                                  

                                                                                                                          

Text Box:                                 Text Box:     John Meeks    Owner TACLBO22107E  Bowie, Texas 76230                                                                                          

 

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