While high energy ratings in an HVAC unit are desirable, homeowners often forget to factor in their home’s energy efficiency.
So you’re buying a new heating and air conditioning system and perhaps you keep hearing all about SEER rating. Well is that really the most important thing you should consider when buying that new heating or air-conditioning your home? SEER rating simply stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. Think of it like miles per gallon on your car, the higher the SEER rating, the more energy-efficient the unit is. But is that really the most important thing you as a homeowner should be considering when replacing your heating or air-conditioning system? Not really because it’s only one component in the whole energy consumption of your home. And when you start thinking about your old air conditioner that sitting up on the roof or down on the side of your house that’s been there for 20 or 30 years, when that thing was built it was like eight SEER, 6 SEER. The thing about that reading is it goes down over the life of the air conditioning system. So buying the highest rated SEER system isn’t always the best thing because that 14 SEER rated unit could save you up to 30 to 40% just on your energy consumption. So when you save money on your heating and air conditioning system it allows you to put that money back into other places. Perhaps a new doors, new windows, or if you have a pool in Arizona, new high efficiency pool pumps because that’s going to save you money since it runs year-round. Now you get more bang for your buck! You’re able to address the whole energy efficiency of your home that way.