Cool air feels good, but high utility bills do not. Efficient air conditioners can save you serious money over the life of the system and keep you just as cool.
When you are considering the efficiency of an air conditioner, size is everything. Oversized and undersized can be equally bad. When a unit is oversized, it will cycle over and over. The constant starting and stopping of the unit will pull more energy, and the dehumidifying properties of the cooling coils will not have time to fully operate. This will result in moisture being blown into the duct works and the ambient air with each start up. If the unit is undersized it will not be able to generate enough cooled air to maintain the desired temperature, and will run constantly.
Air conditioners are rated on their efficiency using a measurement known as the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER). This measurement is the cooling output divided by the energy consumption with climate and certain other variables factored in. The higher the SEER number, the more efficient the unit, is the general rule. Older units might have a SEER as low as 7 or 8. For a long time, The Department of Energy mandated a SEER of 10 as the minimum for all newly installed units. This figure has recently been raised to 13, and is a topic for debate currently. Some units are capable of SEER ratings as high as 17 or 18.
Window units use EER (Energy Efficient Ratio) rather than SEER, but the principle is basically the same. The principle of “bigger is not necessarily better” applies to window units also. Humidity plays such an important role in comfort, and is often more important than just mere temperature. Smaller units tend to remove more moisture because they have longer runs. When a unit first starts it actually blows a bit of moisture out of the unit. Once the cycle is running smoothly, the condensation of moisture on the cooling cools begins. Therefore, a longer running cycle is going to provide a more comfortable environment.
There are other factors that will increase the efficiency of an air conditioner and result in a reduction of operating expense. A programmable thermostat is one such idea. The thermostat can be set to automatically raise the ambient temperature at night during sleep or when the home is vacant during working hours. A ten degree raise in temperature setting during these time periods can result in a ten percent reduction in operating costs.
Properly maintaining your system will also result in increased efficiency. Routine changing of filters is one of the most important maintenance requirements. Efficiency of air conditioning is an issue that goes beyond savings to the owner of the home or building. It is an issue of national concern. The wide spread use of air conditioning has created a large strain on electrical power demand especially during heat waves. Power generation is struggling to keep up with demand and brown-outs have become frequent during periods of high demand. Air conditioning efficiency takes place on an individual level, but the air conditioning industry is working to improve efficiency with improved models and the development of new technology as well.
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