SEER

I have some friends who are having problems with their air conditioning units. Since I’ve gone through this ordeal recently, I thought I would give a few words of advice to the rest of you. Specifically, I thought I take time to post about SEER or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating.

SEER is used to rate the efficiency of air conditioner units. SEER = seasonal Btu of cooling/seasonal watt-hours used. By federal law, every central split cooling system manufactured or sold in the U.S. today must have a seasonal energy efficiency ratio of at least 10.0.

The higher the SEER, the higher the efficiency of the unit. There also seems to be an upward correlation in price, the higher the SEER the higher the price. When you are looking at a new unit be sure to consider the SEER rating. While a lower SEER may be cheaper, it will also be less efficient. A 13 SEER unit will be 8% more efficient than a 12 SEER unit. The same unit will be 30% more efficient than a 10 SEER unit.

It also may be worth considering that the US government will raise the minimum SEER from 10 to 13 in January 2006. The resulting supply and demand of the 10 and 12 units will cause their prices to rise. If you are thinking about replacing your unit with a 10 or 12, now may be a good time.

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