3 Tips on SEER Ratings and Choosing an Air Conditioner

Your air conditioner is one of those “behind the scenes” systems in your home that you often take for grated. When you walk into the house on a hot summer day, though, that refreshing temperature drop makes a world of difference. That nice, cool environment doesn’t come cheap, though. The energy costs associated with keeping your air conditioner running through the summer is one of the main contributors to your monthly utility bill.

What’s a SEER Rating?

Just like certain cars have better gas mileage than others, each air conditioner runs at different efficiencies. The rating fort his is known as the SEER rating. SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. The higher the rating, the more efficient your system is-meaning it uses fewer watts per hour to cool your home. Currently, the highest SEER ratings on the market are around 23-25 SEER, with the minimum requirement at 13 SEER.

Selecting which system is the best for your home requires careful consideration. While a more efficient system decreases monthly power bills, these more capable systems naturally have a higher price tag. Our team at Triple T wants you to have an air conditioning system that does its job best for your specific situation.

Before running out and buying a new air conditioner, take the following questions into consideration:

• Where do you live geographically? Homes located in hotter climates, naturally, keep their air conditioners running more often. If you live in Boston, you’re using much less AC in the summer than your cousin living in Pheonix. The more often your system is running, the more you can benefit from the energy savings of a more efficient system. Home owners in hotter climates, then, often opt for an air conditioner with a higher SEER rating.
• How long do you plan to live in your home? The perk of air conditioners with high SEER ratings is that, even though you pay more upfront, you receive the payoff from that initial cost over time with your decreased utility bill. However, investing a lot of money into a state-of-the-art air conditioner with the highest SEER rating might not be practical if you’re planning to transfer homes in 2-5 years. If you don’t stick around long enough to benefit from those cheaper costs, you would have been better off choosing a less expensive system in the first place, such as a with a 13 or 14 SEER rating air conditioner.
• What’s the lifespan on your system? Even if you plan on living in your home for more than five years, the air conditioner you end up choosing will only last for so long. The average air conditioner lasts anywhere from 10-15 years. In that lifespan, will the savings you receive on your monthly bill justify the higher upfront costs of purchasing a system with a higher SEER rating? If yes, awesome! If no, go for a lower SEER rating until you find that sweet spot where you can save the most on your monthly bill while still offsetting the cost of the original purchase.

Finding the Best Fit

At Triple T Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing, we are dedicated to providing you with the solutions to make your home a comfortable place. Our technicians and HVAC experts would love to review your SEER rating options, and help you determine which system will be the most effective choice for your unique household situation.

Call our team today to get the best air conditioner for you!