energy Efficient central Air Conditioners

For those of you living in warmer climates a central air conditioning unit maybe the single biggest source of energy consumption in your home.  For this reason it is one of the best places to begin when trying to reduce your energy costs. This is true for businesses as well.  According the EPA about one-seventh of all the electricity generated in the US is used to air condition buildings.

Central air conditioning units are measured using a ratio called SEER.  This metric represents the cooling output divided by the power input for a hypothetical average U.S. climate. New requirements took effect in 2006 which raised the SEER requirement by 20%. The higher the SEER number the more efficient the unit is. The most efficient models will have a SEER number of 14.5 or greater.   

Keep in mind that even an efficient air conditioning unit will waste a great deal of energy if it is bigger than what your home actually requires.  Make sure your contractor does a complete load calculation so you know exactly how big a unit to get.  Also, don't be penny wise and pound foolish.  When installing a new air conditioning unit be sure to look at getting the most up-to-date thermostat you can find to go with it.  Modern thermostats with digital timers allow for very precise scheduling of your home temperature and can ensure that you don't waste a lot of energy cooling the rooms when no one is there.

For some strange reason the Energy Star program does not directly provide energy efficiency ratings for central air conditioning units.  Instead they point you to a database maintained by a non-profit organization called the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE).  The CEE provides a searchable database of central air units at http://www.ceehvacdirectory.org.  The database uses a tiered rating system based upon the capacity of the unit and whether or not they are one piece units (condenser and evaporator in one housing) or whether the condenser or evaporator are in physically separate units. We found the database a bit confusing compared to the simple tables that Energy Star usually provides but if you work your way through it you can find out which are the most efficient central air conditioners.

Sometimes finding a heating and air conditioning contractor who really understands energy considerations is difficult. A great resource to go to in that case is the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) web site at ww.acca.org.  On their site you can find a Contractor Locator which includes a special designation to identify contractors who sell and are knowledgeable about ENERGY STAR qualified HVAC equipment.