A/C Features Your New System Should Have

Most people feel some degree of stress when they’re about to make a big-ticket purchase. But if you’re shopping for a new central air conditioning system, here’s a fact that should lift much of the worry from your shoulders: Thanks to some truly revolutionary A/C features, today’s systems need between 30 and 50 percent less energy to run than their clunky counterparts from the 1970s.

In fact, even if your air conditioner is less than 15 years old, you stand to save as much as 20 to 40 percent on your energy bill by replacing it with a new, energy efficient Energy Star model. That’s right, because the U.S. Department of Energy has insisted upon setting “green” standards, you can save some green, too.

The A/C features that make these savings possible include:

• Two-stage cooling, so that the compressor operates at a lower speed during moderate weather, when it can afford to. When the lower speed kicks in, you save money and extend the life of the compressor at the same time.
• A condensing fan motor that makes automatic speed adjustments, which also uses less energy and saves you money.
• A blower motor that requires less energy to circulate air.
• “Green” refrigerants such as R-410A. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken a hard line on the ozone-depleting R-22, contained in older air conditioners, by phasing it out of production by 2020.
• Thermal expansion valves, which basically control the amount of coolant that runs to the evaporator.
• All of these A/C features positively affect a system’s Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, commonly abbreviated as SEER. The department of energy requires that today’s A/C systems register a SEER of 13 or more, which means that these systems are 30 percent more efficient than systems manufactured before 2006, when the minimum SEER rating was 10.

At All Temp Air Conditioning & Heating, we enjoy helping our customers make an informed decision about one of the most important big-ticket items in their homes: a new central air conditioning system. Contact us for a consultation today — and start adding up your energy savings tomorrow.