The bulk of the heating season is behind us. However, just as you crack open a window and breath in the first fresh air after a long winter, a harsh realization creeps in: it won’t be long before the cooling season, once again, is here.
At that point, you may wonder: “What is the best system for my house?” With the sharp spike in home cooling and heating costs, it is an important question to ask.
Whether you’re moving into a newly constructed home or living in an existing home, there are some things you should know about your heating and cooling system. How do you know if you have a viable, economic system, or an energy hog that will eat a hole in your budget?
The answer is, of course, “there’s really no best system.” Different people have different requirements. But the best explanation is: the worst system made, properly installed, is better than the best system made, improperly installed.
No one should be satisfied with a system that just keeps the cold out in winter and that just provides some relief from the heat of summer. For she knows that, in addition to providing relief from the outside weather conditions, an ideal HVAC system can, by the use of a programmable thermostat and other controls, sanitize the air, control the moisture in the air and, with the use of zoning if necessary, eliminate unwarranted hot and cold spots throughout the house.
The ultimate system is one that can provide maximum humidification as well as dehumidification, energy efficiency, reasonable initial and repair expenses, and improved indoor air quality. When you know that you have equipment and components—made up of many individual parts, yet, designed and engineered to work together to increase comfort and performance—then you have a perfectly balanced system.
Certainly, a new HVAC system is the last thing most people want to buy. But if your HVAC system doesn’t work properly, then nothing else matters.
Justin McClure is president of Daflure Heating, Cooling, & Solar. Find out more at www.daflure.com.
Sidebar:
Here are standard efficiency ratings that make it easy to compare the performance of different systems. Understanding their importance will help you choose a home comfort system that will not only save you money, but also save energy.
Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE)
When you need to measure the thermal efficiency of your furnace, AFUE helps to determine the actual, season-long, average efficiency of that piece of heating equipment. It measures the amount of heat actually delivered to your house compared to the amount of fuel that you must supply to the furnace.
Seasonal Energy Efficiency (SEER)
Are you getting your money’s worth out of your air conditioner? Determining the SEER of your unit will help. SEER is the comparative method used to judge how efficiently your air conditioner performs. It’s one way to see if you’re getting real value out of the energy dollars you spend. The higher your unit’s SEER, the higher its energy efficiency and the more efficiently it uses power.
Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF)
The HSPF is the most commonly used measure of the heating efficiency of heat pumps. The HSPF is a heat pump’s estimated seasonal heating output in BTUs divided by the amount of energy that it consumes in watt-hours. Typically, a high efficiency air conditioner or heat pump pays for itself in savings in a few years.
