When you’re shopping for a new air conditioner, you don’t have to look far to find advertising for high efficiency HVAC systems. The efficiency of an air conditioner, as you may have noticed, is usually expressed in SEER, which stands for “Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio”. The higher the SEER rating, the more energy efficient the air conditioner is. But, how much money will you actually save on your electric bill by upgrading to a unit with a higher SEER rating?
Lennox’s newly-released XC25 air conditioner boasts of an impressive 25 SEER rating – among the highest in the industry to date. But new air conditioners installed since 2006 are only required to have a SEER rating of at least 13. When you consider buying a new air conditioner, this leaves you with many options to choose from. Since more efficient air conditioners are obviously more expensive than less efficient models, you may wonder if the promised energy savings are enough to justify the higher initial cost. The Good News: In most cases, they are – especially if you make a jump in the SEER ratings compared to your current AC. Some old systems may clock in at as low as 9 SEER (or even lower in some extreme cases). Going from a 9 SEER to a 25 SEER air conditioner will cut your cooling energy usage by almost 2/3.
If you want to talk specific dollar amounts when it comes to energy savings, there is a complicated set of calculations necessary to figure out which SEER rating will save you how much money. Lucky for you, we’ve done the hard part for you. As a special service to our customers, Kobie Complete has created a very completely free, easy-to-use SEER Savings Calculator on our website.
Here’s how it works: After moving the slider on the calculator to set the SEER rating of your current air conditioner, play with the second SEER slider. You will immediately see the estimated:
- Percentage of savings per year
- Energy consumption per year of your current and new AC
- Energy savings over 5 years , 10 years and 15 years
To help you start saving money and energy, Kobie Complete is also able to finance your air conditioner upgrade. For more information about purchasing a new, high-efficiency air conditioner for your home or place of business, please contact us at (941) 474-3961. We will be glad to assist you in making this investment.
