While going to install the most efficient central air conditioner for your home. Always check some important considerations if you want to save your precious money. Below are the details of all of them. Let’s have a look!
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Types of Central Air Conditioners
The central air conditioner is designed to distribute the air to the whole house, unlike other in-the-wall single room or portable air conditioners.
A central room air conditioning system consists of an air-handling unit, a blower(for example forced-air furnace), a condenser unit, a system of ductwork to exchange room air with chilled air, and an evaporator coil.
The condenser is typically located outdoors, and the evaporator is in the garage, basement or attic. The ductwork routes through the basement and walls of the house.
For making air cool, air conditioners use refrigeration technology. A heat pump is mostly related to AC. This central air conditioner is reversed in the winters to make the house warm by spreading heat.
- Split-System Unit
In a split system air conditioner, the outdoor cabinet carries an outdoor heat exchanger, a compressor and a fan. On the other hand, the indoor cabinet is made of a blower as well as an indoor heat exchanger.
In most of the split-system central air conditioners, the indoor cabinet may contain a heat pump’s indoor heat exchanger or the furnace.
So if your house already contains a furnace but doesn’t have any air conditioner, then probably the split-system central air conditioner is the best budget option to install and make your home cool in summers. Let’s check out what the packaged unit is all about.
- Packaged Unit
Now we will discuss another great type of central air conditioner named a packaged unit. In a packaged unit, the compressor, blower, fan, and heat exchangers are all present in one cabinet, placed on the concrete slab next to your home foundation or on the roof.
This packaged unit is mostly used in small commercial buildings. The return ducts and supply together come from indoors via outer home walls or the roof to connect with the best-packaged air conditioner.
Packaged central air conditioner generally includes a natural gas furnace or electric heating coils. This is a great combination as the air conditioner and central heater collectively eliminate a separate furnace requirement.
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Heat Pump
Some of the types of central air conditioners mentioned above are available also in a variety of traditional systems called heat pumps.
While a conditioner moves heat only in one direction, a heat pump helps in another way. A heat pump can be reversed and pumps heat in another direction.
It performs a dual function; it is an air conditioner and a heater at a time, as it allows you to cool and heat for the whole year without using a furnace until it is very cold outside.
A heat pump works using electricity and works smoothly with your furnace too. The heat pump functions like a simple air conditioner for cooling the home during the summer season.
On the other hand, in the winter season, the heat pump works the opposite; it reverses the process, extracts heat from the outer air, and takes it back inside the home to provide you with heat.
The furnace will automatically overheat your home once the outside temperature is reached to freezing point and allows the heat pump to function smoothly.
Heat pipes are popular among users living in milder climates where the temperature is not going to the freezing point for most of the year.
However, recent advancements in heat pumps technology have made them even more efficient and high performers even for colder areas.
Geothermal heat pumps are in demand in the colder parts, such as Canada. This kind of heat pump extracts heat from the ground against a traditional pump that extracts heat from the air.
Keep in mind that they are a little more expensive than other air-sourced systems. For installing a geothermal system, you have to take help from a specialized skilled person who has experience in this field. But this is beneficial in terms of energy saving.
Size, or Capacity
Size or capacity is a similar word used for the air conditioner cooling capacity. Size is usually measured in tons or the British thermal units per hour (Btu/hr.).
For your convenience, we would love to tell you that one ton of cooling equals 12,000 Btu/hr. Visit the Energy Star website for taking rough size guidance.
The best suggestion for keeping you away from unnecessary stress is to ask your contractor to do a load calculator based on the accepted method, for example, as one mentioned in Manual J from the ACCA.
It is always necessary to choose the right AC capacity for your lovely home. A too-small unit will always cause trouble and struggle to make you comfortable at home during summers.
Contrary to this, an oversized unit( unless or until this is a unit with a variable-speed compressor) is capable of cycling on and off more often than it should, putting extra stress on components and feeling uneasy in controlling your home humidity.
If you plan to replace your home’s central air, you should always consider whether you want the same size system like the one installed previously or need to shrink it.
Any future changes you would like to make to enhance your home’s energy efficiency, for example, the addition of insulation or upgrading of windows, will decrease the cooling requirements.
In another situation, when you are constructing new rooms in your home’s spare space, you will probably need more cooling.
Efficiency
The efficiency will show how much cooling the unit can deliver by using each watt of electricity. Efficiency is also expressed in SEER, which stands for seasonal energy-efficiency rating. Greater will be the efficiency when the SEER rating is high.
Although ACs come with higher SEER ratings and are much more expensive, they are known to be the best regarding energy costs.
They will generally pay you more by using less energy. The SEER allowed for a new split central air conditioning system in the US is nearly 14, which means the AC will be 20 percent more efficient than other minimum-efficiency models engineered almost ten years ago. Systems that will fulfill Energy Star’s guidelines for efficiency have a 15 SEER minimum. The highly efficient models can reach up to 26 SEER at least.
Warranties For Central Air Conditioner
The great central air conditioning units can be very expensive for integrating into your homes, although they are worthier and can cool the home efficiently.
Remember, each brand that manufactures the best class Air conditioners provides a warranty. The warranty needs you to register within a given time limit in order to receive the replacement cover.
However, there is also an exception, as the conditional warranties are not applicable in the states of Quebec or California. If the user registers the AC unit ( state department), they can expect a warranty that can stay longer for at least ten years.
Most of the brands, including Trane, Goodman, and Amana, have guarantees that can even go for 12-years or offer a lifetime guarantee for their top-class products.
Remember that registration is very important as, without it, you can only get the AC warranty that will last for around five years, which is not so much time.
Check: Can A Mini Split Be Installed On An Inside Wall? A Comprehensive Guide
Noise
A feature named quiet operation is the best predictor of the overall satisfaction with an air conditioner. Manufacturers tell the noise level of various electronic items across a range of fan speeds and outdoor temperatures, measured in decibels.
This decibel rating will show the noise created by the central air conditioner. Generally, central air conditioner units produce sound just like a washing machine or vacuum cleaner when running, which is nearly 70 dB.
If you are the one who cares about noise, the best central air conditioning has a rating of mid 50dB, which is close to the sound of a dishwasher.
Reliability
This is probably the second-best predictor of the user to overall satisfaction with the central air conditioner system.
You can check the reliability rating from the trusted non-profit organization consumer reports.com to see the reliability ratings of at least 21 brands making central air conditioning systems. You can get the data from the AC installed between the years 2005 to 2020.
Consumers give the rating based on their own experience, which they get after purchasing and successfully installing the central air systems in their homes and offices.
This rating will make your buying decision comfortable and tell you whether you have to trust the specific brand or not. This is just for your help.
Programmable Thermostats
While you set the programmable or smart thermostat at the right temperature will lessen the cooling costs by up to ten percent.
The right temperature depends on your comfort level, but it is suggested to start with the 78° F and experiment until you get the required cooling level.
As per the saying of the Energy Department, you will probably save at least 3 percent of the electricity bill for every degree you increase the set temperature for central air.
It is also a point to remember that using a ceiling fan or box that costs less can make you feel cooler for about 3 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit.
Outdoor Space
For operating fully, the compressor requires necessary airflow. So it is vital to ensure that there is a maximum of two to three feet of space between the plants or structure and the unit.
There should be a minimum of five feet or clearance between the trees above and the top of the unit. Always make sure there is enough room for you and technicians for getting access to the unit for servicing it.
The local building codes will also help you know about the regulations about how close the outdoor compressor should be from the windows of neighbours or other property lines. if you wanna make line ouside then you must check our detail about Air Conditioner Drain Line Outside The House.
Pick The Right Model
After determining the appropriate size for your home, it is time to start making decisions about the best model that best suits your home.
When you want to spend your precious money on getting the right central air conditioner, always ensure energy efficiency is a part of your desired list.
There are a few methods by which you can get to know about how efficient your model is. Firstly look for the label blue ENERGY STAR®.
The ENERGY STAR® label helps to show the system that will give the best performance while using the least energy.
Most available air conditioner models use at least eight to ten percent less energy than other standard models.
Some of the other energy-efficient features necessary to look for in your central air conditioner are given below.
- Large Coils: Larger coils dissipate heat more efficiently and are for producing less noise.
- Fan-only Switch: This feature is accessible from your thermostat. A fan-only switch allows users to turn off the cooling of the unit but leave the fan on for circulating air.
- Automatic Delay Fan Switch: This feature named fan switch keeps the fan on so that even if you turn off the unit’s compressor, it still can use the leftover cool air. Like the feature mentioned above, this feature is also accessible from the thermostat.
- Filter Indicator Light: This feature will tell you when the filter needs to change. Keep in mind a well-maintained Air conditioner will always work best, so always ensure that it from time to time.
- A High-Temperature Rating: A High-Temperature Rating or EER greater than 11.6 along with a thermal expansion valve. When the temperature gets hot, this will translate into a high-efficiency operation.
- A variable-speed blower: It will help to lessen the consumption of electricity.
Central AC Energy Efficiency
Due to increasing the cost of energy day by day, air conditioners have become very costly to operate. They consume more energy than the total share of energy resources they have.
That is why, whenever you decide to spend some money on getting a central air conditioning system for your home, all you need is efficiency.
This is the ability of an air conditioner to convert (electricity) energy into cooling most efficiently. A user can expect from the air conditioner maximum cooling by spending less money.
Other Valuable Features
Some of the other valuable features to search for in the most Efficient Central Air Conditioner system consist of variable fan speed used for high-end cooling and a two-stage variable compressor.
For users located in coastal areas and areas where the weather changes dramatically, increasing weather protection or coastal models tends to be suitable options for getting some relief.
A wireless thermostat will also suit best to keep the tabs close to the home’s temperature.
Note For Replacing the Old System:
Always make sure to replace both the indoor evaporator and the outdoor condensing unit. If you just replace the condensing unit, the ultimate objective to get high efficiency may vanish.
