Air Conditioner 101

Did you know? During the hottest months your AC can account for up to 90% of your total monthly electric bill.  When 1/7th of the energy produced in the United States is used to air condition buildings its important to understand how they work and their impact on the environment.The typical air conditioning system consists of evaporator coils, a fan inside, a compressor, compressor coils and a fan outside. The unit cools by using the refrigerant (Freon) to transport the heat from inside the space to the outside air. The heat is expelled into the outside air by the action of the fan pulling air over the coils and the heat contained in the Freon is transferred to the air.The problem with the AC system is that in extreme heat, many conventional air conditioners are unable to effectively transfer their stored heat into the surrounding air. They are forced to work harder and longer to cool the air in your home, shortening their life and producing unreasonably high electric bills.This problem can be further compounded if the AC system is incorrectly sized for the application.  Contractors often install oversized AC units in order to avoid complaints, accommodate future expansions, enable quicker cooling down of homes, and to allow for lower cooling set points by homeowners.Thanks to SEER, identifying the efficiency of your AC unit has become very easy.  SEER is the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio.  This measures the cooling efficiency of your air conditioner or heat pump. The higher the SEER number, the more efficient the system is at converting electricity into cooling power.If you are like many people and you have an older, less efficient model such as one with a SEER rating lower then 8 then it may be time to start shopping for a new AC unit.If purchasing a new AC unit is a bit cost prohibitive then consider improving the efficiency of your existing AC unit with Cool-N-Save(tm) (http://www.coolnsave.com/).  The Cool-N-Save(tm) has been proven by Tulane University to improve the efficiency of your AC unit - in some cases up to 30%.  This improvement in efficiency translates into real savings each month.