Choosing the Right Air Conditioner for Your Home

Whether you are building a new home, renovating an old one, or doing replacement for a component of your current HVAC system, choosing the right air conditioner for your home is important to keeping your family cool and comfortable when the heat of summer hits. Selecting the right one is not as easy as walking into a dealer or home improvement store and buying the one you like. You do need to know a little bit about how these units work before you make a purchase.

First, make sure you consider the efficiency ratings. The more efficient the unit is, the more it will cost to purchase, but the less it will cost to run. Since you will be using your unit for ten or more years, most likely, this is a place where you might want to spend a little extra.

Efficiency is marked by the Energy Star label and indicated by a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating, or SEER. Old units manufactured before 1992 had a SEER rating of 6.0. Units installed in new homes after 1992 had to have a SEER of 10.0. High efficiency is considered to be a rating of at least 12.0, but even higher SEER numbers are possible in the most efficient models.

Noise Ratings

An air conditioner can be a noisy piece of equipment for your home. While you cannot buy a silent unit, you may want to consider the noise of the unit you are considering before you make your purchase. After all, if the unit is too noisy, you are going to struggle to truly enjoy it.

These units are measured in a unit called bels, which have a scale between 0 and 13. The lower the bels on the unit, the quieter it will be. Most units have a rating of 8 to 9 bels, but this is a large range, because a 9-bels unit is going to be 10 times louder than an 8 bels unit. That is a substantial difference. If you need a particularly quiet unit, look for one that has a scroll compressor rather than a piston driven compressor, as it will operate at a much quieter level.

Size

One of the most important factors to consider when choosing an air conditioner is its size. You need a unit that is large enough to cool your entire home, without being so large that you are paying for power that you do not need. Explaining how to choose the right size is challenging, so this is a task you need a professional for. Even if you do not buy a unit from one, have an experienced technician come to your home or business to figure out what size unit you need.

If this is not possible, the general rule of thumb is that you need 12,000 BTUs for each 500 square feet of living space in your area, provided your home has standard 8-foot ceilings. But remember, when it comes to an air conditioner, bigger is not going to be better, because the unit will shut off before its dehumidifying properties kick in, and you will be left with a wet, sticky atmosphere in your home.