Are you in the market for a new air conditioning system? Now is the best time to buy, while temperatures are mild. You have plenty of time before summer temperatures begin soaring to their highest. In other words, there’s no reason to rush your purchase! You have time to determine exactly what kind of air conditioner you need, and time to schedule the installation at your convenience.
Your HVAC technician can be an invaluable resource at this time. Our professionals, for instance, can help you determine the best system match for your home, and the factors you’ll want to look at for your new AC.
What factors are these, you ask?
1. Power Level
Every cooling system has a specific power output level that will need to be tailored to fit the parameters of a home. We’re not just talking about square footage, though that’s an important part.
You can likely guess why an under-powered system wouldn’t work—it would just run and run all day long without getting your home cool and waste a huge amount of energy in the process. Energy that you are paying for!
What many homeowners don’t understand is that an over-powered system can be just as wasteful!
Air conditioning systems use more energy simply starting up and shutting down than they do running. So, they should be able to run for at least 15 minutes at a time in order to make the best use of energy. And over-powered unit will cool your living space way too quickly and then shut down, turning on just a few minutes later when the house warms back up. This is a process known as short-cycling, and will increase wear and tear on your system.
The ideal air conditioning system matches the specifics of your home perfectly.
2. Efficiency
Once you know the power (called the cooling load) of your air conditioner, you’ll need to determine which system in your price range makes the most effective use of its energy—in other words, how efficient it is. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to do this.
The SEER rating, that is, Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, gives you a quick look at the system’s effectiveness. Generally speaking, the higher the rating, the better job it will do at cooling your home. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should go out and pick a system with the highest SEER rating in your budget, though. Remember what we mentioned above—knowing the cooling load matters!
3. Warranty
Every air conditioner comes with a warranty covering the parts involved in case they break down during a certain period. The longer the warranty is, the greater period for which you’re covered in the event repairs are needed.
One very important method to help your new air conditioner last beyond its warranty is to schedule annual preventive maintenance from your service technician. Maintenance deals with all of these little issues that contribute to wear and tear, such as loose bolts or a lack of lubricant on moving parts. By planning them regularly, you can extend the lifespan of your system beyond the warranty, all while lowering the strain on your system.
For professional HVAC services in Olympia, WA, contact Sound Heating and Air Conditioning Inc. today! We take your comfort as serious as you do.