Purchasing a New HVAC System? Learn the Terms AFUE, SEER and HSPF – Sobieski Services | DE, NJ, PA, MD

Purchasing a New HVAC System? Learn the Terms AFUE, SEER and HSPF

Having a new HVAC system installed is a great way to improve the energy efficiency of your house. The key to getting the most out of your new purchase though is to get a system that produces the most heating or cooling for the lowest amount of electricity or fuel. This is where the terms AFUE, SEER, and HSPF come into play, each of them have a separate meaning, but they all help you determine how energy efficient your furnace or air conditioner is.

AFUE The annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) is used primarily to determine exactly what percentage of the fuel that goes into either a furnace or a water heater comes out as heat. Higher numbers are good, with 100 being perfect. Since you will always have at least some efficiency loss, you should look for something with an AFUE rating in the high 80s or 90s. SEER SEER stands for seasonal energy efficiency ratio.

Once again, the higher the number is, the more energy efficient your air conditioner is. In the United States, the SEER rating of anything sold after 2005 has to be 13 or above. Since running your air conditioner is one of the biggest ways in which your home uses electricity during the Summer, you want to make sure you have a very efficient model.

HSPF The heating seasonal performance factor (HSPF) is a measure used to figure out how effective a heat pump is on an air conditioner. Your heat pump is what pulls the hot air out of your house and replaces it will cool air. It is determined by taking the number of BTUs that it puts out in heat and dividing it by how many watt-hours of electricity it uses. Units with a higher number will be much more energy efficient.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC and plumbing systems). Call Sobieski Services today for any home HVAC help you need.

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