New regs for heating and air

If you’re thinking about upgrading your Heating and Air Conditioning Systems, you may want to start early this year or wait until next. You should know that changes have recently been made that will affect your future cost of operation.

Congress recently passed legislation that will require Manufacturers of Heating and Air Conditioning systems to “increase the efficiency” of the newly manufactured air conditioning units. The efficiency is rated utilizing a term called SEER. Currently, most existing air conditioning units have a 10 SEER rating (some 8 SEER and some 12 SEER). All units “manufactured” on or after January 23, 2006 must have a 13 SEER or higher rating. The 13 SEER central air conditioner standard is predicted to save the nation 4.2 quads (quadrillion British Thermal Units) of energy over the next 25 years. This is equivalent to the energy consumed by nearly 26 million American households annually. The standard is expected to save consumers $1 billion over the same period. (www.energy.gov/)


Manufacturers will continue to sell 10 and 12 SEER units until their sizable inventories are depleted, and will continue to manufacture and sell parts to service the existing 8, 10 and 12 SEER units for the foreseeable future. However, during the 2006 calendar year, the lower SEER inventories will deplete and manufacturers and distributors will then only be selling the new 13 SEER air conditioning units, which will be larger and more expensive. There may also be additional costs associated with incorporating 13 SEER units with existing systems.