It’s & We’re Always Open!
When you choose Energy Star heating and cooling equipment for your home, you’re doing everything you can to keep your heating and cooling bills as low as possible. Only the most efficient HVAC equipment can carry this mark of energy efficiency excellence. Because heating and cooling account for half the average family’s energy expenditures annually, doing what you can to reduce consumption will save plenty of money.
Furnaces and Boilers
The minimum AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) for these systems stands at 78 percent, which means that such a system uses that much of its fuel for heating. The other 22 percent is wasted up the chimney or through a standing pilot light. To earn the Energy Star’s designation, the AFUE must be 90 percent or higher. Most of these systems are condensing furnaces that extract nearly all the heat the fuel creates. They do so by using a second heat exchanger that takes the heat out of the water vapor that natural gas creates when it burns. The water condenses and drains away into your home’s plumbing.
Heat Pumps
A heat pump can do double-duty heating and cooling, and the minimum SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) must be 14 or higher and the HSPF (heating season performance factor) has to be over 8.0 for a system to qualify for the Energy Star program.
Air Conditioning Systems
Like heat pumps, central air conditioning systems must have a SEER that starts at 14 to qualify for the Energy Star program.
Once you’ve selected the equipment that qualifies for the program, it will perform better if you make sure that your contractor sizes it properly using Manual J software. Making home energy improvements, like adding insulation to your attic and sealing the air leaks throughout your home, can reduce the size of the system you need and how hard it will have to work to keep you comfortable.
For more information about choosing Energy Star appliances, contact the experts at Pipe Works Services. We’ve provided outstanding HVAC services for northern New Jersey homeowners for more than a decade.
