Love's Real Stories

If your heat and air unit starts to cough and sputter, you need to know about a new law that went into effect on January 1, 2015, which will require you to buy an upgraded unit at more expense than you might have thought.

But, according to the Department of Energy, who made the law, you will save money in the long run. The overall intent is to save the environment. The Department of Energy sets energy-efficiency standards for air-conditioning and heating equipment, measured as the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER), a number prominently displayed on the bright yellow Energy Guide sticker on the side of air conditioners, heat pumps and other equipment.

The higher the SEER rating, the more energy efficient the unit is, and the more money you are supposed to save by operating it. If you have an older air conditioning unit, you might see that it has a rating of 8 or 10 SEER. In 2006 the requirement was stepped up to 13 SEER, and now the Department of Energy has raised the bar higher, depending on the region of the United States you live in.

California is in the “Southwest Region” and we are held to the toughest standards because we are considered a “hot-dry” region. Air conditioners installed in homes in California must have at least a 14 SEER rating. The same goes for heat pumps and gas package units.

Opponents of the Department of Energy’s rules say the cost of replacement requirements is unfair and hidden.

A contractor I spoke with said, “These new AC units are bigger than the existing ones, and a lot of remodeling will be required to fit the systems that are enclosed. There are going to be a lot of angry people. First, they’ll find out that the unit itself costs a lot more than they expected. Second, they’ll find out they have to remodel their house to just to fit the thing in.”

The contractor said changing the SEER number from 13 to 14 isn’t worth it. “We just went through a big change a few years ago,” he said. “This is a tiny change in efficiency, but it’s a huge cost to the public.”

The Department of Energy has a different view. They say the AC and heat pump standards will save about 156 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over 30 years or roughly enough to run 8.7 million typical U.S. homes for one year. The furnace standards will save about 31 billion therms of natural gas over 30 years, or roughly enough to heat 62 million typical U.S. homes for one year. Carbon dioxide emissions, attributed to global warming, will be cut by up to 143 million metric tons over 30 years, an amount equal to the emissions of 25 million cars over one year. Emissions of bad stuff like smog-forming nitrogen oxides will be reduced by 124 thousand tons, and mercury emissions cut by 338 pounds. They say the dollar savings for consumers will reach about $18.7 billion.

The Department of Energy says that although a new AC, furnace or heat pump will cost more as a result of the new requirements, this cost is more than outweighed by energy bill savings over the life of the product. They say a typical buyer will net about $150 in savings over the life of a new air conditioner meeting the standard, a heat pump buyer will net about $146 and a furnace buyer will net $571 compared to a unit just meeting the current standard.

However it shakes out, it’s probably time to eyeball that yellow sticker on the heat and air unit, and get an idea of the fun to come when it starts to wheeze.