Energy-conscious homeowners are always looking for ways to lower their electric bill.
So it’s no surprise that this question pops up frequently: Should I be shopping for an air-conditioner with a higher Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER)?
As with anything, there are trade-offs. You will pay a little more for an AC with a higher SEER, but you’ll spend less money on operation.
Cost benefits of upgrading to a higher rated SEER unit
A SEER is kind of like the miles per gallon (MPG) rating for your car, applied to air conditioning. A unit with a SEER of 16 will use roughly half the energy of a SEER-8.
As of 2006, all AC units had to rate at least SEER-13. Now there are systems available that are rated as high as SEER-23.
If your AC is more than eight years old, it’s probably a no-brainer that an upgrade will save you money.
Environmental benefits of high-rated SEER units
A higher SEER will also put out less carbon dioxide (CO2). So you might sleep a little easier knowing that you are making less of a contribution to climate change.
If you switch from a SEER-8 to a SEER-16, you would cut your CO2 emissions in half over the lifetime of the system. Even changing from a SEER-13 to a SEER-16 would save 30,000 pounds of CO2. That’s the equivalent of removing three cars from the road.
If you live in a warm climate such as Georgia or Florida, it makes even more sense to shop for a higher SEER. With the AC running most of the year, you can mitigate some of the environmental impact by choosing the most efficient unit you can afford.
Monetary Return on Your Investment
The trade-off is that you’ll pay more for a higher SEER system. You can compute your payback period if you take the price difference between a low SEER air conditioner and a higher one, then divide your estimated monthly savings into that number. This will give you the payback period in months.
Or, you can download a spreadsheet from EnergyStar that will do the math for you: Energy Star cost calculator ')}