Stafford Va – One of the most expensive purchases you will ever make for your home is an air-conditioner – whether you are replacing existing equipment or choosing a heating and air-conditioning system for a new home.
Once your AC system is up and running, it could be a decade or more before you replace it. Since you will be living with it for a long time, you want to choose wisely.
If done correctly, a new air-conditioner will result in more comfort year-round, lower energy bills and better air quality — particularly because of recent improvements in cooling-equipment technology and installation procedures.
Here are basic points to remember during the process:
1. Pick a trusted contractor. Unless you have worked in the HVAC field, you cannot expect to completely understand all the details in air-conditioning; no homeowner can. This creates a situation where you might be taken advantage of, and you need to proceed carefully.
Do pick a contractor based on recommendations from friends or neighbors or a reputable referral network. Don’t choose one after talking to a telemarketer or because someone came to your door to make a solicitation. Be suspicious of mailings offering cut-rate prices.
Check on how long the contractor has been in business. Someone who has been around at least five years has a commitment to the job and can typically be counted on to return if you have problems.
Then check with the Better Business Bureau to see whether a contractor has been the subject of complaints. Finally, ask each contractor you interview for past customers’ names and call a few.
Ask references: Did the contractor do what was promised? Has he or she returned to fix problems that came up after installation? How do the customers like the air-conditioner they chose? What impact have they seen on their utility bills?
2. Take the contractor’s advice. Researching online or asking others who have purchased air-conditioners is always good. But be cautious about insisting on a specific brand or size of air-conditioner, especially when recommended by someone living in another state.
Once you choose an installer you trust, ask for suggestions. The contractor may know about options that suit your home better than what you had in mind. A good contractor also knows which manufacturers give the best warranty.
3. Buy an AC that fits your home. Make sure your contractor does research about your house, the microclimate you live in, and the condition and placement of your air ducts. That way, he or she can determine how much air-conditioning you need and whether you need to repair or realign ducts to improve your cooling efficiency.
Be very, very cautious. If a salesperson makes a proposal without visiting your attic to look at your furnace and air handler or without checking the AC in the yard or on the roof, he or she is not doing the necessary homework.
4. Bigger is not always better with air-conditioning. AC experts tell us that for years we have “over-tonned” houses in Virginia by installing air-conditioners too large for the size of the house.
A quick explanation starts with a few definitions: The cooling power of air-conditioners is often described as “tons of refrigeration.” A ton of refrigeration is roughly equal to the cooling power of one ton (2,000 pounds) of ice melting in 24 hours. Residential central-AC systems are usually from 1 to 5 tons in capacity.
The industry used to recommend installing 1 ton of refrigeration for every 400 square feet of floor space in your home. But times have changed, and energy efficiency has improved. You can probably go with 20 percent less tonnage than before. You can go down about half a ton in your AC without even noticing it.
Be wary of contractors who recommend increasing tons because of warmer areas in your house. That cannot be solved by increasing the capacity of your air-conditioner.
An oversize AC stops and starts more often; that costs more kilowatt hours and could lead to mechanical breakdowns. Oversize air-conditioners do not run long enough to dehumidify the air. A smaller unit will run longer and perform more efficiently.
Your contractor should perform a heat-load calculation before deciding what size air-conditioner you need. That calculation should consider the size, shape and orientation of your house, insulation, window area, air infiltration, climate, number of residents in the house and their comfort preferences.
5. Change your entire HVAC system. If you replace just the outside AC unit with a condenser and compressor without replacing the furnace and air handler, you might not be happy with your comfort level or energy bills.
Those separate units are designed to work together and need to match in capacity and efficiency. Otherwise, you might not get the benefits of the SEER rating promised by the equipment you buy.
6. Understand the SEER rating. In shopping for a new AC system, be sure it has an Energy Star label. Energy Star products, certified by the Environmental Protection Agency, are at least 20 percent more efficient than air-conditioners that meet minimum federal standards.
An Energy Star AC will have a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio ranging from 13 to 21. The higher the SEER, the more efficient and less costly your unit will be to operate. An AC with a rating in the middle will probably work best and pay for itself more quickly than units with the highest ratios and prices.
7. Consider improving your duct work. Even the most energy-efficient unit will underperform when coupled with bad ducts. Many homes in Virginia actually lose much of their cooling and heating capacity due to leaky air ducts.
According to an APS study, as much as 33 percent of the potential heating and cooling could be leaking out. You may need to reseal or reconnect ducts or reroute their path through your house.
8. Consider more than price. That lowest bid might come from someone who hasn’t analyzed your ducts and filtration system. That contractor might not include a decent guarantee, either; some reputable firms guarantee parts and labor for five to 10 years.
If the HVAC estimator or salesperson at your house simply recommends replacing your old equipment with new equipment of the same size and doesn’t check the integrity of your duct work, you have the wrong contractor.
