Should You Upgrade Your Dublin, Oh AC This Year?

An old or failing air conditioner is detriment to your home, rather than an asset. Even if you don’t think your air conditioner is performing poorly, it’s important to know the year it was installed and the type of efficiency you can expect from the system to determine whether it’s truly working for you in terms of comfort and energy savings. With many new air conditioning solutions and technologies on the market today, upgrading your air conditioner is a smart move that could help you enjoy even greater comfort and indoor air quality without the high costs you may associate with summer cooling. Talking to your HVAC service is the very best way to evaluate your current cooling system and calculate whether you might benefit from new AC installation in Dublin, OH, this year.

Efficiency Improvements

Air conditioning systems are rated using a SEER value, which stands for “seasonal energy efficiency ratio.” A higher SEER value indicates a more efficient system that converts a greater percentage of input energy into cooling for your home. Over time, the minimum required SEER value for newly-manufactured air conditioners has risen—this means that even without additional changes and advancements, new air conditioners are automatically more efficient than those manufactured, built, and installed in past years. As of January 1, 2015, the minimum SEER requirement for most new home cooling systems was raised to 14; in 2005, the minimum SEER rating was raised from 10 to 13. This means that if your air conditioner was manufactured and installed before 2005, it could have a SEER rating much lower than a modern system manufactured today. A lower SEER rating means your air conditioner is more costly to run than a newer model, simply because it is not capable of achieving the same energy efficiency. Making the move from SEER 10 to SEER 14 could not only improve the overall quality of your home’s cooling system and the comfort it produces, but also help you see significant long-term savings on your monthly cooling bills.

Refrigerant Changes

In addition to increasing SEER ratios, there are additional changes occurring within the home cooling industry. Legislature passed in recent years has enacted the phasing out of R-22 refrigerant, or Freon, for use in air conditioning systems. As of January 2010, new R-22 refrigerant has not been manufactured, leaving only the existing stores of Freon available for use in air conditioner recharging and repair. Thus, the price of R-22 has risen, increasing the cost to you if your R-22 air conditioner experiences a refrigerant leak and requires the addition of more R-22 for cooling function. Newer air conditioners manufactured in recent years use a refrigerant such as R-410A, which is both more environmentally friendly and readily available. While there is no immediate need to replace your R-22 air conditioner at the current time if it is functioning well, if you’ve had problems with your air conditioner in the past that include refrigerant line problems or leaks, it’s worth considering the financial and environmental benefits of new AC installation with a system that uses a lower-cost and more eco-friendly refrigerant.

Are you ready to explore the benefits you could gain from new AC installation in Dublin, OH? Our experienced HVAC technicians can help you evaluate your current HVAC system and your home cooling needs to determine the advantages of an updated cooling system. Please stop by our website to learn more about AC installation, repair, and maintenance, or check our blog for additional home cooling news.