Best Central Air Conditioners

Central air conditioners operate by circulating cool air through supply and return ducts. The supply and registers which are the opening in floors, ceiling or walls covered by grills, are used to transport the air into your home from the air conditioner. As the cool air circulates in your home it becomes warm and is transported back to the central air conditioner through the return ducts and registers. When looking for the best central air conditioners a number of factors must be considered, some of these are discussed below.

The best ones will have a high seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) rating. As a result they may cost you a bit more to buy, but in a long run they will cost you less, as they are able to use less energy to produce the same cooling effect as those with a lower SEER, therefore making them very energy efficient. The best central conditioners will have a SEER rating between 18 and 23.

Another important feature of any central cooling system is the type of compressor it uses. This is the most expensive part of an air conditioner unit, and so the best central air conditioners must have compressors that are reliable and durable. The two main compressors to be concerned about are scroll and reciprocating compressors, with reciprocating compressors being the older type. Scroll compressors have less moving parts than reciprocating compressors, and are also more reliable, along with being quieter and more efficient. In addition the best central air conditioners will be equipped with scroll compressors that can resist liquid refrigerants, as liquid refrigerants are incompressible and will damage the compressor, costing you more money.

The best ones will also have a good warranty and this is necessary as anything can happen after the unit is installed; a warranty will save you a lot of unnecessary spending. As a result, the best central air conditioning unit will have a 10 or more years warranty either on the compressors, the parts of it or a limited warranty on the indoor and outdoor coil. A typical warranty will give you 10 years on the compressor and 5 on the other parts. However there are manufactures that have better warranties, such as a lifetime warranty on the heat exchangers and compressors and 10 on the internal parts.

Another feature of the best central air conditioners is that it must be equipped with a thermostatic expansion valve (TEV or TXV). This valve is used to control the flow of the refrigerant throughout the air conditioning unit. Central air conditioners that are less efficient and have lower SEER ratings have a fixed orifice which stays open at the same level irrespective of how much refrigerant the unit needs. The best central air conditioner units are however equipped with a TEV or TXV which allow the unit to correct the refrigerant flow based on the needs of the unit.

If you use these factors to search for the best air conditioning units, they should be hard to find.