Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Determining the Best Central Air Conditioners - Tips and Facts


The best central air conditioners will usually be different from one structure to another. Although many different models of central air conditioners are on the market, offering varying amenities, the crucial factor in determining the answer "Which is the best central air conditioner for you?" is the efficiency of the unit itself.

The efficiency of an air conditioning unit depends first on its SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) rating of the unit itself. This value is measured in terms of BTU/hour and represents the cooling power of the air conditioning unit. The other factor in gauging whether an air conditioner is indeed the one ideal for your structure is the appropriateness of its SEER rating for that house.

To determine the power you will need for the best central air conditioning unit you will have to calculate the BTU requirements of the room using the dimensions of the room and the degree of insulation found in them as parameters for the computation. Such BTU calculators can be found on the internet. They will usually ask you to input the length, width and height of the room as well as indicate the general level at which it has been insulated from hear. If you calculate the value for all the rooms you intend to include in your best central air conditioners' scope and add them together, you have the total BTU's that that structure will require for maintaining a pleasant temperature in the rooms.

Basic BTU calculators do not usually include the body heat emanating from occupants of the room. However, you can get around this by adding 600 BTU's for each person you expect to be in each room.

Because cooling power is measured in BTU's per hour, if the value you got from the BTU calculator is indeed set for one hour, you will still need to multiply that by the number of hours you think you are going to keep your best central air conditioner on for a day, and then for the whole year.

For ordinary usage, the best air conditioning units should have an SEER rating of 10. However certain structure may require a much bigger rating than that during periods of normal use. There are, in fact systems that have a 23 SEER rating. Such ratings are good for extended use of the air conditioner.

The rule at the market place is that the higher the SEER rating of a unit, the more expensive it is. This is precisely why without having calculated your BTU requirements, it is impractical to go out and purchase the best central air conditioners. You simply cannot be sure you have made the right choice without calculations. You might end up with an air conditioner that is incapable or over-capable of cooling the areas in the building that need cooling. In either case, the integrity of you appliance will be compromised.

As soon as you know the precise SEER rating you need, you should look for best central air conditioners that have the energy saving star on it. This will make you eligible for benefits from the power companies and incentives from other organizations that are concerned with preserving our environment. These brands and models usually are 20 % more efficient that the best government standards. So unless your system has the energy star you can't really call it "best."

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