In today's sweltering heat, everyone is buying portable air conditioners. And some of us are buying more than one. It might be because we underestimated the heat capacity of our homes, or it could be that we found a portable AC unit we really liked and want to equip more rooms with one in the expectation of a similarly hot summer.
Regardless of the reason, it will behoove you to find out what ratings are out there on portable AC units so you will be better prepared next time you shop on line or in a store. When you know the ratings you will know what benefits you can expect from the unit compared to the other units on the market place. You will be able to pick the best portable AC unit for your needs, and save money purchasing it, and you will save money on your monthly electricity bills. We will discuss three portable air conditioning ratings, EER, SEER, and Energy Star.
EER - Energy Efficiency Rating
The wonderful thing about best portable air conditioners is that it takes very little electric energy to transfer a lot of heat out of the room. The numerical ratio of heat transferred out versus the electricity consumed is called the EER, the energy efficiency rating. The portable AC units with ratings over 10 are the norm, and you should not buy anything lower than that. Which means for each unit of electricity used, you will be able to transfer at least 10 units of heat out of the room, and thus chill the room down.
When your portable air conditioner is reversible, it is called a heat pump. A heat pump will be capable of both cooling the room and heating the room up. In the case of a heater, the EER represents the ratio of the amount of heat transferred into the room and the amount of electricity used. Again, that ratio should be higher for higher energy efficiency.
SEER - Seasonally Adjusted Energy Efficiency Rating
SEER is not unlike EER, but it does take the seasonal outside temperatures into account. The SEER rating of a portable air conditioner should be 12 or more for maximum efficiency.
Portable Air Conditioner EnergyStar Rating By Environmental Protection Agency
EnergyStar rating was invented by Environmental Protection Agency in the US to let the consumer know that the portable air conditioning unit requires less energy than the comparable units in the marketplace. The difference in energy consumed between the EnergyStar unit and an average unit in the market place should be at least 10%. So, by purchasing an EnergyStar unit, you will save at least 10% on annual electricity costs for the portable air conditioning.
EnergyStar has more strict requirements on the type of technology that a unit is using. The technology should be widely available and there has to be at least one additional competitor company selling portable air conditioning units using the same technology. So knowing that, you can rest assured that you will not overpay for the EnergyStar unit.
The EnergyStar will protect you, the consumer, even with regards to the price of the unit. The price difference to the average unit on the market place is required to be so small that it can reasonably be recouped by the energy savings of the unit in just a couple of years.
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