What Air Conditioner is best for you?
The most important factors to consider when purchasing a new air conditioner is efficiency and durability. With Amana's 10 year parts warranty and lifetime unit replacement warranty, durability comes standard with all Amana products. As far as efficiency, Amana gives you a wide range to choose from depending upon your needs and outdoor climate.
Air Conditioners are rated by Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, or S.E.E.R.. In short, it is the ratio of B.T.U.s removed and the watts used to do so. The higher the SEER the more BTU's that are removed per watt used, so the higher the SEER Rating the more efficient the unit is, currently 13 SEER is the required minimum. Obviously, the higher the SEER rating the more initial cost the unit will be as well. So when choosing which SEER is right for you, very simply, the question should be; can you offset the initial cost with the amount of usage you will get out of your air conditioner in your particular climate?. A more efficient air conditioner is not necessarily a better built air conditioner, in fact, the most efficient air conditioners require different compressors, modulating metering devices and circuit boards not used on lesser efficient units.
SEER has nothing to do with the size of an air conditioning unit, a one ton unit or a five ton unit both can be 14 SEER but vary tremendously on the amount of work they are capable of doing. A "ton" of air conditioning is 12,000 BTUs, which is the amount of heat needed to melt one ton of ice. A rule of thumb is that a ton of air conditioning will cover up to 600 square feet on a ranch type home and 700 square feet on a 2 story home. This is only a "rule of thumb" and many things must be considered when properly sizing an air conditioner. An air conditioner that is under sized for your home will run constantly and not be able to achieve desired temperatures on extreme days, when you need it the most. On the other hand, an over sized Air Conditioner will run short cycles and satisfy the thermostat too quickly, and these short cycles will not allow enough humidity to be removed to allow you to be comfortable at desired temperatures. Removing humidity is 75% of an air conditioners job. We can provide you with a detailed Heat Gain Analysis for your home, and determine the exact size unit your home requires, at no cost with our free estimate.
Call us today @ 231-935-3822 or E-Mail us today to schedule your free estimate!!
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