On January 23, 2006 a government mandate stated that heat pump and air conditioning manufacturers (Carrier, Bryant, York, Lennox, etc.) would no longer make equipment less than 13 SEER. The regulation required that all products manufactured after that date meet the new standard. This 30% increase in minimum efficiency could result in energy savings of up to 23% compared to most central air conditioning systems rated at 10 SEER.

If your system is more than 10 years old and is rated at only 8 SEER, you can expect to see savings of approximately 55%. This mandate has followed other such governmental acts to protect our environment & natural resources. If your system is 10 years old it could have SEER rating as low as 8. Older “out-dated” equipment should be considered for replacement in order to take advantage of the cost savings of today’s high efficiency systems which are commonly rated between 13 & 16 SEER. You are not required to replace your existing unit if it is less than 13 SEER, but doing so could shave up to 23 percent off your energy bill while providing real environmental benefits through decreased energy consumption.

More SEER History:
On March 17, 2004, in WASHINGTON, D.C. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) announced their acceptance of the air-conditioning industry of SEER 13 as the federal efficiency standard for residential central air conditioning systems to be effective in January 2006. At this time the current federal standard was SEER 10, which took effect in 1992.

The SEER 13 standard was first announced in 2001 towards the end of the Clinton administration, and was later reduced to SEER 12 in 2002 by the Bush Administration, and then restored again to SEER 13 in January 2004 by the 2nd Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Today the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute ARI announced it was withdrawing its appeal of the SEER 13 standard which was filed in 2001 in the 4th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, making the SEER 13 standard now complete.

Under the current standard, energy use by new air conditioners will be reduced by 23% relative to the current 13 SEER standard. According to the ACEEE report, this will reduce the peak demand for electric power by 41,500 Megawatts by 2020. This is equivalent to 138 typical new power plants of 300 Mega Watts each. This is expected to save consumers approximately $5 billion over the years of 2006-2030. This standard was also implements to reduce air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, and saving 7.2 million metric tons of carbon in 2020. This could be equal to taking more than 3 million vehicles off the road.

Tags: SEER