Whether your old air conditioner has cooled its last summer or you’re just looking to upgrade to a more efficient model while the weather’s cool, buying an air conditioner is a big investment. Naturally, you want to get the best equipment for your money. When you’re reading product information or talking to an HVAC dealer, it helps to know the meaning of the HVAC terms you’re hearing.Here are some of the more common HVAC terms:

• British thermal units, or BTUs: A British thermal unit measures heat, with one BTU equivalent to the heat energy put out by one common birthday candle. The amount of energy put out by that candle in one hour is the same as one BTU/h.
• Cooling capacity: This measurement, shown in BTU/h, is the amount of heat an air conditioner can extract from a room in one hour.
• Cooling load: A cooling load is the greatest amount of heat that can accumulate in a room if there’s no air conditioner. Knowing this amount helps you to know the cooling capacity that you need.
• Energy efficiency ratio, or EER: This is a ratio reflecting how much an air conditioner cools compared to how much energy it’s using. Higher efficiency air conditioners have a higher EER rating.
• Seasonal energy efficiency ratio, or SEER: SEER shows how efficient an air conditioner is at cooling a room for the entire cooling season based on an average temperature.
• Oversizing: Choosing an air conditioner that has a higher cooling capacity than needed for your home’s cooling load is known as oversizing. An oversized air conditioner cycles on and off too often, wasting energy and leading to moisture problems.
• Undersizing: Choosing an air conditioner that has a lower cooling capacity than you need is labeled undersizing. An undersized unit has to work harder and wastes energy.

For more information about HVAC terms or other HVAC issues, contact Smoky Mountain Heating & Air. We serve the Asheville area and surrounding communities.Our goal is to help educate our customers in Asheville, North Carolina and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

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