Choosing a Central Air System

Central air system

An effective central air system controls humidity in your home, reduces allergic reactions and keeps you cool all at the same time. The most important thing to your air system is making sure that you get the right sized conditioner for your home that takes into account square footage, insulation levels, where the system gets housed, etc. If you have a contractor who doesn’t ask about these things – look for a different contractor! Generally speaking you need a 12000 BTU/hour unit for 400 square feet. This at least gives you a comparison to use in your discussions.

Another consideration is the amount of energy your conditioner will use. If you review models they’ll have what’s called the SEER rating. The higher this number, the better energy savings you’ll get from the unit. Typically you want to get a system that has a minimum rating of 13, with 16-18 being better. Speaking of which, while you’re looking at ratings you want to ask how well the system controls moisture. The dealer or contractor should be able to answer that question.

A third thing to ask about is if the potential system has an expansion valve. This valve maintains the temperature correctly so you won’t have a unit freeze over, for example. Along the same lines, you want to have a temperature control that you can set and program for various times of the day. For example, if you’re not home from 10-6, you probably don’t want to spend the money to continue running the cooling system the whole time. Instead, you can program your system to turn on an hour before you get home so by the time you arrive, your house is comfortable.

The various parts of a central air conditioning unit revealed.

Finally remember to factor in the cost of maintenance in your system. Some have hard to find filters that run a bundle if you have to buy them singly. Yet without a clean filter, you loose energy efficiency. So, ask about maintenance plans and costs before you buy.

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