SEER ratings seem to be the deciding factor these days when it comes to replacing the air conditioning system, but few actually understand the concept of this energy efficiency rating system. So, I’ve been surfing the web to see what everyone was saying about SEER ratings, and I found that most people are talking a lot about the differences between a 10 SEER and 13 SEER air conditioners. What they don’t explain, at least to my satisfaction is what that means as far as how much you will save per year in the Chicagoland area.

Calculating Watts Per Hour

First off, a 10 SEER air conditioner gives you 10 BTU’s of cooling per watt hour of electricity. 13 SEER air conditioners would give you 13 BTU’s per watt hour. What does that mean? Basically, if you have a 3 ton air conditioner rated at 36,000BTU, it is assumed that at a 10 SEER this unit will use 3,600 watts in an hour. This would mean that a 13 SEER AC at 36,000 BTU would use about 2,770 watts in an hour. That would equal 830 watts of electricity you are saving per hour of run time. Its all a bit technical, but the difference between the watts use per hour between each unit determines how much you could save.

May Not Seem like Much

At Chicago’s electricity rates that would mean you only save about 9.3 cents an hour. How many hours do you think your air conditioner runs during the summer? This is a hard question to answer, and everyone uses a different amount of electricity to cool their homes. A small drafty house could use more electricity than a house twice its size if the larger home is well insulated and has less air infiltration.

Make Your Upgrade Count!

Energy efficiency is the key to lower bills. 9.3 cents may not seem like a lot, but a 13 SEER air conditioner is currently the lowest rated system you could buy. Try upgrading to an air conditioner that is rated at 21 SEER and the savings really could be substantial. I think that the takeaway from all of this technical jargon is that SEER ratings do in fact reflect savings! The higher the rating, the less electricity the unit needs to run, and the more money you will save every month. Make every penny count this summer, and upgrade today.

 36000 btu / 10 seer = 3600 watts      3600btu / 13 seer = 2770nwatts   

 36000 btu / 16seer = 2250 watts        36000 btu / 21 seer = 1714 wattts

We offer a 26 seer unit also Mitusbishi