In case you missed it, there are now new minimum efficiency
standards for residential air conditioning equipment. As of January 1, 2015 the
long discussed regional air conditioning standards went into effect. They are
called regional standards because the minimum legal efficiency of the equipment
is determined by the region of the country in which it will be installed. For
Northern states, nothing changes – the minimum stays at 13 SEER. For the
southeast, the minimum is increased to 14 SEER. For the southwest, the minimum is a bit more
complicated. The SEER rises to 14, but minimum EERs are also introduced. The
minimum EER for the Southwest is 12.2 for systems less than 45,000 Btuh and
11.7 for systems 45,000 Btuh and greater. So a 13 SEER system that is legal in
Indiana is illegal in Kentucky. A 14 SEER system that is legal in Texas might
not be in Arizona, depending on its EER. Although the minimum efficiencies are
already in effect, the enforcement mechanism has yet to be determined.
It is interesting to note that it is possible for a unit to
have a higher SEER than another unit, but for the lower SEER unit to have a
higher EER. That is the reason for the dual SEER/EER conditions.
Rheem has a good page with a map and a table explaining the
new standards
There is a very informative presentation on the California
Energy Commision’s web site by Steve Kavanaugh explaining the reasoning behind using both SEER and
EER for minimum efficiency standards.
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