If you are buying a new home or if your current air conditioner needs to be replaced, you have a lot of choices. Fortunately, most of the systems that are available today are good products that can take care of your home cooling needs for years to come.
Even though most systems perform well, it is still important to consider many different criteria when choosing a new system. Choose the one that can work most efficiently in your particular Tucson home. To help with that effort, we at Rite Way Heating, Cooling & Plumbing offer these points to consider as you shop for a new air conditioner.
Zoning Is Important
If you have a larger house, a great way to save energy is to split your house into multiple heating and cooling zones. This allows multiple systems to do the job of keeping your home at the correct temperature, which means that you can set different temperatures in different areas depending on how often you use those areas.
If you think this zoning approach might be a good idea, though, you need to decide before you choose your new air conditioner. This will affect the size of the air conditioner you need, as well as a range of other components, including the ducting, thermostats, and much more. Although it will be more expensive upfront to take this approach, we at Rite Way Heating, Cooling & Plumbing highly recommend it. This approach will give you control and the comfort many seek from their home AC units.
Size Matters
No matter what size your home is, it is important to take this measurement into consideration when you buy a new air conditioner. The size of your home will determine what size of air conditioner you need, so it is important to do your research before you make a purchase. If you simply take a guess on the size of the air conditioner unit you need, you could end up with a unit that is either too large or small.
In either situation, your air conditioner will not be able to cool your home as efficiently as it could if you have a system that is sized correctly. An oversized system, for example, will cool your home too quickly, leading to short on-off cycles that can be hard on your system’s mechanical components. An undersized system, on the other hand, will have to work so long to cool your home that it will rarely shut off. To help you choose a system that is sized correctly, be sure to consult with the experts at Rite Way Heating, Cooling & Plumbing.
Unique Features
When choosing an air conditioner, there are more options than simply choosing the size and the brand. You can also choose from different types of systems that can help cool your home using different approaches. One less common system is a geothermal heat pump. This system, instead of expelling the hot air from your home outside, expels it into the ground through long tubes that extend beneath your home. Then, the cool ground cools the refrigerant, meaning that you can keep your home cool using very little energy.
Another less common unit is a ductless mini-split system. These units are designed to cool a single room via a unit that is mounted in that room and a small compressor that is mounted outside. These units eliminate the need for ductwork and can help you focus your cooling resources to help save money on your energy bill. Since there are different infrastructure needs for these and other types of AC/Heat systems. It is important to decide if you want to use one of these cooling methods before choosing which system you will use to do the job.
Do Not Forget Efficiency
Though all air conditioners produce cold air, they do not all do it equally efficiently. Therefore, when choosing a new air conditioner, the efficiency of the unit you select should come into consideration. You can easily determine the efficiency of a unit by looking for its SEER rating. SEER stands for Seasonal Energy-Efficiency Ratio.
This measurement considers the “cooling output” of a particular system over the course of an entire summer. This measurement is then divided by how many watt-hours of electricity it takes to achieve that cooling output. This determines the SEER rating. Basically, the SEER rating determines how much electricity a unit uses to create cool air.
Thanks to better compressors and new refrigerants, all air conditioners are far more efficient than units produced even five years ago. If you want to see your energy bills really fall, though, you can invest in a more efficient unit.
Installation Is Key
When choosing a new air conditioner, choosing who will install that air conditioner is just as important. After all, if an air conditioner is installed incorrectly, it likely will not cool your home as efficiently, and it could wear out prematurely. It is important, then, to do your research when it comes to an AC/Heat company that can install your system correctly the first time.
Some good ways to find trustworthy companies include asking friends and relatives, seeking assistance from online neighborhood connection sites, looking at reviews on the Better Business Bureau website or Angie’s List, and speaking with individual AC/Heat companies. By doing plenty of research before you move forward with the installation of your new system, you can be sure you won’t waste your money.
We Want to Be Your Trusted Source
At Rite Way Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, we aim to be the company you turn to whenever you have home heating or cooling needs. We know that your business is a privilege — not a right — which is why we do all we can to exceed your expectations in all that we do. That is why, in addition to our air conditioner and furnace installation services, we offer repair and maintenance for AC/Heat systems, duct cleaning, indoor air quality testing, and installation of ductless systems.
We also offer a full line of plumbing services, including water heater installation, repair, and maintenance, leak detection, and prevention, drain cleaning, water treatment system installation, and much more. We believe that once you experience our approach to home care, you will want to use us for all your home mechanical service’s needs. We offer as many of these services as possible.
This overarching commitment to customer service has led to many awards and accolades. We have received the award for Best Trane Dealer in Arizona and the Angie’s List Super Service Award. We’ve also been a finalist for the BBB Torch Award. For over 60 years, we have served the Tucson area with integrity and honor, meaning that you can trust us to take care of all your home’s needs in a way that will leave you satisfied. Call us at Rite Way Heating, Cooling & Plumbing when you’re considering buying a new AC. Not only can we help you with your decision, but we can install the unit for you too.