Understand AC efficiency and your electric bill

Your air conditioner is really going to be pulling on those electric bills. Those electric bills are going to tell a story of how much run time we actually have. And whenever we look at, you know, is our air conditioner working as well as it did last year? One of the ways that we can look at is our electric bills. And specifically, like if we didn't change anything, meaning like we didn't get a pool installed or something, we can look at our electric bills year over year. And I don't want you to look at the cost, because if you look at the cost year over year, you're probably going to get frustrated because the power company has increased your electric bill yet again. But what we can do instead to actually get a true reading is look at kilowatt hours. We can say, how many kilowatt hours did we use this summer versus last summer? And are we pulling more? If we're pulling more kilowatt hours, one, make sure that we don't have a bunch of, you know, kids running in and out of the house, or like if something changed. But if it's significantly more, that's telling us that the run time of our air conditioner has increased, we've lost efficiency, and we might actually have a problem.

Well, I had someone look at it last year. Yeah, who looked at it matters. A tune-up checklist from a big box company and a real diagnostic are two very different things. So, when one of our guys shows up at your house, here's what they're actually doing. Not a 10-point marketing checklist, they're doing a real diagnostic. We're measuring supply and return air temperatures, static pressure in your duct system, refrigerant pressures on both sides. We're checking the amp draw on your compressor and your blower motor, your capacitor health, your contactor condition, your coil cleanliness inside and out. We're not trying to find something to sell you. We're trying to understand what your system is actually doing. Sometimes, everything checks out fine. Sometimes, we find something that you need to know about. Here's where we're different from a lot of companies. If we find something, we'll give you both numbers, what it cost to repair it, and what it would cost to put that money toward something new. And then, we let you decide. >> Your home. >> [singing] [music]

uh typical questions that I receive from a lot of customers like well you know how much savings would I could I see on a new system uh compared to my old system and that varies so an average single stage equipment uh versus standard systems that were installed in 2008 you'll see anywhere from about a 40% in savings and then going all the way up to we're seeing close to 60% on the top end. We don't like talking about savings a ton because it depends on usage and usage is determined by the homeowner. So, um, if your ideal temperature is 74 degrees, uh, and someone else's ideal temperature is 70°, um, that's a big swing. So, it's really hard to talk about savings because people have different temperature preferences. But these are the general ideas of how much you'll save whenever you're buying a new air conditioning system.

Your utility bill is rising and you didn't change anything about your system last year and the KW for how much kilowatts for how much you bring charge from you your utility bill has not gone up but for some reason my bill is higher than it was last year. That's the the number one sign your AC system is not going to last through the summer. Hey guys, hope you enjoyed that video. If you're interested in an instant estimate for either HVAC or plumbing upgrades, click the link below. We have all of our pricing available on our website. Your Heroes. >> [music]

Maybe you're in a situation where you're like, "Well, I don't have super high repairs and you know, I'm not really necessarily considering replacement cuz you know, my repair costs aren't too high, but maybe your utility bills are." They could be and maybe they're higher than what you want them to be. Maybe they're high and you don't even know they are cuz you're just you're like a frog in boiling water. You don't know. A new system often times is is going to be more efficient than an older system. And so, if your utility bills are higher than what they should be, you could save significant amount of money on doing that system replacement whereas you could put that money towards a new system as opposed to continue paying high utility bills. Uh high utility bills is also indicative of a repair that's coming down the line. High utility bills often means that your compressor is going out. It's pulling high amps and so, your high utility bills, that's a yellow flag saying, "Hey, something's wrong." But you may be in that boat where you're trying to figure out the efficiency.

It's fantastic. Your system's running. It's cooling. You've got no issues. But you're noticing that, you know, your utility bills are just a little bit higher. So, that's an early warning sign. It doesn't We should not automatically assume just electrical bill inflation. A lot of times what that indicates is that components are running longer than they used to be or that your system is losing its efficiency. In general, not all not all the time, but in general, systems lose about 2 to 5% efficiency every single year. So, you might be noticing an efficiency loss over time. Your system's running longer. That's why it's even more important to do those May checks. It's really, really important cuz we can check a lot of these small things that help your system run more effectively over the long run and extend the life of that system. This is really important, especially if your system is 7-plus years old. >> Your >> [singing] >> pros.

This is really cool. This one is a really good install done by our install department. This is a side discharge unit because typically when you have an outdoor condenser what's really common is you have just the if you go outside your house and you look you probably have kind of a box sort of shape and a fan blowing air up. On this type of unit is it blowing out the side. Hence the name side discharge. This particular unit is a really efficient unit. You know, it's a gets a really high seer rating and it lowers the cost to operate is what this is. Um also it's really looks really cool. >> Your home

Easiest way I know how to think about it is mile per gallon. So think of it like a car. Every system is going to get you from point A to point B. Point A is I'm hot and sweaty. I'm uncomfortable. Point B is I'm nice and comfortable. Every system is going to get you from point A to point B. It's just how efficient will get you, you know, how efficient, how much money are you going to spend to get you to your ideal comfort level. The higher sear rating that you choose, the less money that you're going to spend to get to that comfort level. And so uh it's going to have a better NV. It's going to have a better mile per gallon on your comfort inside the house. And so that's the easiest way I know how to think about it.

Understanding SEER ratings. So, EPA within the government rolled out some new ratings and SEER stands for seasonal energy efficiency rating. It's basically think of it as like how efficient does this system cool my house and how much energy does energy does it use to do it. SEER 2, they changed the regulations on how strict they are. They made stricter stricter measuring protocols to make sure that you are indeed getting a a system that satisfies their particular standards. And so, instead of just raising the number, they just called it SEER 2 and it's confused everybody. But, to clarify that for you, SEER 2 is more efficient than SEER 1. So, if you are comparing a 16 SEER 1 versus a 16 SEER 2, 16 SEER 2 is going to be more efficient. It is designed in real life applications. So, as far as energy efficiency is concerned, your 16 SEER 2 is going to be more efficient. Your >> [singing] >> home. >> [music]

A lot of contractors will try to sell equipment based on how much you're going to save on your utility bill, and I don't love that. You should never buy an air conditioner because it's going to save you money on your utility bill, right? You shouldn't ever do that. You should buy an air conditioner that fits your budget, and then if it saves you money on your utility bill, well then great. That's an outstanding byproduct of the situation. It's all like, "Hey, I'm going to buy this car because it saves me on gas." Like, "Okay, but did you need a new car?" You know, it's kind of one of those situations. And ultimately though, if we're talking about, "Hey, we've crossed the bridge. We need a new system, and here's why we need it." Do the napkin math. You don't have to go for a variable capacity system to save money on your utility bill. A base entry system is going to be more efficient than one that was installed 10 to 15 years ago.