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Green Home Jul 2, 2008
Choose the Best Air Conditioner
Greenest Way to Get Cool
Yesterday we looked at some ideas for greener cooling options. Today we're going to look at how to choose an air conditioner, if you think that's your best home cooling option.
You need to decide if you'd like to cool your entire home at once - say you have a tiny house, or maybe you're willing to cool room to room. The best option for a larger home is to cool room by room, because you'll save energy and money over central air or ductless air.
If you are looking for a room air conditioner, you need to look for the EER number. The EER is an Energy Efficiency Rating that show, in easy terms, how much energy you'll be consuming. It's more complicated than that of course, so if you're into the hard core search stage, it'll pay for you to read Choosing an Efficient Room-sized Air Conditioner. This post at Treehugger, goes over some more precise specs about EER.
If you're going with central air you won't see a rating because each central air system is dependent upon the home or space it resides in. Installation and hardware differs for each central air system. Some pros of central air is that it's the best at evenly cooling; but really most homes don't need their entire home evenly cooled. Secondly, central air in new homes is inexpensive. On the other hand, adding central air to your long standing home can be super costly. All things to consider.
Lastly, if you do go with air conditioners of any kind, make sure you're not blasting it just because you can. See if you can adjust the air conditioner down some, and still stay cool. Also, be sure to turn it off at night (or at least down) because it's cooler.
To learn more read:
Air conditioners: Green buying guide
