A Short Introduction To SEER Ratings

The process of buying a new air conditioner presents quite a few challenges. Chief among these is the matter of finding a unit that is correctly sized for the room it will be installed in. Our air conditioning experts here at Petrocelli Services have on multiple occasions found oversized or undersized units to be responsible for ineffective cooling and AC damage. Undersized units tend to overwork themselves trying to cool your home. Oversized units are unnecessarily expensive, and have frequent on/off cycles that don’t bode well for compressors.

Figuring out the correct size of your new air conditioning unit isn’t all that simple. Of course, there are thumb rules to help you estimate the tonnage of your new air conditioner, based on the square footage of the room it would have to cool. However, you would also need to consider the extent to which your home is sealed and insulated, duration and patterns of usage, and of course your local climate.

SEER (short for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) ratings seek to simplify this process. They combine factors including the square footage of a given space, its insulation or energy efficiency, local climate, and time periods through which the space is occupied, into a set of values that are then allotted to air conditioning units. The government recommends a minimum SEER rating of 13. The maximum SEER rating an AC can have is 25.

Here at Petrocelli Services, we would be happy to help you find an air conditioning unit with the right SEER rating for your home. Additionally, we offer services ranging from air conditioner installation, to annual maintenance and emergency repair. Just give us call to learn more.