Anyone upgraded to a higher SEER & seen a difference?

[cs1992]

My parent's 4 ton unit installed in 1993 is about shot. I was visiting this weekend and the unit seemed to run constantly...granted, it was 90 degrees outside.

My father is planning to install a new unit and knows that 13 SEER is pretty much standard now. I don't know the SEER of his existing unit, but it is a 10 SEER at most. He is looking at a 14 or 16 SEER. He asked if I thought he would actually see a decrease in his power bill.

So, has anyone upgraded from an older 8 or 10 SEER to a 13+ and seen any real difference in power consumption?

Thanks

[shotcaller]

the only time you will see a difference is when the unit runs 24/7 and even then you would need a seperate meter to see the difference i have made 10 seer units run just as cool as 16 seer units

[HeyBob]

I went to a lennox XC21 from a 10 SEER Amana, upgraded air handler also to VS, wow, what a difference in my electric bill, comfort also greatly increased.

[hetrola]

Originally posted by shotcaller
the only time you will see a difference is when the unit runs 24/7 and even then you would need a seperate meter to see the difference i have made 10 seer units run just as cool as 16 seer units

"just as cool"?????

[dash]

There will be a power savings ,if it's installed correctly,on a proper duct system.

About 8 or 9% for evey SEER point.

Savings in dollars are dependent on running hours,Minn. versus Florida,Florida saves more in dollars.


Best thing is added comfort(dehumidification and add-on air filtration) with variable speed fan,two stage heat and cool,that is often found in products like Carriers Infinity,or Trane's XL19,both two stage cooling.

[pstu]

Dash said:
>>There will be a power savings ,if it's installed correctly,on a proper duct system.
>>About 8 or 9% for evey SEER point.

That would seem to be true if you move a point or two in the 10-13 SEER range, I would agree that much. But a person reading your statement could easily get the idea that going from 17 SEER to 19 SEER is supposed to save them 15-20% and I fear that promise cannot be kept.

One thing people too often overlook is, air conditioning is not 100% of your electric bill. So how will one measure savings without getting a master's degree in statistics? I live in S.Texas and use a heckofa lot of electricity, but when I burn 90 kwh/day in summer I believe only about 60 of that is air conditioning.

I used to work for the local electric utility in the "load research" section, that does not make me automatically right but I hope you will believe I picked up a few pieces of valid knowledge over the years. The typical person who is successful in that field *does* have that MA degree in math. If a utility has a formal savings program the PUC will require such level of expertise before they will believe the utility isn't just trying to fool people with numbers.

Thanks for all the help you have offered on this board!

Best wishes -- Pstu

[nutshell]

Originally posted by HeyBob
I went to a lennox XC21 from a 10 SEER Amana, upgraded air handler also to VS, wow, what a difference in my electric bill, comfort also greatly increased.

I have the same unit...I love it, and quiet as a mouse

[cs1992]

Good replies...Nutshell & Heybob I'd be interested on just how much of a difference your new units make in regards to kilowatt hours. Going from 10 to 21 SEER sounds like a mjor leap.

Personally, I am skeptical about the SEER calculators I have found on the internet although I have no first hand experience. Going from 10 to 21 SEER is a theoretical 50% efficiency gain. And, according to these sites, that equates to 50% less power consumed.

[heaterdude]

Simple way to get hard savings numbers taking into account your duct system is correct and tight-air is pull the model number off old unit and ask the dealer and or sub to tell you what SEER the unit is then go to PG&E with both unit seers & size and ask them to calc. the savings differince for you. They do it all the time here for me so I can tell people what the savings costs are gonna be based on previous year usage.
And this will also tell you when you can expect a return on your investment.

[iheatncoolinnc]

Every SEER increase does equal savings. How much depends on run time. Different areas of the Country have different run times. Most of the higher SEER air condtioners have additional features as you move up. A 16 SEER could have humidity control and a 13 SEER might not. So with the higher SEER you are alos buying additional comfort. Payback is better on the higher SEER units if you live in an area that uses cooling for a longer portion of the year. if you only use cooling for a few days of the year, you probably want a 13 SEER.

[nina]

Click your location on the cooling and heating maps

[dash]

Pstu,

You are correct,17 to 19 SEER is less of a percentage savings then 12 to 14 SEER.

[cs1992]

Nina

That is one of the websites I am referring to. Going from a 10 SEER to 21 SEER provides over 50% improvement. I just don't know how realistic this is.