Why not move up to a 16 seer, or a 19 seer? SEER is about efficiency. If your're in a high cooling demand area, and plan to stay in that house for a long time, a higher seer rating may be cost effective.

 

1.) I am not in a high cooling area. 2.) For a mulititude of reasons I choose not to get into, the only options I am considering are 13 Seer and 14 Seer. Back to my original question:

Assuming the job is sized, designed, and installed correctly, is it worth a couple hundred bucks to upgrade from a 13 Seer 4-Ton Ducane AC Unit to a 14 Seer 4-Ton Ducane AC Unit? On the surface, it seems to me that it certainly would be, but would like to confirm w/ the experts.

 

No.

 

Your ducts and the rest of the envelope likely leak enough that any increase in efficiency is nullified.

There's a few more words for ya.

 

Jr is a man of few words. Or is that word?? Anyway, the definition of a SEER number, in theory at least, is the number of Btu's of performance you get from 1-watt of electricty burned. So theoretically, a 13-SEER AC unit will deliver 13 Btu's for every 1-watt of electricity and a 14-SEER AC unit will deliver 14-Btu's for every 1-watt of electricty. So you can do the math as easily as anyone. Or you can skip the math and just take Jrbenny's wisdom at face value.

 

So theoretically, a 13-SEER AC unit will deliver 13 Btu's for every 1-watt of electricity and a 14-SEER AC unit will deliver 14-Btu's for every 1-watt of electricty.

Wow. That is very wrong (sorry). I don't mean to be rude, but:

EER = system cooling btus / compressor power draw in watts. A 36,000 btu system that draws 3000 watts at 95F outside laboratory conditions has a 12 EER.

SEER is a take-off on EER to try and account for use in various (seasonal) operating conditions. SEER is a meaningless number.

For a fixed speed fan motor in the air handler:
SEER = EER (at 82F outside) x Degredation Coefficient (fudge factor).

For a v-s fan motor in the air handler:
SEER = EER at 67, 72, 77, 82, 87, 92, 97, 102 F. The temps are not weighted equally in the calc. The first 3 temps contribute 60+% to the SEER calculation. The highest 3 temps are less than 7% of the calc.

The SEER calc is weighted to low outside temps. What happens to high SEER numbers in scorching hot Florida or Texas summers? It drops like a rock. Some manufacturers even sacrifice btus to get high SEER numbers. This is why EER, measured at 95F outside, determines true operating costs for cooling.

Just because a system is high SEER, does not mean it is more efficient, or cheaper, to run. It just means it has a high SEER number.

Whichever SEER the OP chooses, 12 EER minimum should be selected.

Also, many 14 SEER systems have higher btu ratings and HSPFs (if it is a heat pump) compared to their 13 SEER counterparts.

Take care.

 

Looks like you made up your mind for the 14 seer unit yesterday??

Quote: "I am about to pull the trigger on a job that calls for the following equipment to be installed: 1 4-Ton 14 Seer Ducane Central AC System and 1 4-Ton 14 Seer Ducane heat Pump."

 

Definitely worth it if your keeping the system for 50 years. My guess it the payback would be about 40 years in an average climate. Check with the government, they have charts that can tell you.

 

Nice gary

EER is steady state, operating at peak efficiency. It does not account for the time period it takes from startup to peak. Nor does it take into account when the thermostat is satisfied and the coil is cool and obsorbs heat (in the ductwork not the conditioned space), pressure equalizes, refrigerant attracts to the coil only to be pumped back on next call for cooling...more inefficiency that EER does not account for.



Not worth it for 40 year paybacks, probably won't last 50 years either.

The only way i would go to a higher seer is if the rebates and or tax credits offset the cost.

 

Check for applicable tax rebates before making a decision.

Also make sure that you are comparing units which are of equal quality with similar specifications; sometimes going for the next unit up can mean getting a scroll compressor (as opposed to a recip) and/or a lower noise level.

 

Depends on your electric rate, and your cooling needs/ degree days.

 

Twilli says if the choice was Goodman Vs Ducane the answer would be yes, due to the warranty, lifetime on the compressor of the 14 seer. also expansion valve vs piston. Twilli says Thank Goodness for Goodman

 

the 13 seer has a 5yr parts 5yr compressor warranty
the 14 seer has a 5yr parts 10yr compressor warranty

I would go with the 14 seer, more efficient, better warranty

 

I am sitting here with my price guide for Goodman, as an example. Cost between the 13 and 14, dead cost, maybe 200.00. There is NO WAY a Ducane will last long enough to cover retail anyway. People dont buy it because they want a long lasting unit, strickly price. But it has a place in the market, just like the Yugo. Also, Goodman 14 SEER a/c has a 10yr compressor, Lifetime is only on SSZ, or 14 &16 seer heatpump.

 

You bring up a good point about Goodman 13 SEER vs 14 SEER heat pumps. I chose the 3-ton R22 14 SEER over the 13 SEER because the 14 comes with a Copeland scroll compressor.

Here are the performance #s for the GSH13 and GSH14 heat pumps, 3 tons:

13 SEER w/fixed speed matching air handler (ARUF364216A), no TXV:
35,000 btu cooling, 13 SEER, 11.5 EER, 32,000 high heat btu, 7.7 HSPF, 16,000 low heat btu.

14 SEER w/fixed speed matching air handler (ARUF374316), with TXV:
36,000 btu cooling, 14 SEER, 12 EER, 34,600 high heat btu, 9 HSPF, 22,000 low heat btu.

The 14 is much better in heating than the 13 (more btus as well as lower operating costs).

Take care.