Ideally you want to go with the highest SEER rated Equipment. The higher the rating the more efficient it is. What you have to decide is, whether or not it is worth the extra money for the higher rated equipment. It also depends on what the contractor is charging for the upgrade. If you are installing an Air Conditioner to an old Air handler or Furnace, It wouldn’t make much sense to even go to the Higher SEER air conditioner as that new equipment is not rated with your old equipment. In that case I would stick with the standard SEER. The only way to get the true SEER rating is if you match a full system new.
Seer all depends on your climate! The warmer your climate the higher the seer you can use! The colder the lower seer is needed to keep the unit’s duty cycle correct. Using the wrong seer can result in a short cycle in the unit causing compressor failure! Again there are factors to properly matching seer tonnage and the air handler.
It truly depends on the envelope of the whole space whether a higher efficiency system is beneficial. Examples: windows, insulation, vents, etc…
Unless you are going all the way you really are not benefiting. Higher efficiency system are designed to run longer cycles while using much less energy, which can cause compressors and many other components to fail in a loose environment. The amount of energy savings would not equal the extra cost of the equipment. 14-16 SEER is recommended for older homes and commercial buildings. On updated and newer homes it all depends on how well it was sealed and insulated, and what type of system you have as to how high you can go.
As high as possible, it will pay itself off. But, at least 16 seer. With a 16 seer system matched properly, you should be able to benefit from a larger tax refund incentive. Ensure that the contractor you are going forward with is qualified to install the efficient equipment or it can be a head ache.
16 seer
I would recommend at least a 16 seer system; this makes sure you are applicable to receive the 16 seer tax refund incentives in Texas. Weather stripping, sealing the envelope or, if styrofoam insulation is used, you will probably no longer have a thermal envelope, which technically would bring your seer rating up a point or two. When the the infiltration rate is that low, the attic, or crawl space is climate controlled too, so the ducts wont have the heat loss or gain on air distribution. If the ducts were distributing cold air through a 140 degree attic (in Texas) you would have substantial heat gain and the unit would have to work harder and be bigger. If your equipment isn’t matched for and designed to be 16 seer OEM, you will have a hard time proving that you upgraded to 16 seer hvac equipment. They don’t send a energy auditor out to validate or anything.
Equipment selection matters much more when you get into the size of the equipment… AC is not a “bigger is better” kind of deal. Everything needs to be just right to have a efficient system and home. The contractor is supposed to do a heat load calculation using a manual J software program. It costs a little bit for the software and an engineer is supposed to design it, especially when you get into the industrial size equipment. 90% of houses have the wrong size of AC equipment. Most of the time, its too big and it sets a home owner up for a lifetime of issues. It will never be efficient.
At Eco Smart HVAC Solutions, we have two HVAC mechanical engineers that know green building and energy star design. I am one of the two actually and I had ten years in the HVAC field before working through college and getting degree. We do design/builds for a lot of high end custom home builders in Houston and across the state. We use Energy Star vs3.0 and other Green Build guidelines certified by ASHRAE (American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers). We are looking forward to being featured in Business Energy magazine later this year for an energy star design recently submitted to ASHRAE for the mechanical on the mcc facilities for the new Dow Chemical poly 5 plant in Freeport, TX.
Furthermore we have Trane XR16 series -16.5 seer units for cheaper than the 14 seer units for the rest of August.
Thanks for acknowledgment.