Perhaps you’ve been putting it off for awhile, but the simple truth is it’s time to replace a piece of heating or cooling equipment for your Colorado home. Luckily, with Energy Star’s Most Efficient label, you’ll no longer have to spend weeks or months selecting your new unit.

In fact, finding the perfect HVAC unit for your needs is as simple as 1-2-3.

1. Learn about the new label. The sheer amount of HVAC equipment in your typical home improvement section can be practically overwhelming. Energy Star has done a great job of helping consumers sort through all those choices, but due to better overall energy efficiency, almost every unit on the market now carries the label. To help solve this issue, Energy Star’s Most Efficient label was developed as a way to make note of the most efficient ones.
2. Discover the new criteria. Being deemed “Most Efficient” can be a challenge. Each type of equipment, from gas furnaces to geothermal heat pumps, must reach high levels of efficiency. Gas furnaces, for example, must demonstrate an AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) of at least 97 percent. Higher levels of EER (energy efficiency ratio), SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) and HSPF (heating seasonal performance factor), among others, are also accounted for. Plus, a third-party entity must test and certify each model’s energy efficiency.
3. Compare the products. You can drive to your local hardware or appliance store if you’d like to compare your choices. Or you can simply visit the Energy Star website, where you’ll find the required criteria for each piece of HVAC equipment, along with a list of the 2013 Most Efficient equipment. Each listing includes details ranging from its estimated annual operating cost and its estimated annual energy usage to the levels of the aforementioned AFUE, EER, SEER and HSPF ratings, among others.

For more expert advice about Energy Star’s Most Efficient label, or for questions relating to home comfort, please contact the friendly professionals at Rheem Pro Partner. We’ve been serving Colorado Springs, Denver, Centennial and the surrounding areas since 1992.

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