What SEER Air conditioning unit is best for you

I’m going to talk about the types of central air conditioners that are out right now from the most expensive energy efficient ones to the cheapest less efficient ones. Central Air Conditioners are rated by SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating), 23 being the highest SEER.

Let us start with the most efficient, the high-efficiency central air conditioners, 16-23 SEER. The higher the efficiency the air conditioner is the more its initial cost is going to be. But your electric bill will be a hell of a lot cheaper. This is something to look into if you are getting a house built and plan on living there for a long time. This would also be a good choice to get a high efficiency unit if you live in a neighborhood where the electric costs are expensive compared to other areas. Most of the 16-23 SEER units are two stage cooling which means that they cycle on and off less, another feature is that they all use R-410A instead of the ozone depleting refrigerant R-22 which is found in most of the lower efficient central air conditioners. The high efficiency models start at about $3000.

Mid efficiency central air conditioner units, 14.5-17 SEER. Not as good as the high efficiency but most of these units also use the R-410a refrigerant instead of FREON. They probably won’t have the 2 stage cooling but these are still great units and aren’t that expensive on the power bill.

Minimum efficiency central air units, 13-14.5 SEER. The government has declared that the least efficient central air conditioner has to be at least a 13 SEER. Just because this is on the bottom of the list does not mean that it’s not going to save you money. If you are replacing a unit that is ten or more years old with a 13 SEER you will cut your electric bill in half easily. Ten years ago 13 SEER was unheard of, this is a great choice if you are renting out a house or you have a low budget. Most apartment complex’s don’t even have 13 SEER central air conditioning in them so there is nothing wrong with 13 SEER at all.


Central air, SEER, air conditioner efficiency, AC efficiency