Summertime and hot weather is on its way. Now is the time to shop for air conditioner and air conditioning units’ deals. Yet many shoppers are confused by the lingo and types of units. What do you need to know when shopping for your air-conditioning needs at heating and cooling trade shops and big box stores?

To begin with an air conditioner cools and circulates the air, lowers the humidity and filters out the dust. There are two basic types overall – a “central” air conditioner which cools the entire house or office and room air conditioners which cool down the immediate and adjacent living areas.

The best system for you depends both on your needs and budget as well as your type of house or office. If cost is not the most important criteria and limiting factor in your buying decision or heating and cooling systems decisions you might well want to consider purchasing a heat pump or heat pumping system. Although it is more expensive than a standard central air conditioning system in terms of initial cash outlay, it both heats, cools and in addition saves energy and thus fuel, heat and electrical power costs and charges.

Air conditioners are graded according to their cooling capacity or power, a quantity expressed in “Btu’s per hour, (the term Btu is a shorter version of the heat measurement unit – the British thermal unit measurement of heat energy). You may also hear the power or comparative measurement of an air conditioning unit as expressed in tonnage or horsepower. Sometimes this is expressed in this manner for good reasons of comparison, other times it is a simple manner of a salesperson attempting to confuse the issue with additional terms. You be the judge. Yet the Btu British Thermal Unit ratings are yet the most the useful way to express and compare capacity – that is the ability during the hottest of summer days to fully and completely chill down your home or area to comfortable temperature levels. Keep in mind that this term simply indicates the amount of heat an air conditioning unit can remove in one hour.

Tonnage ratings compare and air conditioner’s cooling power to that of melting ice: a one-ton air conditioner has the cooling effect of melting one tons weight of ice in one hour – essentially and basically the equivalent of 12,000 BTU’s of cooling effect per hour. Hence if the salesperson or heating air conditioning trades person states that the unit you are considering purchasing or installing has “one ton” then that is essentially equivalent to 12,000 BTU rating. However one last point to note in air conditioner machines comparative terms. A statement of horsepower rating, refers to the power of the compressor motor itself, is considered inaccurate and is little value when comparing or assessing these units. Its BTU’s first and then “Tons” to take into merit when considering and comparing mechanical units.

The Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) which is also marked on the name plate is fast becoming a popular way of expressing a unit’s efficiency. It indicates how well a unit converts electrical power into cooling power. Two models with the same Btu rating can have widely differing EER’s, the one with a higher EER is more efficient and consumes less energy overall. Initially it may cost more but in the long run it will cost less to operate. To calculate a unit’s EER, divide its BTU rating by its wattage.

For example, an 8,000 BTU that consumes 1000 watts has an ERR of 8.0. Another model with the same cooling capacity (8,000 Btu’s) but a lower power consumption – 800 watts- has an EER of 10.0: thus it is more efficient and thus cheaper to operate. Hence a better deal in the long run when all total costs are included and added up.

This for the most part when shopping for air conditioning systems and units the main term to know is BTU. Tons may be used as an expression. However the term is easily converted back to BTU standards for comparison shopping terms. You may decide on a heat pump system instead. Lastly for best value both for hydro power costs and overall costs of operation for the entire life span of the cooling setup you may want to include the terms ERR rating as part of the data you include in your decision mix.

Author Bio: Bill Piker 30 years in the retail and commercial heating trades Furnasmans\’One Hour Heating Ask about heating ventilation systems UV Lights Power Vac Winnipeg