What Does a Contractor Evaluate When Recommending a Solution?

Good contractors will do a lot more than ask you how much you want to spend on a new system.  When selecting the best air conditioning and heating system for your needs, contractors consider:

1. Where you live and what the climate is like.  The contractor will determine how long the cooling and heating seasons are and if there are any other “regional” issues to deal with like excess humidity and air quality due to pollen or other airborne contaminants.

2. How important is comfort?  The easiest thing a contractor can do is sell cool air in the summer and hot air in the winter. What they will try to find out is how comfortable you want to be.  Comfort, as we will define it, is largely achieved when you don’t notice when your heating or cooling system is working.  If you feel too hot at night, have cold or hot spots in the house, or wake up to a freezing home, you’re not comfortable. Higher efficiency systems are able to do things like moderate temperatures very precisely and remove indoor humidity which all contributes to a more comfortable house.  If you aren’t asked about comfort, be sure to bring it up!

3. What are your electricity and gas costs?  There are ways to heat or cool that involves either burning fossil fuels or using electricity. A contractor can explain which solution will be most efficient and be the best match for your desired level of comfort. This will save you money over the life of the system.

4. Are you more concerned with initial costs or total cost of ownership?   High efficiency systems tend to have higher upfront purchase costs, but will usually save you significant money over the life of the system.  Even though you may find rebates and incentives on websites like www.dsireusa.org, upfront costs might be too high for your budget.  Your contractor will work with you to match the most efficient system to your budget.

The following chart helps illustrate how you and your contractor can decide which system is right for you. Tell us: before coming to this site did you think of air conditioning as just cold air, or did you consider comfort aspects like humidity and temperature variability?

Find the Best Air Conditioning and Heating System For Your Region

Related Articles
Comparing Apples to Apples: Understanding Government Ratings
Comparing Options for Cooling Your Home

Share
print

Was this helpful?

Vote This Post Up 39Loading...

2 thoughts on “What Does a Contractor Evaluate When Recommending a Solution?

  1. I like my home really cool
    I have a gas furnace that works very well
    Living in south Texas I we often use the heater at night and the a.c. during the day. It just doesn’t get that cold here.
    I’m interested in updating my compressor . I have been.told that since my current unit runs on the “old” coolant, I will have to replace my furnace as well.
    Is this true ?

    • Hi Karon – most AC systems last about 16 years before they are replaced – more or less spending on geography and run time. So, if yours is getting older and it has had some repairs it might be time to replace it. The compressor is in the outdoor unit and the refrigerant and efficiency must be matched to the indoor unit where your furnace is. That might be why they are saying you should replace both to the new refrigerant. Technically you could change the indoor AC coil and outdoor Comptessor unit and maybe keep the furnace but it might be cheaper to just replace both at he same time. I would suggest getting the job quoted both ways to see the difference. You could also look into a heat pump AC system the does both heating and cooling and keep your current furnace for the coldest times and as back up heat. You should realize some energy savings from a newer system. If you get a two stage or variable speed capacity system (16 SEER or higher) you might also get some improvement in comfort and humidity control. I hope this helps to answer some of your questions.

Let us know your thoughts

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *