When looking for a new indoor comfort system, the numerous HVAC terms and acronyms can be overwhelming and confusing. Before making your next purchase, familiarize yourself with some of the most common.
- 13 SEER: The minimum efficiency standard for air conditioners and heating pumps that has been in effect since January 2006. SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, and is the rating that indicates how much energy an appliance needs to cool air.
- COP: Standing for coefficient of performance, the term is an efficiency ratio used to compare the amount of heat delivered to the amount of energy used.
- Energy Star: A label recognized by the government to identify the energy efficiency of appliances. The system was created by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- EPA: The acronym used for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- Furnace: An appliance fired by gas, oil or wood where air or water is heated to warm a home.
- Heat pump: A system used to provide heating and cooling through a single refrigeration system.
- HVAC: An acronym standing for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration.
- Load calculation: The numerical representation of how much heating and cooling an HVAC system must provide in order to ensure both safety and comfort. Square footage, building orientation, size of rooms, number of occupants, number of windows and doors, flooring, climate and insulation are all taken into account.
- R-22: A refrigerant used in air conditioning systems containing chlorine. Since 2010, the EPA has disallowed the manufacturing of R-22 due to its contribution to the depleting of the ozone layer and affect on global warming.
- Refrigerant: A fluid used for refrigeration due to its properties of absorbing heat at low temperatures and rejecting heat at high temperatures.
- Relative humidity (RH): The percentage of moisture in the air compared to the potential moisture according to temperature.
For more information about HVAC terms and indoor comfort systems, contact us at Aladdin Heating & Cooling. We have been providing our customers in the Detroit Metro Area with top quality assistance for more than 65 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Detroit, Michigan about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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