How To Pick The Best System, Save Money,

And Be Sure You Get What You Pay For

 
To buy and install the new equipment is only a small portion of your total costs.  It is often just the proverbial “tip of the iceberg”.

More important, you are essentially giving your utility companies permission to send you a bill each month for using the new system.  You’ll also have to maintain it, and pay to fix it when it breaks down, and replace it if it fails prematurely. Over time, the combined costs of owning a Chicago heating system always far exceed the initial cost of buying it.

The wrong system, improperly installed, could sentence you to over 20 years of excessive utility and repair bills. It may also not deliver the comfort you expect and deserve, and it may adversely affect your family’s health and safety.

So the first thing you need to know is: don’t rush into your decision.  If you make the wrong choice, you probably won’t be able to justify tearing it out and starting again.  You’ll literally have to live IN your decision for as long as you own your home.

“Save 50% On Your Utility Bills!” Truth or Fiction?

You may have heard that air conditioners, heat pumps and furnaces have come a long way in the last 10 years.  The most energy efficient air conditioner of 10 years ago is the bottom of the line now. In fact, a 1992 Federal law forced the manufacturers to stop making extremely inefficient units.

You’ll hear a lot of industry jargon while talking to contractors, like “SEER”, “HSPF” and “AFUE”.  These terms basically describe how efficiently the equipment operates, like miles per gallon for a car.  The higher the efficiency number, the lower your electric and gas bills are supposed to be.

Contractors and manufacturers will tell you that a new high efficiency system won’t really cost you much, if anything, because the investment is offset by up to 50% savings on monthly utility bills.  But does this really happen?
 

Make Sure Your New Equipment Is The Right Size

 
When it comes to Chicago heating and air conditioning equipment, bigger is NOT better.  Many contractors will readily sell you a bigger unit than you need.  It costs you more to buy, and it can cost a lot more to operate and service.  Even worse, an over sized system actually results in a less comfortable home.

If your home has hot or cold spots, and your old system didn’t keep you comfortable, don’t just assume that a bigger one will.  In fact, a larger unit usually worsens existing uneven temperature problems.  In almost every case, the best solution is to fix problems with your air ducts or house insulation, not to install a bigger unit.

Another common problem is that the older system had lost much of its cooling or heating ability, mostly due to insufficient maintenance.  Your old system may simply not have the output it had when it was new.  Its heat transfer surfaces may be dirty; its refrigerant gas charge may be out of adjustment.  A brand new, clean, larger system is then too large, and results in a less comfortable home.

An oversized system comes on, runs for only a few minutes and then shuts down. It won’t evenly cool or heat all the rooms, will wear out sooner, and will almost never get up to its rated laboratory efficiency. Short run cycles are less fuel efficient, just like stop and go city driving.
 

Make Sure Hidden Problems In Your Home’s Existing Ductwork Are Diagnosed and Repaired

 
The second critical issue is your home’s existing ductwork: the network of hollow pipes that carry the air to and from your furnace or air handler. Recent scientific research indicates that yours probably has a whole host of hidden problems that will degrade your new equipment’s performance. A recent Department of Energy study states:

“Typical duct systems lose 25 to 40 percent of the energy put out by the central furnace, heat pump or air conditioner.”

This wasted energy increases your monthly utility bills and causes hot and cold spots. It is not uncommon to find that over a third of the heating or cooling you pay for doesn’t make it to your living area.  Duct problems are often the real reason an old system couldn’t keep up.  The equipment was the right size for the home, but the ducts wasted much of the energy created.
 

Make Sure Your New System Is Installed Correctly

 
The final concern is how your new heating system is installed.  Many poorly trained or careless technicians often create problems during installation.  For example, sloppy workmanship often creates duct leakage where your new equipment is connected to your existing ductwork.

It’s also essential that your new air conditioning or heat pump system has the proper refrigerant gas charge (most commonly known as FreonTM).  Most contractors make no correction for the actual length and internal volume of the copper lines in your system.  They just crack open the valves and use whatever refrigerant charge came in the new outdoor unit from the factory.

Because of this common mistake, a recent study by a major electrical utility found that 79% of  newly installed systems had either significantly too much or too little refrigerant gas.  This increases utility bills, reduces the amount of cooling created, and often causes premature failure of the new system.