BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Starting in 2023 the federal government is imposing new regulations and standards for HVAC units sold across the country.
The Department of Energy is raising the minimum efficiency standards. Here in the Southern half of the country, the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) will go from 14 to 15.
“The whole purpose of the increase in what’s called SEER efficiency is to help with the consumption of energy,” said Joey Hood with Accutemp Baton Rouge.
The new regulations would put less stress on motors and mandate that both the indoor and outdoor coils will be longer, which would increase airflow and make them more efficient.
“Which then helps with efficiency when it comes to heat transfer from inside the home to outside the home or outside the home in the case of heat pumps to inside the home,” added Hood.
This may end up saving you some money on your energy bills but not necessarily in repairing and replacing the units you have now, once the new guidelines go into effect. The cost of these more efficient units could rise by the thousands on average.
“So, if you’re at a place where you have an old appliance and you’re considering updating your appliance, right now is the time to do that because that equipment is still available,” Hood explained.
Hood also suggests if you’re considering getting a new unit within the next year or two, it might pay off to get ahead of it now while you still have a few weeks left. Another thing to consider is once these new standards go into effect and warehouses begin to fill up with the new equipment it might become harder to find some of those older parts you would need to repair your older unit.
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