Want to save money when upgrading your cooling system? Then you’ll want to look beyond price and consider the air conditioner’s lifetime costs.
Lifetime costs include all of the expenses involved in buying, running and maintaining a cooling system over all of the years the system is in operation. Purchase price is part of the equation, but so are the electricity bills each month, as well as any future repairs or maintenance.
One interesting – and important – aspect of lifetime costs is that in many cases they go down as the initial price of the cooling system goes up. In other words, if you invest in a better (and therefore possibly higher-priced) air conditioning system today, you can often end up saving money overall.
To determine which cooling system will likely have the lowest lifetime costs, start with the purchase price and then add in three other factors:
- Energy efficiency. Air conditioning efficiency is commonly measured by SEER, or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. A higher SEER number means the unit will require less electricity to do the same amount of cooling work. A higher SEER does often come with a higher purchase price, but the lower electricity bills can often offset the difference. You can estimate how much SEER will impact lifetime costs by using Energy Star’s cost calculator tool, downloadable for free here.
- Reliability. Fewer repairs over the life of the system obviously contribute to lower lifetime costs. That’s why buying the cheapest option available is often not the best idea; such air conditioners also use the cheapest materials and craftsmanship.
- Longevity. A system expected to have a longer life will also typically have lower lifetime costs, since the equipment and installation expense can be divided up over a greater number of years.
- The Installation. The most important day in the life of your air conditioner is the day it is installed. Choosing the low price (or Cheep) installer in most cases will get you a less than quality installation. If the system is not properly installed it may run and cool and heat your home, but not do it as efficiently as it should. And the equipment may not last as long because the proper installation procedures were not followed or corners were cut to get the job slapped in as quickly as possible.
Because of these factors, upgrading your cooling system to a higher-quality, higher-efficiency system installed by the best people often makes the best financial sense overall.
So, if you’re upgrading your cooling system, contact the Corpus Christi air conditioning experts at CCAC, Inc. We’ll help you find the system that makes the best sense for your home, both today and for years to come.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about cooling systems and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Mathews CCAC Air Conditioning and Heating services Corpus Christi, TX. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
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