Name: Bounds Heating & Air
Address: 25645 West, Newberry Road, Newberry, FL, 32669
Telephone: 352-472-2761

Understanding the Energy Star® Label

Improving your home’s energy efficiency starts with the products you choose, and when it comes to HVAC systems, you always want to look for brands with an ENERGY STAR® rating. The ENERGY STAR label was established in 1992 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help you, the consumer, find products that have met federal regulations regarding energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and even sustainability.

Understanding ENERGY STAR ratings related to HVAC units can be a little difficult, especially if you don’t know where to start. That’s why our HVAC repair and installation experts at Bounds Heating & Air have decided to walk you through what these numbers mean for you and your home.

The ENERGY STAR Label

HVAC products with an ENERGY STAR rating have been proven to be up to 20% more energy efficient than other comparable HVAC units. This means you can expect to save on your energy bills by as much as 20% should you choose said products.

With regular maintenance and proper heating and air conditioning repair, these systems can virtually pay for themselves in savings in a matter of years, compounding the savings that you get for using them.

SEER Numbers

SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. It’s a rating that shows you just how efficient a unit can be each season. This number can range from 13 (considered as low-efficiency appliances) to 23 (high-efficiency). When you’re looking for a replacement for your old heating or air conditioning system, consider getting a model with a high SEER number. The higher the rating, the more energy-efficient your unit will be.

You may also see an EER number. This stands for Energy Efficiency Ratio and is used to measure the performance of HVAC systems on a much smaller scale than the SEER.

Saving with ENERGY STAR Ratings

To maximize your savings, you want to limit your choices to products with 14.5 or higher SEER. Single HVAC models should have an EER of 11.0 while split-type HVAC systems should be 12.0 or higher. These are the minimum requirements for an ENERGY STAR label. However, it’s always best to choose the higher-rated options as these translate to bigger savings in the long run.

At Bounds Heating & Air, we’re your number one provider of high-efficiency products as well as HVAC maintenance, repair, and installation services. Give us a call at or fill out our online contact form to schedule your heating or air conditioning repair or installation service today. We serve clients in Lake City, FL, as well as surrounding areas.

What the HVAC Energy Efficiency Ratings Mean

When you’re in the market for a new air conditioning unit, heat pump, or HVAC system, you’ll notice that there are many energy efficiency ratings listed on the units. Each rating plays a vital role in helping you determine how much the system costs to purchase and operate throughout its service life.

In this post, our HVAC maintenance specialists at Bounds Heating and Air discuss what each energy efficiency rating means.

SEER

SEER stands for the season’s energy efficiency ratio of an air conditioning unit. This shows the electrical input required to run the unit over one average cooling season in comparison to how much cooling it generates. As a general rule, higher SEER ratings translate to lower operating costs.

EER

EER can best be described as calculating the “highway miles” of the system and is tested based on higher operating temperatures compared with SEER, which is based on lower temperatures. This rating also takes into account the humidity removal and is a useful rating since it shows how an air conditioner performs under a maximum cooling load. In more technical aspects, it is useful information for air conditioning repairs and maintenance.

HSPF

The heating seasonal performance factor is like SEER, except it’s for heating efficiency, and measures that aspect over the course of one entire season. The ratio is heat generated to electricity consumed.

SEER or EER?

Keep in mind that, ideally, you should have a balance of both in terms of efficiency. EER measures a snapshot of a moment in time, whereas SEER measures the unit’s usage over time. With this in mind, SEER represents a more important number to pay attention to.

There’s more to energy efficiency than how much power a system will consume. External factors also play a role, such as sudden bouts of inclement weather, and this is when you would want to pay attention to EER.

At Bounds Heating & Air, we will help you with your HVAC repair, installation, and maintenance needs. Call us today at 352-472-2761 to learn more about our services. We are air conditioning repair experts serving homeowners throughout Lake City, FL, and other parts of Florida.

Energy Star®: The Importance of the Blue Label

For over 20 years, ENERGY STAR® has been helping home and business owners choose the most energy-efficient products with their quintessential blue label. Our HVAC maintenance experts at Bounds Heating & Air discuss what’s on the blue label and why it matters in your choice of heating and cooling units.

What’s on the ENERGY STAR® Label

The label details the energy efficiency of the product. All of these are established by comparing the efficiency rating of the product to the minimum efficiency requirements set by the federal government. For air conditioning, an ENERGY STAR® AC unit must be 10% more energy-efficient than the standard model.

Look for these two details on the label: the product’s estimated yearly operating cost and its estimated yearly electrical use. The former gives you a general estimate of how much it costs to run the unit. The latter shows how much power it will take to consume on average within a year.

ENERGY STAR® HVACs

ENERGY STAR®’s blue label is helpful when you’re looking for a new HVAC system. An HVAC system with the blue label is 45% more energy-efficient than conventional systems, and this means it performs beyond the standard efficiency.

Since ENERGY STAR® HVAC units are as energy-efficient as possible, they also don’t encounter frequent problems that plague standard units, which means HVAC repair and general maintenance is infrequent. This, in turn, will maximize the unit’s overall operational lifespan.

Save More on Heating and Cooling

The most important benefit you can get from buying an ENERGY STAR® rated HVAC system is more savings on your utility bills. ENERGY STAR® systems are designed to meet and adapt to your local area’s climate, which means your units will effectively keep you cool and warm.

At Bounds Heating & Air, we’re the company to trust for air conditioning repair and HVAC maintenance. Our team of skilled technicians will also help you find the best ENERGY STAR® rated HVAC system for optimum energy efficiency. Call us today at (352) 472-2761 to learn more about our services. We are air conditioning repair experts serving homeowners throughout Alachua, FL, and other parts of Florida.

Category: HVAC Contractor