My new air conditioner and rebate.

I purchased an older home several months ago, and I am in the process of upgrading every thing.

The old AC was installed in 93 and had a SEER rating of 10. The gas furnace was installed in 77 and was probably 50% to 65% efficient.

I had a new AC with a two stage scroll compressor and a SEER of 16 installed with a new two stage gas furnace with an efficiency of 80% and a variable speed fan.

The new system cost me over $1000 more than the standard 13 SEER systems. However, my utility will give me a rebate of $375 for a SEER of 16. I figure the 16 SEER will save me $300 a year compared to the 10 SEER system.

With the rebate, the 16 SEER will pay off the extra $1000 in several years.

My utility will give rebates for added attic insulation so that’s probably one of the things that will get done next.





http://www.allqualityair.com/SEER.htm

Went from an 85% efficiency furnace to one approaching 95%. Can't say I noticed an appreciable benefit from that. However, I was without electricity for a week during our December ice storm and burned the gas logs for heat that whole week. My December bill was unusually high and it was an estimated bill. My January bill was also unusually high. The February and March weather did not compare well from year to year.

I did notice about a one third drop in energy usage with the new air conditioner last summer. And that was a drop that was realized while I used lower temperature settings (back to the higher settings this summer). I replaced a 10 seer with an 18 seer unit.

I had added insulation a few years before replacing the system. Had to do that when I bought the house as the attic insulation was something resembling non-existent.

No utility rebates available here. There was a tax rebate of $300 for the air conditioner. Install of the minimum system was quoted at $5,000. My energy efficient system was $8,000. No payment and no interest for the first 12 months. I invested the cash and paid off the loan before any interest or fees accrued. That return combined with the tax rebate easily reduced my cost to well under $7,500. A price difference of less than $2,500. If I realize energy savings of $40 per month over the next four years or so I will recoup the price differential. I think that is a very realistic expectation based on the first year performance. It will probably happen much quicker since energy costs are rising.

My home is an older home and I likely will relocate within the next few years. Adding the high efficiency heat and air system hopefully will make my home more attractive to potential buyers when that occurs.

Congratulations and enjoy your new purchase.

Happily, the previous owner installed double pane energy star windows with about six inches of insulation in the attic, and I have installed a modern whole house fan.

http://www.tamtech.com/wholehousefanhv1000.htm

With night time temperatures in the 60s, last months electric bill was $35…no AC
I shut the windows during the days and the house would be 80 by 6pm. At night, just open the windows and turn the fan on. The house would be in the 60s again by morning.

I considered getting a higher efficiency furnace

But the city of San Antonio does not give any rebates for furnaces, and apparently, no one in this city has even installed a condensing furnace.

Our winters are real short.

when I bought it. We used one when I was a kid and I really liked it a lot. But I got rid of the one in my house. It was about 50 years old - and directly above the thermostat. I considered replacing it but did not. I'm single and live alone and have slept through two incidents where trees fell on the house near my bed. I figured leaving the windows open at night would be an open invitation.....

I lived in the Dallas area for awhile and have family near Fredricksburg. Yeah, winters are short and mild there. Summer? Not so much.