Buying an air conditioner after the rules changed

Late May, and the old unit is making a new sound

It’s the week the territory’s air conditioners get asked to work for the first time since October, and the week Cook’s phones start carrying the sound of a homeowner saying “it’s running, but.” That’s when the buying question arrives, and the answer has changed underneath it.

What changed

Two things, in close succession. Federal efficiency minimums moved to a new test standard called SEER2, which rates equipment under conditions closer to a real duct system; the minimum allowed rating rose with it, and the old entry-level units stopped being manufactured. At nearly the same time the industry began moving away from R-410A refrigerant toward lower-global-warming alternatives, so new Lennox air conditioners use a different refrigerant from the one in the unit being replaced.

For a buyer that means three practical things. The cheapest unit available today is more efficient than the cheapest one from a few years ago. A new outdoor unit almost always needs a new matched indoor coil and often a new line set. And service for the old refrigerant will tighten over the years, which bears on repair-or-replace for an aging system.

What to buy now

An air conditioner, as opposed to a heat pump, is the right purchase for a house keeping its existing heat: a gas furnace the owner likes, or in a few cases a budget that rules the heat pump out. Lennox’s line runs from single-stage to variable-speed outdoor units, matched to a Lennox coil or air handler.

Cook’s guidance for this territory: step up from single-stage if you can, because two-stage and variable-speed units run longer, gentler cycles that pull humidity out of the house, and humidity is the thing that makes a Florida home feel bad at 76 degrees. Let a load calculation set the tonnage; boom-era houses from Palm Coast to Orange Park were often fitted a half-ton large, which is why they feel clammy.

ENERGY STAR models may qualify for utility incentives; Cook’s points you to the current program rather than promising a number.

How Cook’s installs it

A free estimate visit with a load calculation. A matched Lennox system on a new pad, with a flushed or new line set, a trapped drain with a float switch, charge set by weight and confirmed by the readings, and the warranty registered in your name. Installed in all ten markets, with no after-hours charge when a family has no cooling. Model numbers and prices go on your quote.