Purchasing and maintaining an HVAC system can be a costly process. In the challenging economic climate, many homeowners are looking for ways to save money on running their home while ensuring that they still feel comfortable. This saving appears to be offered by choosing cheaper components to upgrade their system or replace worn out parts. Unfortunately, failing to properly match your indoor and outdoor units can be a costly mistake.
Why Upgrade?
The main reason you may consider upgrading is to improve energy efficiency. With the recent changes to government standards, it has never been a better time to replace our a lower efficiency unit with a system rated at least 13 SEER. Making this change could save up to 30% on energy bills and could reduce the risk of costly repairs and breakdowns in the longer term.
The main problem with upgrading is that it can be a significant investment, creating the need for homeowners to try and save elsewhere. The immediately apparent option is to only replace specific components on the old system as and when they fail rather than replacing the whole unit. This can create a problem as the indoor coil, and outdoor condensing unit are designed to work in harmony for optimum efficiency and maximum performance, so they should be matched.
The Problems With Mismatched Units:
If you purchase a new higher efficiency outdoor unit, but don’t upgrade to a properly matched equally efficient new indoor unit, you are likely to experience some issues. The most common problems would be higher energy bills, costly repairs, reduced comfort and a great deal of stress. This means that although you have gone to the expense of upgrading one unit, you are not experiencing the full benefit. The cheaper alternative of changing one unit could actually cost you more in higher energy bills in the long term. Your system is likely to still function, but you won’t experience the best energy efficiency and value.
The most troubling aspect of mismatched units is that the newer more efficient unit will place greater strain on the other unit. This will compromise the lifespan of the older unit and could result in equipment breakdown. This means that the money you saved on repairing rather than replacing the older unit is immediately needed for costly and avoidable repairs. By choosing matched units, you will be able to enjoy a complete warranty and improved efficiency. Although it will cost more initially, you will be able to enjoy savings on your energy bills and a superior performance.
Air conditioning systems are made with a number of components that are designed to work in harmony and provide the ideal level of home comfort. The manufacturers design evaporator coils and condenser coils to work together and deliver the best reliability, operation and efficiency. Therefore, in order to enjoy the rated performance and efficiency of your new unit, both outdoor and indoor units must be matched. So, before you consider upgrading one of your condenser unit or indoor coil, you should remember the importance of matched units.