While you may not be an expert in home heating and cooling, there’s no reason you can’t educate yourself to the terms of the trade. Having knowledge of the terminology can be invaluable when it comes to discussing heating and cooling issues with an HVAC technician. In addition, you’ll be able to make educated decisions about the equipment used in your home.

AFUE, or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency, is a rating designed to measure the ratio between your furnace’s useful heat production and the amount of energy consumed in the heating process. For example, an older furnace might have an AFUE rating of 70 percent, meaning that only 70 percent of the energy consumed actually makes it into circulation in the home. Unfortunately, you would still pay for the 30 percent that escaped your household.

SEER, or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, measures the ratio between the electricity consumption of your air conditioner over the entire season and the cooling capacity of your air conditioning unit. For example, a SEER rating of 13 meets the requirement of the federal government, but to receive the Energy Star designation, your unit must be rated a 14. For every ratings point you gain, you save in annual energy costs.

MERV, or Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, is a similar rating used to measure the efficiency of your air filter. With a range of 1 to 20, the higher the MERV rating, the more particles the filter can remove from the air on the first pass. A MERV rating of 16, for example, would mean your filter is capable of capturing some 95 percent of particles on the first pass.

NATE, or North American Technician Excellence, is a non-profit group used by the HVAC industry to certify HVAC technicians. NATE certified technicians have been through rigorous testing to prove their expertise. When you choose a NATE certified technician, you know you’re getting one of the best technicians on the continent.

AFUE, SEER, MERV, and NATE are terms every Kansas City homeowner should know. For more information on the efficiency of your HVAC system, contact LBA Air Conditioning, Heating, & Plumbing today.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information, click here to download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

LBA services greater Kansas City and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!