How to Read the EnergyGuide Label

Different Types of Plumbing Pipes

When you’re shopping for new HVAC equipment and home appliances, fixtures, and electronics, how can you be sure you’re buying quality merchandise? These days, when it comes to such products, “quality” applies to both performance and energy efficiency. Regarding the latter factor — how well the product uses or saves energy — the Energy Star label and EnergyGuide label both provide essential information about a product’s energy efficiency. Both are the result of a program coordinated between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.

Energy Star Label

This familiar blue label can be found on a wide range of energy-using products that meet minimum standards set by the federal government. These include water heaters, TVs, refrigerators, A/Cs and heat pumps, windows, and insulation, among many others. An Energy Star-certified product must achieve the following:

• Provide substantial energy savings throughout the country.

• Come with features and performance demanded by customers. In effect, energy efficiency can’t come at the cost of other characteristics of quality.

• If the Energy Star product costs more than a similar product with less energy efficiency, the product must provide energy savings that more than compensate for that extra cost.

• Technology in a qualifying product must be available from more than one manufacturer.

• The product’s energy use must be measurable and verifiable.

EnergyGuide Label

The EnergyGuide label differs from the Energy Star logo in that it doesn’t signify a superior product. Rather, the EnergyGuide label – affixed by manufacturers to most appliances – provides hard data about that product’s energy use, as compared to other, similar products. This includes the product's annual energy consumption and operating costs.Information on the label includes:

1. Maker, model number, and appliance size.

2. Estimated yearly operating cost, based on the average of electricity costs throughout the country.

3. Whether the product has qualified for the aforementioned Energy Star.

4. Estimated consumption of electricity every year.

5. Key features of this particular model class.

For more information on the Energy Star and EnergyGuide labels, please contact us at Air Assurance, providing quality HVAC services in the Broken Arrow area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Public Domain/Wikipedia”

Alphabet Soup: Deciphering HVAC Terms

Unless you're a seasoned professional, you probably need help figuring out all the HVAC terms and acronyms. HVAC itself stands for heating, ventilation and air conditioning, by the way. Here are the meanings behind some common and important HVAC terms:

• ACCA: Air Conditioning Contractors of America. A nonprofit industry group promoting professionalism, efficiency and healthy indoor air.

• AHRI: Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute. A nonprofit organization that publishes testing and rating standards for air conditioners and heat pumps.

• BTU: British thermal unit. The standard unit of measurement for heating and A/C capacity.

• CFC: Chlorofluorocarbon. An ecologically-harmful refrigerant known to harm the ozone.

• COP: Coefficient of performance. An efficiency ratio measuring heat delivered versus heat used. Higher numbers are better.

• ERV: Energy recovery ventilator. Saves heat energy from your exhaust air to pre-heat incoming air, and adds water vapor from the exhaust to the incoming air to help maintain consistent humidity indoors.

• HCFC: Hydrochlorofluorocarbons. Another refrigerant used in heat pumps and air conditioners. Considered a less harmful alternative to CFCs.

• HRV: Heat recovery ventilator. Saves energy from your outgoing air; similar to an ERV but without regulating air moisture.

• HFC: Hydrofluorocarbon. A refrigerant with no or almost no harmful effects on the ozone.

• HSPF: Heating seasonal performance factor. Measures efficiency relative to the season; higher scores are better.

• IAQ: Indoor air quality. Refers to condition of indoor air, levels of pollution, etc.

• NATE: North American Technician Excellence. A testing and certification nonprofit for HVAC technicians.

• R-22: Refrigerant banned from new machines since 2010 by the EPA for links to global warming and ozone depletion.Will soon be phased out entirely.

• R-410A: Replacement refrigerant for R-22. Not ecologically hazardous and contains no chlorine.

• SEER: Seasonal energy efficiency ratio. An efficiency measurement that shows the amount of energy required to cool the air. Higher numbers are better.

It's good to know exactly what you're talking about when it comes to purchasing or repairing HVAC equipment, and learning these HVAC terms will help. For professional assistance with home heating and air conditioning around Broken Arrow, get in touch with Air Assurance. We've been servicing the Tulsa metropolitan area since 1985.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  Image courtesy of Shutterstock