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New air conditioning standards will lower energy bills with more expensive systems

November 17, 2005 on 10:02 pm | In klimatyzacja | No Comments

New air conditioning standards will lower energy bills with more expensive systems

By Mike Copeland Tribune-Herald business editor

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Less than two weeks before Thanksgiving may seem like an odd time to think about summer cooling bills, but it may be worth your time and money.

Beginning Jan. 23, the federal government will begin enforcing a new standard that says all newly made central air conditioning systems must have an efficiency rating of 13. That’s up from the present standard of 10 for residential systems.

The higher the number, the greater a system’s efficiency. So the government is saying that producers must make central air conditioning systems that are at least 30 percent more energy efficient than units now being made.

Such an efficiency improvement would lead to lower energy bills.

But the systems will cost more upfront.

That’s why at least one local seller of central air conditioning systems, Mark Pilkinton, owner of Aire Serv Heating & Air Conditioning, says Waco residents may want to decide now whether to install a new system before the new standard goes into effect.

?All the manufacturers tell us there are going to be price changes in January,? said Pilkinton. ?Some manufacturers won’t have their (more efficient) stuff out until February or March. They have to put in new assembly lines and get the bugs out before they go into mass production.?

Pilkinton said that a popular option with local customers is a three-ton, gas-operated central air conditioning system with an efficiency rating of 10. Installation of such a system, including labor but excluding duct work, typically runs $3,500.

But with an efficiency rating of 13, said Pilkinton, the price of such a system likely will jump at least $700.

Pilkinton notes that the government has mandated that American manufacturers meet the new efficiency standards beginning Jan. 23. That does not mean consumers have to buy systems with an efficiency rating of 13 or greater if they can find systems with lower efficiency ratings on the market, from sources like Aire Serv.

However, these less-efficient systems gradually will go away as manufacturers quit producing them.

Pilkinton said companies probably will gradually raise the price of this ?leftover stock,? with energy efficiency ratings of 10, 11 or 12, because it is getting in short supply and because they want to gradually bridge the gap between existing and future prices.

Complicating the matter, said Pilkinton, is that some manufacturers do not make central heating units with an efficiency rating of 13. They only make units with a 10, 12 or 14 efficiency rating, and they don’t plan to make a 13. When the new law becomes effective, they can sell only their 14 model, which is more expensive than the 10 or 12, and more expensive than a 13 would be.

?What will affect us primarily is product availability,? said Jim Kruse Jr., vice president of Lochridge-Priest Inc., which sells Lennox air conditioning products.

?We can still sell 10s or equipment that’s even less efficient, if our supplier happens to have it in stock,? said Kruse. ?But the manufacturers are looking ahead, phasing out a lot of the lower efficiency equipment. We have to plan ahead and put together larger orders.?

The new regulations, in Kruse’s opnion, are going to reduce the variety of products customers can choose from.

He said systems with higher efficiency ratings ?are considerably more expensive due to the technology involved in getting there.? But he believes prices will level off over time, just as the price of personal computers has fallen.

Steve Sorrells, president of the Heart of Texas Builders Association, said the new efficiency standard will increase the price of some new homes, ?but it is not going to be cost-prohibitive.?

He said homebuyers will enjoy the ?monthly dividend? of lower utility bills, adding that many builders, including himself, already place central air conditioning systems with an efficiency rating of 13 or greater in the homes they build.

Added Ken Cooper, with Cooper & Horn Builders: ?Most of the people building custom homes, who are spending a pretty large sum of money already, are willing to spend more upfront? on air conditioning systems.

Cooper said he sees the new efficiency rating as a ?pay-me-now or pay-me-later? situation.

The local Trane plant employs nearly 500 and makes parts for air conditioning systems. It should see little if any impact from the new efficiency requirement, said Todd Graf, general manager. He added that the plant makes water-source heat pumps and unit ventilators.

Graf said ?the only bump in the road? may appear if suppliers give priority to plants that are making production changes, possibly creating a delay for the Waco plant in getting what it needs.

mcopeland@wacotrib.com