Keep Your Customers Cool This Summer

Keep Your Customers Cool This Summer

As a contractor, you hear about the benefits of high efficiency products for the homeowners. Many homeowners also assume that when they invest in high efficiency air conditioning equipment, they will make their home more comfortable.

Unfortunately, that’s not entirely true. But – our applications team has the solution you can provide homeowners when you upgrade old equipment to higher efficiency equipment.

There are 2 main components to how our bodies interpret the air comfort level:

1. The temperature (as read on a thermostat);
2. Humidity

The “dry heat” of Las Vegas is attributed to high temperature and low humidity.

Today’s higher efficiency systems have more humidity problems than older systems.

Why?

The higher efficiency systems have evaporator coils with more surface area. However, the industry still uses the old “400 CFM per ton” rule for airflow. This combination gives us a higher coil temperature, which results in less moisture removal capacity.

Simply stated, to gain efficiency, the system needs to use less electricity. To accomplish this, manufacturers design high efficiency equipment to operate with lower compression ratios than older, less efficient equipment. The higher compression ratios cause a higher low-side pressure and corresponding low-side refrigerant saturation temperature. This combination directly affects the evaporator coil operating temperature. A higher coil temperature means the coil has less ability to remove moisture.

The chart below provides the moisture removal capacity of various SEER levels.

With the record rainfall and higher humidity levels experienced in 2018, many consumers who purchased high efficiency equipment had uncomfortable homes. 2018’s cooler summer temperatures meant that air conditioning equipment ran less often. Most homes built in the past 10-15 years have higher insulation values and considerably tighter construction, which also reduces air conditioning equipment run time. When the system run time is reduced, the limited dehumidification capacity of higher efficiency systems is reduced even further.

So how do you compensate for this and give a homeowner an efficient and comfortable system?

Offer whole house dehumidification along with the installation. HVAC Distributors sells Aprilaire and Honeywell dehumidification products, in-stock.

The only reliable way to effectively remove moisture from a home is with a dedicated dehumidification system, which is controlled by a dehumidistat. An air conditioning system only operates on the cooling set point of the thermostat. When you combine a dehumidistat and a thermostat, you are able to address both components of air comfort – temperature AND humidity.

If you are unsure about how to approach the dehumidification conversation with homeowners, feel free to reach out to your Account Manager.