Though your
definitions of "comfort" may be different than your
neighbor’s, knowing these terms can help make your search
for improved comfort and efficiency much less confusing and
much more effective.
Advanced
Reciprocating Compressor—Type of compressor
that uses a more efficient process for compressing
refrigerant for better cooling efficiency.
AFUE—Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency.
Indicated as a percentage, your furnace’s AFUE tells you
how much energy is being converted to heat. For example,
an AFUE of 90 means that 90% of the fuel is being used
to warm your home, while the other 10% escapes as
exhaust with the combustion gases.
BTU—British Thermal Unit. Used for both
heating and cooling, BTU is a measure of the heat given
off when fuel is combusted. Or for cooling, it’s a
measure of heat extracted from your home. One BTU is
equal to the heat given off by a wooden kitchen match.
Capacity—The ability of a heating or cooling
system to heat or cool a given amount of space. For
heating, this is usually expressed in BTUs. For cooling,
it is usually given in tons.
Compressor—Part of a split-system heat pump
or air conditioner’s outdoor unit that controls the
pressure applied to the refrigerant, necessary for
taking in heat to warm your home or getting rid of heat
to keep your home cool.
Condenser Coil—Part of the outdoor portion of
a split-system air conditioner or heat pump. By
converting refrigerant that is in a gas form back to a
liquid, the coil sends heat carried by the refrigerant
to the outside.
Damper—A type of "valve" used in duct work
that opens or closes to control airflow. Used in zoning
to control the amount of warm or cool air entering
certain areas of your home.
Downflow—A type of furnace that takes cool
air from the top and blows warm air to the bottom—common
where your furnace must be located in a second-floor
closet or utility area.
Electronic Air Cleaner (EAC)—An electronic
device that filters out large particles and contaminants
in indoor air. It then electronically pulls out tiny
particles that have been magnetized, such as viruses and
bacteria, drawing them to a collector plate.
Load Estimate—A series of studies performed
to determine the heating or cooling requirements of your
home. An energy load analysis uses information such as
the square footage of your home, window or door areas,
insulation quality and local climate to determine the
heating and cooling capacity needed by your furnace,
heat pump or air conditioner. When referring to heating,
this is often known as a Heat Loss Analysis, since a
home’s heating requirements are determined by the amount
of heat lost through the roof, entry ways and walls.
Evaporator Coil—Part of a split-system air
conditioner or heat pump located indoors. The evaporator
coil cools and dehumidifies the air by converting liquid
refrigerant into a gas, which absorbs the heat from the
air. The warmed refrigerant is then carried through a
tube to the outdoor unit (condenser coil).
Fan Coil—An indoor component of a heat pump
system, used in place of a furnace, to provide
additional heating on cold days when the heat pump does
not provide adequate heating.
HVAC—Term used for Heating, Ventilation, and
Air Conditioning.
HSPF—The Heating Seasonal Performance Factor
is a measure of the heating efficiency of a heat pump.
The higher the HSPF number, the more efficiently the
heat pump heats your home.
Horizontal Flow—A type of furnace, installed
on its "side," that draws in air from one side, heats it
and sends the warm air out the other side. Most often
used for installations in attics or crawl spaces.
Humidifier—A piece of equipment that adds
water vapor to heated air as it moves out of the
furnace. This adds necessary moisture to protect your
furnishings and reduce static electricity.
Matched System—A heating and cooling system
comprised of products that have been certified to
perform at promised comfort and efficiency levels when
used together, and used according to design and
engineering specifications.
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Operating Cost—The day-to-day cost of running
your home comfort equipment, based on energy use.
Payback Analysis—Overall measure of the
efficiency and value of your home comfort system. By
combining your purchase price and ongoing operating
costs, a payback analysis determines the number of years
required before monthly energy savings offset the
purchase price.
Perfect Heat™—The Perfect Heat gas furnaces
use a two-stage valve and patented control algorithm
allowing the furnace to more closely meet the heating
needs of the home. A Perfect Heat heat pump controls the
airflow across the indoor coil and controls auxiliary
heater banks to deliver warmer, more comfortable air to
the home. In both cases the end result is even,
consistent heating.
Perfect Humidity™—Perfect Humidity will
remove an amazing amount of moisture from indoor air to
help eliminate that warm, sticky, uncomfortable feeling
you get in high humidity. Add a humidifier and the
system provides Perfect Humidity in heating.
Puron™ Refrigerant—Puron is an
environmentally sound refrigerant designed to protect
the earth's ozone layer. Federal law requires all
manufacturers phase out ozone depleting refrigerants in
the next few years. Puron is approved by the US
Environmental Protection Agency as a replacement from
Freon 22*.
Reclaiming—Returning used refrigerant to the
manufacturer for disposal or reuse.
Reciprocating Compressor—A type of compressor
used in air conditioners that compresses refrigerant by
using a type of "piston" action.
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Recycling—Removing, cleaning and reusing
refrigerant.
SEER—The Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio is
a measure of the cooling efficiency of your air
conditioner or heat pump. The higher the SEER number,
the more efficient the system is at converting
electricity into cooling power.
Scroll Compressor—A specially designed
compressor that works in a circular motion vs. an up and
down piston action.
Setback Thermostat—A state-of-the-art
electronic thermostat with a built-in memory that can be
programmed for different temperature settings at
different times of the day.
Split System—Refers to an air conditioner or
heat pump that has components in two locations. Usually,
one part of the system is located inside (evaporator
coil) and the other is located outside your home
(condenser coil).
Thermidistat—The Thermidistat Control
monitors temperatures both inside and outside, as well
as indoor humidity and adjusts system operation to
maintain the temperature and humidity levels set by the
homeowner.
Thermostat—Unit that monitors and controls
your HVAC system products.
Ton—A unit of measure for cooling capacity.
One ton = 12,000 BTUs per hour.
Total Home Comfort System—The ultimate
solution to providing you with consistent, customized
home comfort, despite the ever-changing weather.
Upflow—A type of furnace that draws cool air
from the bottom and blows the warmed air out the top
into the duct work. This type of furnace is usually
installed in a basement or an out-of-the-way closet.
Ventilator—A ventilator captures heating or
cooling energy from stale indoor air and transfers it to
fresh incoming air.
Zone Perfect™—Our exclusive zoning system,
designed to work in conjunction with properly matched
HVAC products to enhance energy efficiency by as much as
30%.
Zoning—A way to increase your home comfort
and energy efficiency by controlling when and where
heating and cooling occurs in a home. Programmable
thermostats are used to control operating times of the
equipment. Dampers are used to direct air flow to
certain parts or "zones" of the home.
* Freon is a trademark of E.I. Dupont
