How the Energy Star Most Efficient Label Can Benefit Your Alton Area Home

How the Energy Star Most Efficient Label Can Benefit Your Alton Area Home

If you’re looking to upgrade your air conditioner, furnace or another appliance, the Energy Star Most Efficient designation is worth watching for. Whether you’re up in Alton or down south by Carbon Glen, Maryville, and Troy, it takes quality heating and cooling systems to deal with the highly variable Southwest Illinois climate.

By looking for the Energy Star Most Efficient logo, you can find appliances that will keep you comfortable as affordably as possible. The Most Efficient logo will help you:

  • Find highly efficient appliances more easily
  • Spend less on electricity and fuel
  • Enjoy top-of-the-line performance
  • Reduce your impact on the environment

Finding Truly Efficient Technology

Many products carrying the Energy Star label are around 10 to 15 percent more energy-efficient than average products in their category, but some do far better. Yet because Energy Star labels are so common, it can be hard to pinpoint the best.

That’s why the Energy Star Most Efficient designation was developed. Efficiency criteria for this designation are so high that only five percent of products in each category can meet them.

The “Most Efficient” Difference

The energy-saving, high-performance abilities of Most Efficient equipment become clear when you compare their efficiencies with those of average Energy Star products.

  • Air conditioners – An Energy Star-qualified split-system A/C must reach 14.5 seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) and 12 energy efficiency ratio (EER) or higher. For the Most Efficient designation, such a system must achieve 18 SEER and 13 EER, or higher.
  • Heat pumps – Energy Star criteria for split-system heat pumps is the same as for A/Cs, along with a heating season performance factor (HSPF) of 8.2. Most Efficient heat pumps must reach 18 SEER, 12.5 EER, and 9.6 HSPF.
  • Furnaces – Energy Star-qualified gas furnaces used in the Northern states must have an annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) of 95 percent or higher, while a Most Efficient model must reach 97 percent or higher.
  • Boilers — Energy Star-qualified gas boilers have AFUEs of 85 percent or higher, while those that qualify for Most Efficient status have AFUEs of 95 percent or higher.

Need a little help finding new Energy Star Most Efficient equipment? Then contact us at Ernst Heating & Cooling in southwest Illinois, including the Edwardsville and Maryville areas.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Hamel, Alton, Glen Carbon, Highland, Greenville, Maryville, Staunton and Troy, Illinois about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Energy Star and other HVAC topics, visit our blog.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Scroll to Top