High-Efficiency
Heating and Cooling

In addition to improvements to the building shell, attention should also be given to improving the efficiency of your heating & cooling system. How old is your furnace, boiler and air-conditioning system? What was its rated efficiency when it was installed? What do you think its efficiency is now? For furnaces, consider a sealed combustion, variable blower system with an Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) of at least 95% for greater safety and higher efficiency. If you live in a hot climate and have an older air conditioning system, chances are good that replacing your system with a new, energy efficient model will pay for itself in energy savings. The most efficient units on the market have Seasonal Energy Efficient Ratings (SEER) of 16 or more. You may also want to consider a heat pump depending on the climate and utility/fuel rates where you live.