Cooperative Living June 2016 - 12

Currents | by Tom Tate, Contributing Writer
Looking for sources on energy conservation?
T
he really
easy
answer
to this question
is, " Ask your
co-op or visit
its website. "
But where is
the fun in that when a world of resources
lies a keystroke away?
Welcome to what the internet excels in
- gathering information! I call it the
modern equivalent of the library of
Alexandria. Indeed, the folks who created
the aforementioned library would marvel
at what they can find online today. For
those looking to educate themselves on
conservation measures, the internet is a
veritable cornucopia of information. My
search string on Bing of energyconservation
(EC) information returned
19,800,000 results. A cornucopia indeed.
To make the most of your searching
efforts, we'll start with a definition of
conservation, at least the way I use it. I am
a conservationist
from way back. I
recycle, reuse and
reduce. For this
article I will focus on
the reduce aspect, as
in reducing the
amount of energy we
use. With that in
mind, we can begin.
Why not take
advantage of your tax
dollars and use
federal government
sources as a starting
point? A wide array
of resources is
available. You can go
to the national laboratories if you are
interested in a rocket-science approach.
But I plan to skip those this time. What?
You insist on a reference for the national
labs? Okay, here is the place to start:
science.energy.gov/laboratories/. You have
been warned.
EnergyROI | by Tom Tate, Contributing Writer
Explaining SEER, EER, HSPF and COP
E
very industry has its set of acronyms,
but it often strikes me that the
heating, ventilating and air
conditioning (HVAC) industry has more
than its share of arcane and indecipherable
abbreviations.
Unfortunately, nearly all of us are going
to be confronted with HVAC acronyms
throughout our adult lives, since everyone
needs to heat and cool their homes,
condos and apartments. This article is
intended to offer some handy definitions.
The four acronyms in the title all refer
to efficiency characteristics of a particular
piece of heating and cooling equipment.
SEER is used for air-conditioning
equipment and stands for Seasonal Energy
Efficiency Rating. It is calculated using the
total cooling output during a typical
cooling season, divided by the total
electrical input over the same period.
Higher is better when it comes to SEER.
The U.S. government has mandated that
any air-conditioning system manufactured
10 | Cooperative Living | June 2016
after 2005 have a minimum SEER of 13.
ENERGY STAR central air systems must
have a minimum of 14.5. The most
efficient systems will have SEERs as high
as 21. Window units are not SEER-rated,
so their SEER hovers around 10. They
may have an Energy Efficiency Ratio, or
EER. Again, higher is better.
Since I just mentioned EER, let's go
over what it means. This ratio is
calculated in a different manner than
SEER. It is the ratio of output cooling
energy (in British Thermal Units -
BTU) to input electrical energy (in watt
hours - Wh) at a given operating point.
EER is generally calculated using a 95degree
outside temperature and an inside
return-air temperature of 80 degrees, and
50-percent relative humidity. But SEER
and EER are related. For the same piece
of equipment, SEER will always be
higher than EER. Here's the formula to
calculate it for yourself:
EER = .875 x SEER.
continued on pg. 39
For the rest of us, let's begin with
energy.gov/energysaver/energy-saver. This
site offers a lot of resources and tips on
how to save money and get nice rebates on
certain types of EC. If you are interested in
the complete list of incentives available in
continued on pg. 17
Tom Tate writes on cooperative issues for the
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association,
the Arlington, Va.-based service arm of the nation's
900-plus consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric
cooperatives.
www.co-opliving.com
http://www.energy.gov/energysaver/energy-saver http://science.energy.gov/laboratories/ http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living June 2016

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