Been looking into these "SEER" ratings and it looks like the way they rate the units with 2 stage compressors is by measuring the electricity used on the lowest compressor speed and then they will use the btu rating for the unit, which is measured with the compressor on the highest speed.
To me, this is nothing but trickery. A 13 seer 5 ton a/c unit and an 18 seer 5 ton a/c unit both running on full blast use the same amount of electricity!!!
It's a bunch of nonsense hogwash.
I can only assume it is the same way with those mini splits with "inverter" technology. The inverter allows the use of a DC compressor motor which can be speed adjusted and reduce electricity usage, whereas an ac compressor can only be set for predetermined speeds the motor is designed for. The way those mini split inverter a/c's can have those 26 SEER ratings is because they put a dc motor in there that can be adjusted down to, say, 1rpm (exaggeration, but you get the idea).
Another thing, the way they measure SEER ratings is they measure the electricity usage of the specific a/c with the outdoor air temp at 82f and the indoor temp at 80f. ignore>(ooooo, wow, big F'in deal, 2 whole degrees, who comes up with this shit?)
The EER ratings is what measures the efficiency of the units running the compressors at full speed. This is the number you use to judge how efficient your unit is. Also, when they run these tests, they measure electricity usage of the unit when the outdoor air temp is 95f and the indoor air temp is 80f.
If there are any a/c folks out there who may be able to correct my judgement here, please do so, I would love to be wrong.
(last year I spent a lot more money on an a/c unit for my house that was an 18 seer, thousands more than the 13 seer, I would love to be wrong on this, but my electricity bill says otherwise)
To me, this is nothing but trickery. A 13 seer 5 ton a/c unit and an 18 seer 5 ton a/c unit both running on full blast use the same amount of electricity!!!
It's a bunch of nonsense hogwash.
I can only assume it is the same way with those mini splits with "inverter" technology. The inverter allows the use of a DC compressor motor which can be speed adjusted and reduce electricity usage, whereas an ac compressor can only be set for predetermined speeds the motor is designed for. The way those mini split inverter a/c's can have those 26 SEER ratings is because they put a dc motor in there that can be adjusted down to, say, 1rpm (exaggeration, but you get the idea).
Another thing, the way they measure SEER ratings is they measure the electricity usage of the specific a/c with the outdoor air temp at 82f and the indoor temp at 80f. ignore>(ooooo, wow, big F'in deal, 2 whole degrees, who comes up with this shit?)
The EER ratings is what measures the efficiency of the units running the compressors at full speed. This is the number you use to judge how efficient your unit is. Also, when they run these tests, they measure electricity usage of the unit when the outdoor air temp is 95f and the indoor air temp is 80f.
If there are any a/c folks out there who may be able to correct my judgement here, please do so, I would love to be wrong.
(last year I spent a lot more money on an a/c unit for my house that was an 18 seer, thousands more than the 13 seer, I would love to be wrong on this, but my electricity bill says otherwise)