KNOWLEDGE CENTER

Glossary

• AFUE - AFUE is the most widely used measure of a furnace's heating efficiency. It measures the amount of heat actually delivered to your house compared to the amount of fuel that you must supply to the furnace. Thus, a furnace that has an 80% AFUE rating converts 80% of the fuel that you supply to heat -- the other 20% is lost out of the flue pipe.  Furnace’s range in efficiency from 80% to 98%.
• Air Handler - This device contains an evaporative coil and blower wheel powered by a fan motor.  It is commonly found on a “Heat Pump” system.  Its purpose is to blow air across the evaporative coil to supply both heat and cooling to the home.
• Condenser - A vital part of any type of air conditioning system.  This device houses the compressor which compresses hot Freon gas to a liquid sending it to the evaporative coil where the Freon becomes cold.
• EER – Energy Efficiency Ratio - An instantaneous indicator of performance at 95 degrees Fahrenheit.  In other words it is the ratio of output cooling to input power. 
• Evaporative Coil - The second vital part of any air conditioning system.  This device receives hot liquid Freon and via a metering device changes the state of that Freon so that it becomes cold. 
• Furnace - This device utilizes a fossil fuel such as natural gas or propane to heat the “heat exchanger”.  A blower wheel powered by a fan motor, blows air a crossed the “heat exchanger” and into the home. 
• HSPF – Heating Season Performance Factor - Specifically used to measure efficiency of heat pumps.  The higher the HSPF the more energy efficient the unit is. 
• MERV Rating – Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value - A measurement scale used to rate the effectiveness of air filters.  The higher the MERV rating the greater percentage of particles captured on each pass of air.
• Seer - Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating - A rating used to rate the efficiency of air conditioners.  The higher the Seer the more efficient the machine is.