Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine May 2023

HVACR NewsMagazine May 2023

or do without air conditioning. What if they can’t get approved for the additional money for the furnace. What if the car needs repairs and they can’t afford both the furnace and the vehicle repair. Well, homeowner of husband, wife, and 2.3 children, walk to work or SPEND THE SUMMER WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING.

You may be Too POOR for Central Air Conditioning

What the HECK are we doing?

DOE may require a complete change out to meet efficiencies.

Dilemma:

1. A home owner needs to replace their air conditioning unit. The new unit must meet today’s SEER 2 standards. 2. The 80% furnace is older but still works fine. No cracks. 3. The homeowner can qualify for a loan but the payments are a bit beyond their budget. 4. They can make the payments if the replacement does not include the furnace. Regretfully, they do not install the furnace. Makes economic sense. After all inflation has eaten up their pay increases so money seems tighter than ever before. OH! Stop right there. If the DOE gets their way, the homeowner has no choice. They are required to install a rated system and the AC will only work as rated if it is paired with a new furnace. So homeowner of husband, wife, and 2.3 children, find a way to pay for the furnace What are they to do?

You think I am crazy. You think there is no way that the feds would make a good efficiency decision with unintended consequences like we have just explained. Well, my good friends in the HVAC business. According to folks that I trust, the AC replacement must be paired with a furnace whose blower will allow the new high efficiency AC to work as designed. Otherwise it is considered an illegal replacement. Are you as a contractor responsible? That seems to be a big question. OK! What if you adhere to the letter and tell the folks that you can’t replace their AC without also replacing the furnace? Well, you and I and everyone else knows that the next guy will and you just lost business to someone that may or may not adhere to other health, safety, and efficacy issues.