Split System Air Conditioning
A traditional home comfort system has two parts: an indoor unit, such as a furnace or air handler, and an outdoor unit. An air conditioner is the outdoor unit that cools air and sends it to the indoor unit for circulation through your home. Indoor and outdoor units are designed to work together. When the air conditioner is properly matched with a furnace or air handler, you get maximum efficiency and longer system life. Air conditioning and cooling efficiency is measured using a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER). A higher SEER means higher energy efficiency. The latest standard for SEER is 13 (beginning January 2006).
High-Efficiency Heat Pumps
As with normal air conditioning above, a split system using a heat pump (instead of an air conditioning unit) keeps homes comfortable all year long. In summer, it draws heat out of your home to cool it. In the winter, it draws heat from outside air into your home to warm it (even though air may be cold in the winter, there is heat in the air and a heat pump system balances between this and using the furnace).
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