"Bill" wrote in message
...
Well I only use my air conditioning two months out of the year and bought
the most efficient unit I could find 5 years ago. Doing this has saved me
quite a bit of money!

Same with all my appliances - all "Energy Star" most efficient I can buy.
My electric bill was $29 last month. It was $75 a month 6 years ago. Not
bad factoring in the higher cost of electricity these days...



How much money did you spend to save money??!

There are to schools of thought on this
1. buy the most efficient appliances, furnace, AC, whatever.
2. Buy lower to mid efficiency units.

In #1 you pay a bunch up front, less in the end. #2 you pay little up from,
more in the end.
Either way it pretty much balances itself out. either you pay the HVAC, or
appliance company, or you pay the power utility. Do the math and the numbers
are so close in the end it makes little difference which way to go.

I just replaced my furnace. For most people this would have been a $3500
install in my area. About $1000 less for a slightly less efficient model,
(94% Vs., 95% fully modulating burner, variable speed blower) I hope to save
a couple a hundred a year on gas and electricity, so 5 years to break even.
If I move out of the house in less than five years I lost money.

A 14-16 SEER AC is probably 3 times the price of a 10 SEER. In this area
many people use their AC just a few days a year. Pretty crazy to go high
SEER on a AC you don't use. Pay back will never be seen as buy the time you
save enough money to make the difference in price, it is past time to
replace the equipment.

I work for a HVAC company and buy my equipment for cost. I have a 10 SEER
AC. I have thought about replacing it with a higher SEER unit, but even at
cost for the equipment, and not counting my labor time to install, it won't
pay off in time. If you have to pay full price and have it done you are much
better to just pay the utility.
Greg