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by Jim Herritage and others
The ACCA is a professional association with more than 4,000 air conditioning contractors as members. The organization's website provides most of the information consumers need to know, except for help in… choosing air conditioner brands and models. Articles cover choosing the right contractor (including a locator tool), installing a new system, maintenance and NATE certification. The highlight is a worksheet "Quality HVAC Installation" for evaluating contractors. It includes questions to ask and weights the importance of everything a contractor should do. A formula lets you determine the value of each bid relative to the work that will actually be performed.
by Editors of FurnaceCompare
FurnaceCompare.com provides some free content for evaluating furnaces and requires a subscription for other information. A comprehensive directory of U.S. HVAC contractors (sorted by state, then city) is… free. A subscription (*est. $25) lets you read unlimited reports and lasts for 30 days, or for $25, you can download the 56-page "Central Air Conditioner Price Report." It purports to be a comprehensive buying guide, but the pricing information is not at all what you'd expect. The free information here is very good, but we would like to know something about the expertise of whoever provides it. Brands are rated for average efficiency, but editors admit that has nothing to do with air conditioner quality or durability.
by Fred Weldin & 13 other active experts
AllExperts.com is a free question and answer service. Volunteers are experts in specific relevant fields. Each describes his or her background, and answers are rated in many subcategories by site users.… Most existing questions are about problems, but some people ask for recommendations about quotes they've received, as well as what to buy. If you want to ask a question, we found that these experts need as much information as possible to give a useful answer. (Like ConsumerSearch, AllExperts.com is an affiliate of About.com, but the companies have no editorial relationship.)
by James Dulley
Columnist and mechanical engineer James Dulley offers general advice and provides information about the most energy-efficient models. Dulley hasn't tested any of these units, but in his general information,… he explains that he and his research staff evaluate designs and discuss them with the manufacturers' engineers as part of the evaluation process. This article comes as close to recommending products as any source we found, but all the well-known manufacturers are included, which waters down any value. Dulley lists 19 models, and some of them are series of models. All are equally recommended.
by Jennifer Thorne Amann, Alex Wilson and Katie Ackerly
"The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental protection."… This website has lots of information relating to energy-efficient appliances and government tax incentive programs. Material is excerpted from the organization's book. The organization provides advice for finding a good contractor, and recommends efficiency levels for new equipment. Except for the intentional absence of brand recommendations, ACEEE is a comprehensive resource.
by Solvie Karlstrom
GreenGuide.com is owned by the National Geographic Society. This article is a fairly thorough buying guide. It is headed with a chart that shows ten energy-efficient central air conditioners. The chart… offers little information, and the article does not refer to any of the models. They all appear to be recommended, but Green Guide does not test products. If they are recommended, environmental considerations may be the only criteria. Readers are invited to rate the charted air conditioners, but none have yet. In spite of these shortcomings, the advice here is excellent. It is the best guide to environmental considerations.
by Justin Gerdes and Flex Your Power staff
Flex Your Power is a public/private partnership in California. The organization's purpose is to market energy efficiency to Californians. With links to utilities, contractors and rebate programs, this is an… excellent resource for Californians. For other Americans, this article is a good general guide. The chart, "Cost Comparison of Standard and ENERGY STAR Qualified Central Air Conditioners," is particularly useful. The article links to a few manufacturers, but makes no specific recommendations.
by James Dulley
This article is useful for people debating between a conventional whole-house central air conditioner and a mini-split ductless air conditioning system. Columnist and mechanical engineer James Dulley offers… general advice and provides information about what he thinks are the best models. Dulley hasn't tested these models. Instead, he and his research staff evaluate designs and discuss them with the manufacturers' engineers as part of the evaluation process. Dulley lists and describes ten models/systems. Several are from foreign brands that generally do not receive favorable reviews for other products.
by Editors of Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports tests and rates window air conditioners, but not central AC systems. The magazine offers a short article with general buying advice in the January issue. Recommendations are similar to what… we found elsewhere, but with less depth or detail. In particular, editors say choosing the right contractor is the most important consideration. Brands aren't mentioned at all. Consumer Reports published a "Brand Repair History" for furnaces in January, but has not done so for air conditioners.
by Office of Air and Radiation
This site lists some basic consumer information about energy efficiency, considerations in choosing a contractor and other tips. There is also a link to the database of ENERGY STAR-certified central air… conditioners created by The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) and the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute. You can get complete information about any model by entering the manufacturer and model name. The EPA makes no specific product recommendations. The only advice regarding specific air conditioners is to get one that is ENERGY STAR qualified.
by Contributors to GardenWeb.com
This forum is frequented by HVAC professionals. If you search for "air condition" you'll find useful topics. Many of them can help guide you to a buying decision. In one lengthy discussion, experts hotly… debate whether Goodman is equal in quality to other central air conditioner, or just cheaper. The prevailing opinion is that installation is more important than brand. Some pros say all brands are equal. In a recent post (titled "don't know which proper a/c to get. need help badly"), many contractors teach the owner of a new home what he needs to know to choose between contractors.
by U.S. Department of Energy staff
This government guide is broken into several sections: Selecting and Replacing Heating and Cooling Systems and Cooling Systems are both particularly useful. Advice here is more straightforward and… comprehensive than most similar guides. It's a very reasonable starting point for learning about the technology and buying considerations, but it has no information about brands, and no comparative guidance. This is a good source for comparing alternatives to central air conditioning.
by Ramola Yardi, Andy Smith, and Katherine Wang
The Rocky Mountain Institute is a non-profit research organization. Its environmental bias may cause you to choose alternatives to central air conditioning. Still, this article has good advice and covers… most of the general considerations for choosing a unit. Contractors are not addressed. Brands aren't mentioned either. The article pre-dates the government-mandated SEER standards implemented in January 2006, so some of the information is dated.
by User reviews
FurnaceCompare.com is the most comprehensive source for user reviews of central air conditioners. They are conveniently sorted by brand. Users rate their satisfaction and some add comments. This resource… has two major limitations. First, only Goodman had more than six reviews at the time of our visits. The reviews for other brands don't add up to more than anecdotal information. Second, some contributors evaluate old air conditioners. While long-term reliability may be the most important consideration, the relative success of an old unit does not address current product quality.
by Media and Public Communications Office
This government website offers generic, unbiased advice. You'll find most of the same information elsewhere in more detail, but this guide is easy to understand. Heat pumps and central air conditioners are… compared. Efficiency and sound level ratings are explained very well. The state puts ratings in context and gives citizens a good idea of what to consider while comparison shopping. Most of the other information on this website is not relevant.
by James McClow and Ann
This article is a how-to guide for choosing a contractor. The advice is very good, but the source engenders little confidence with a hard-to-navigate website and more dead than active links. Some of the… advice is general, but much specifically applies to hiring an HVAC contractor. The authors discuss how to find a contractor, getting advice from local government, researching products in advance and requirements that should be included in the bids you solicit.
by History-bytes
This short how-to-buy article has very good suggestions and the writer appears to be knowledgeable. However, "history-bytes" is a semi-anonymous veteran eBay seller who expresses no qualifications. This… individual or business has conducted about 20,000 eBay sales and has a good feedback rating. Products currently for sale have to do with history, but not HVAC. This guide has some smart advice not found elsewhere, but no brands are mentioned.
by NATE staff
"NATE, North American Technician Excellence Inc., is an independent, third-party certification body for HVAC/R technicians." To achieve NATE certification, technicians only have to pass a written test,… while HVAC Excellence (below) also requires a hands-on test. However, NATE certification carries more weight within the industry and from experts outside the industry. At the least, it is the more established standard. Technicians can achieve installation and/or service certification in five specialty HVAC areas. Contractors recommend hiring a company with NATE-certified installers.
by HVAC Excellence directors
HVAC Excellence is a non-profit professional development association. The organization has a formal certification program for service contractors. "The Master Specialist Certification requires technicians… to pass a written and hands-on certification exam." Gas Heat, Oil Heat, Heat Pumps and Residential Air Conditioning are all separate certification categories. The association encourages you to hire a certified technician. Few of the contractors we interviewed are familiar with this organization. NATE is much better known.
by Anonymous
by Douglas Colley
The purpose of this site, founded by Douglas Colley, is unstated and unclear. The site operator reveals no information. Phrases like "central air conditioner reviews" appear in a third of sentences, which… makes search engine optimization appear to be the main objective. Someone describes a handful of leading brands. The writer provides a good history of each brand and describes them all in glowing terms. These descriptions are not reviews.
by Stephen Haworth
If you already know that an air conditioner can keep your home cool in hot weather, you're not going to learn anything from this website. This article tells you multiple times that an air conditioner cools.… It also has misinformation that will confuse you. The website is a mystery. We found no reviews or even mention of brands. Stephen Haworth does not seem to be trying to sell products, although there are links to several ceiling fan companies. Site links take readers in circles.
by Shamaila Shafiq
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