HOUSTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- All new residential central air-conditioning and air-source heat pump systems sold in the United States in 2023 will be required to meet new minimum energy efficiency standards, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday.
The new standards effective in 2023 require a seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) - a measure of a system's cooling performance - of no less than 14 SEER for residential systems in the northern part of the United States and 15 SEER in the southern part of the country, where cooling loads are a larger share of home energy use.
Higher SEER ratings indicate more energy-efficient equipment.
In addition, the new standards require an increase in the heating efficiency of air-source heat pumps - measured by the equipment's heating seasonal performance factor (HSPF). The minimum HSPF will be 8.8 HSPF compared with the 8.2 HSPF required by the current standard that went into effect in 2015.
The current energy efficiency standards for these equipment types went into effect in 2015, and for the first time, separate standards were set for cooling central air conditioners sold in the northern parts of the United States and those sold in the southern parts.
The new standards continue to set different cooling efficiency levels for air conditioners in the south, and they require an increase in the heating efficiency of all air-source heat pumps.
The EIA's 2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) estimated that 76 million primary occupied U.S. homes (or 64 percent of the total) use central air-conditioning equipment, and about 13 million homes use heat pumps for heating or cooling.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, households using central air conditioners and heat pumps in the country will collectively save 2.5 billion to 12.2 billion U.S. dollars on energy bills during the 30-year period following implementation of the new minimum energy efficiency standards.
