seer rating doesn't match power draw

melbjer · 2005-07-29T23:31:43+00:00

I am looking afor a new central AC. I live in Florida so efficiency isimportant. I looked at Tranes, and found that the 4 1/2 ton unit Ilooked at was rated at a 14 SEER, yet the specs stated it drew 27.5amps for the compressor, an amp or so for the compressor fan, and 7amps for the air handler blower (full speed). Now 4 1/2 tons is 54000BTU's per hour, and the power draw is (27.5+1+7)amps X 220V, or 7800watts. This would seem to me to give a SEER of 6.9. This is less thanhalf of the stated SEER of 14. Can anyone explain this? I looked atthe ARI website and this seems to be the case for every manufacturer.If I buy a buy a 14 SEER 54000 BTU/hour AC, I would expect it to draw54000/14 watts, or 3850 watts. Can anyone explain this? Neither theTrane dealer or distributor could answer this. Thank you in advance.

Jul 29, 2005 25 Replies

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melbjer 20 years ago

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RP 20 years ago

Oh no Nick, not the BTU vs. BTUH thing again :) Of course as Steve wrote it, it was incorrect. OTOH the convention of saying BTU when BTUH is meant has set in and will be difficult to purge from the language.

hvacrmedic

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~^Johnny^~ 20 years ago

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~^Johnny^~ 20 years ago

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nicksanspam 20 years ago

It's Btu/h, ie Btus per hour. BTUH would be Btus times time...

Should we discard our ACs when they run out of Btus? :-)

Nick

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RP 20 years ago

In a mathematical formula yes, but as an abbreviation of language BTUH is read btu per hour :) It's yet another case of dumb-ass convention ;)

hvacrmedic

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