ARLINGTON, VA - The U.S. Department of Energy's last-minute mandate to increase the minimum efficiency standard for residential central air conditioners and heat pumps from 10 SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) to 13 SEER drew fire from many hvacr industry officials.
Clifford H. "Ted" Rees, president of the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), may have been the most vocal. By ordering a 30% increase, Rees said the DOE "is enacting a cruel penalty on millions of Americans for whom air conditioning is a necessity, indeed a life saver in heat waves. This will be a very hard blow to many Americans living on low and fixed incomes in rural and urban settings."