PHOENIX, AZ — Goettl Air Conditioning, Inc., a small a/c manufacturer based here, has joined Goodman Manufacturing Co. of Houston, TX, one of the industry’s largest manufacturers, in supporting a 13-SEER standard for central air conditioners and heat pumps as opposed to the Bush administration’s proposed 12-SEER standard.

Karl Rove, senior advisor to President Bush, had cited a potential adverse impact on small manufacturers as a major reason for reducing the Clinton administration’s proposal for a new SEER standard of 13 to a SEER of 12. In letters to Rove and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Daniel H. Burke, president of Goettl, expressed his company’s support for the higher standard.

“We are in favor of using proven energy efficiency technology that is available to us today,” Burke wrote. “Higher energy efficiency technology to produce 13-SEER units has been available to small manufacturers like us for a number of years.

“By the time the new efficiency standard is implemented in 2006, we will have been producing 13-SEER air conditioners for almost 10 years. Goettl Air Conditioning, Inc. encourages you to reconsider your decision and support raising the efficiency standard to a level of 13 SEER.”

The Bush administration announced on April 13 its intention to propose a new 12-SEER standard with an expected comment period to begin shortly.

Publication date: 05/14/2001