Customers purchasing heating or cooling equipment typically want to know how energy efficient their new units will be. Contractors also want to be sure that the systems they are selling perform as advertised, which is why manufacturers usually rely on an unbiased third-party verifier, such as the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), to independently measure the performance — or energy efficiency — of their HVAC equipment.
Most in the industry are already familiar with many of the terms used to describe the energy efficiency of a unit — SEER, AFUE, EER, COP, etc. But other measurements are starting to be used as well, such as CEF, IEER, SCHE, and SCOP, which have been developed by AHRI, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other groups. Manufacturers say these terms are useful to know when determining the amount of energy used by certain systems.