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ARI
The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) is an organization which was created by HVAC manufacturers to verify the quality of units within the industry. ARI is a non-profit organization. It is comprised of volunteers. It publishes its ratings standards and benchmarks for testing cooling and heating products.

CAPACITY
Usually capacity is measured in BTU's or tons. Capacity is the air conditioner or heating unit's effectiveness to cool or heat a measured space. A 20 ton air conditioning unit has double the capacity of a 10-ton unit.

CFM
A CFM is a unit used to show the activity of volume of air in Cubic Feet per Minute(CFM). For example a 400 CFM are handle moves 400 cubic feet in a minute.

COMPRESSOR
A compressor is the device responsible for pumping the refrigerant throughout the refrigerant lines and the coil which makes the transfer of heat possible from indoors to outdoors.

CONDENSER
The condenser is the coil in charge of distributing heat to the outside air. It's function reverses whenever a heat pump is used.

COP
The Coefficient of Performance is the rating used to show a heat pump's ability to effectively use electricity in its operation. The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute is an agency that gives the Coefficient of Performance at 47 degrees Fahrenheit and 17 degrees Fahrenheit mainly because a heat pump works better at higher, outside-air temperatures.

dB
A db is the relative loudness of a sound, short for decibel. The sound of a a persons voice talking is close to 70 dB. (See also SRN.)

DOE
The Department of Energy (DOE) is a federal agency that sets the specifications for efficiency throughout the HVAC Industry. The DOE also monitors the usage of sources of energy.

DUCT/DUCTWORK/DUCTING
Warm and cooler air is then moved to different registers throughout the house via special, flexible, large-diameter pipes or ducts or at times referred to as ducting or ductwork.

EER
Energy Efficiency Ratio is the ratio of the cooling capacity of the air conditioning unit in BTUs per hour in relation to the total electrical input in watts. This measurement is discovered by comparing test units to the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute specifications.

EFFICIENCY
Efficiency is a term used to explain how efficiently a heat pump, air conditioner system, or furnace is converting incoming energy to outgoing energy. The higher the number, the more effective the unit, and the lower the operating costs.

EVAPORATOR COIL/EVAPORATOR
The Evaporator Coil is an important part of the indoor unit of a heat pump or air conditioner system. It's function bears it's name. As heated air passes over a coil full of liquid refrigerant, the refrigerant itself evaporates and absorbs some of the heat. The gas refrigerant is then pumped to the outdoor coil, where it sends heat into the outside air and returns to its liquid state.

HVAC
Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning. This term can be used to refer to the industry at large, particularly dealers of heating and air conditioning equipment.

INDOOR COILS
The indoor coil is the device in charge of transferring heat from indoors to the outdoors (or the reverse in the case of a heat pump in heating mode.

KILOWATT
A kilowatt (kW) is used to explain a unit such as 1,000 Watts. Note that the "W" in "kW" is always shown capitalized because the Watt unit was named after a Scottish engineer named James Watt (1736-1819).

KWH
When a unit uses 1,000 Watts in a single hour, this implies it is has an energy rating of 1kWh.

PACKAGE UNIT
A Package Unit is equipment where all the cooling and heating components are located in one cabinet.

REFRIGERANT
The liquid which is used to absorb and transfer heat in one part of the air conditioning unit to another. It is sometimes called "FREON".

REFRIGERANT LINES
The copper lines which are utilized in transferring the refrigerant amongst the outdoor unit and the indoor unit.

SEER
Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating or SEER is used to demonstrate the efficiency of an air conditioning unit, or heat pump in cooling mode. The higher the SEER number rating, the more efficient the unit. The Department of Energy has a minimum SEER number rating of 10.

SPLIT SYSTEM
An air conditioning unit that utilizes both indoor and an outdoor components to deliver clean comfortable air right into a living environment.

THERMOSTAT
A device which is used to regulate the temperature of your home comfort systems to help maintain a comfortable temperature throughout the day and night inside the house. Many of these are programmable thermostats that enable you to program a specific temperature for different times during the day or night.

TON
The ton ratings really have nothing to do with the weight of the unit. A ton is actually 12,000 BTUs (see BTU definition on this page). A typical home cooling/heating system uses heat pumps or air conditioning units with capacities of between 1.5 and 5 tons.

WATT/WATTS
Electrical power is also expressed as "W" for Watts. For instance, a 200W light bulb consumes 200Watts of electrical power. The W in Watt is always uppercased, because it is named after a Scottish engineer named James Watt (1736-1819).

ZONE/ZONING
A home can be split up into several different areas or zones to better control the temperature ranges in your home. The zoning process uses this type of method to divide your home into different areas.