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High Efficiency Deceit (2002)
We are constantly bombarded with so called government regulations that are there to "help us" make an intelligent decision. One of those "buzz" words is SEER. The Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio is a government set guideline to advise us to spend our money wisely. This encourages high efficiency air conditioning designs that often fail to address the main reason they are installed: to reduce operating cost at the same time increasing comfort.
Let's look at some history. High efficiency became very popular in the 1990's as energy costs rose out of proportion to inflation. In an effort to help the consumer make a better decision higher SEER ratings were encouraged and even rewarded with cash rebates. These programs reached a fever pitch in the early 1990's. The standards used were not applicable to Texas, the area we live in, because of extremes in humidity and temperature. In a discussion with an official with the rating agency (ARI), he stated that to determine the true SEER in extreme conditions, the equipment must be tested in that specific climate under those conditions. This was an answer to my inquiry as to what the true SEER rating of equipment was when sold in the Houston area.
In a protest before the Public Utility Commission in 1994, my petition to apply different standards was rejected. A consensus was not reached by the PUC. The concern was that if we did not stop installing air conditioning to standards not applicable for our area, that high humidity would cause mold and mildew to grow. There would be nothing to stop the process from overwhelming the house and it's occupants. No one at the PUC expressed any serious concern except to say that was not happening now and they should be made aware of it when it started occurring. In addition, they recommended that the utilities be notified if a problem surfaced. No one notified the utilities because those involved do not see the utility as the solution to any problem. In fact, few contractors understood the problem to even exist.
Where are we today? We have traded the savings in energy efficiency for more contaminated air. We lowered our electric bill and did not improve our comfort environment. How is that happening? Increased humidity caused people to run their air conditioning excessively in attempt to get the house more comfortable. People changed out the lower SEER for a higher SEER unit only to see their bill lowered much less than promised or expected. The comfort was compromised and higher allergic reactions to the "new" environment evolved. Increased medication cost us more to live in our home. Few, if any, realized the association between dirtier air and increased illness.
We have been deceived, maybe not intentionally, but through government sanctioning of designs that do not work. Do it this way. We have a mold epidemic in 2001 and beyond. How has that affected everybody? Our insurance rates have increased dramatically more than electric savings from high efficiency. We have shot ourselves in the foot! Not only did our rates go up, our coverage went down at the same time. Truly ironic results. Save energy, grow mold, get sick and pay more. This is the total result of leadership blunders the eluded the truth and to this day are still in the dark. It is the ignorant, led by the educated, believed by the incompetent, followed by the masses, to a result no one expected.
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