The heat wave of summer is upon us, so you’ll rush into the nearest Home Depot to buy a new AC.

Yes, you’ve done your homework of determining the specific brand  of AC that’ll give you the best value for your money and you’re quite pleased with its Energy Star rating.

But there are other things you still have to consider before bringing it over the counter – things that no one, not even the salesperson, has explained to you. Here are top 5 considerations to make the right choice when it comes to your brand new air conditioner.

1.Installation Distance

The tube length distance between the indoor and the outdoor unit plays an important role in the performance level of your brand new air conditioner. The longer the distance, the less efficiency it would have. Air conditioner units should have an installation distance between 3 and 15 meters, depending on its capacity (from 2 KW to 3.5 KW)

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2.Outdoor Unit Installation

If the AC system will be installed near a wall, make sure there is proper ventilation so air can flow easily and the unit will not work harder than what it’s supposed to do.

Make sure that the outdoor unit will be in a shady location, not in direct sunlight. There could be as much as 10ºC difference in the temperature, depending on how far away or how much exposed to direct sunlight your AC system is, which could increase your energy consumption of as much as 20 percent.

3.Indoor Unit Installation

The best location for your air conditioner unit is where cool air can reach us directly. Many homeowners choose its location based on aesthetics to ensure that a bulky device such as an AC system won’t ruin the overall room design. Moreover, they don’t usually want to place the unit in a specific location where they would feel too uncomfortable right away because of its coolness.

But from a technical point of view, placing the AC system in a location where the cool air will hit us directly and lower our body temperature right away is the most practical thing to do. It will lessen the time spent on decreasing our heat sensation, which will make us increase the set point temperature more quickly.

Besides, if you have already reached that comfortable feeling already, you can just use the fan function instead, which can contribute to immediate decrease in energy consumption.

4.Ideal Set Temperature

Regardless of what your friends say or what you’ve read from the internet, you can’t determine your ideal set temperature based on their own experience – because you literally have different factors affecting your AC system’s performance.

Every room has a different size and shape plus you also have to take into account number of windows or electronic device present plus whether that room is directly exposed to sunlight or on a shady location.

Most importantly, you also have to consider the number of people using that room on a regular basis, not to mention each of their temperature feeling. What one person feels as too cold may just as well be normal temperature for another.

The best thing to do is determine the ideal temperature for different scenarios, such as day or night, and make sure that your ideal set temperature is not 10ºC higher or below the outdoor temperature.

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5.Specific Function of the AC System

Before buying a new air conditioner, compare the unique settings of each of the brands available – and see which unit can answer to your specific needs or can make your life easier.

You’re spending hard-earned money for a product that has a depreciating value as time passes by, so might as well take advantage of all its features to get the most of what it has to offer.

Different AC systems have different functions but depending on your lifestyle, you would want to know if it is a unit which can be controlled through your smartphone, voice control capability, scene creation/execution, annual calendar programming and such.

If you need more assistance for finding the right air conditioner for your home, ask a climate professional to conduct an onsite inspection to help you determine the best way to cool your space as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Our friends at Home Depot have also put together a great guide for you. Check it out for another perspective.