Your heat pump consists of many different components, but the following three very important factors are essential to longevity of your heating and cooling system. They are in no specific order   Quality, Efficiency and Comfort.

 Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) is a term used to describe the cooling efficiency of a heat pump or an air conditioner.  The more efficiently the unit uses electricity, the higher the SEER number will be.

The SEER rating of most air conditions and heat pumps before 1992 was 7.0 or below.

Today's heat pumps and air conditioners have a SEER rating in the range of 10 to 17. A far cry better than those in the 1990's.

Now for the downside.. the higher the efficiency of the unit, the more expensive the unit becomes.  If you are in a very warm or very humid area, you will get the higher cost of the unit back in no time thru savings in electricity.  You can easily use the weather temperature expected in your area to calculate how long it will take you to get back your original investment in a heating and cooling unit in regard to savings in energy costs.

One important point that cannot be overempahsized, is that since the heat pump is usually a split unit meaning an outdoor unit(condensor) and an inside unit(coil) it is always best to replace them both at the same time to make sure the new unit will give the optimum results in regards to actual perfromance, total efficiency and overall comfort.

Last but not least, I will discuss the Comfort Features.

 Many of the newer heat pumps and air conditioners off special features that provide significantly more comfort and in some cases additional savings in energy and therefore money.  Some units run more quietly than others and can be set to run on low speed which can save up to 50% on energy.

When the system has longer operating periods it may translate into less on/off cycles. This provides better comfort and energy savings.

Some of the multi-speed or variable-capacity furnaces with adjustable speed fan coil may enhance both the efficiency and comfort of your heat pump and air conditioning system even further.

Be sure and visit Smiley Heating and Cooling for all you heating and cooling needs.