Buyers Guide: Air Conditioning & Heating Equipment and HVAC Contractors

This site contains useful information and resources to help you make decisions about air conditioning and heating for your home or business. In the site, you will find unbiased facts and observations organized by topic and level of detail you need. Although we do provide some brand specific information, everything you read here was intentionally researched and written from a “brand neutral” viewpoint. The findings here come from our interviews with HVAC industry experts, air conditioning and heating contractors, equipment manufacturers, and homeowners.

A/C and heating equipment can generally be divided into two categories: central systems and portable units. This site focuses on central air conditioning and heating systems and the main categories of repair, maintenance and replacement plus related AC topics. We also included information about fixed (non-portable) ductless air conditioners and heat pumps that are designed for smaller spaces. If you are seeking resources on window air conditioners and portable room heaters, we recommend you visit a site that focuses on those.

Achieving a comfortable and healthy indoor environment involves more than just cooling or heating of the air. You will find the information you need here on air filters, air purifiers, dehumidifiers, air duct cleaning, carbon monoxide detection and prevention, and other indoor air quality topics.

Decisions you make about heating and air conditioning in your home or business directly affect energy usage and your bills every month. This site also addresses energy use and conservation improvements, such as radiant barriers and solar screens, emphasizing the “whole house” approach.

The topic of air conditioning and heating involves a lot of details and tends to be time consuming to work through. So that you can find the topic and level of detail you want quickly, we organized the site navigation as follows:

(a)	A local resource page for each of the largest U.S. cities. Use the links on the right of this page if you want to find a HVAC contractor that serves your area. On the page for your city you will also find local climate and environmental influences, city utility rebates, energy conservation programs, and HVAC schools and training resources..
(b)	Quick consumer tips on the four most requested topics. These quick-to-read pages give you useful summaries on the following: How to buy a new A/C & heating system How to hire an air conditioning and heating contractor How to get your A-C & heating system repaired & maintained. How to lower monthly utility bills
(c)	Expanded A/C and heating details: fifteen topics in the following categories Buying, Repair, and Replacement Of AC and Heating Systems New air conditioning & heating equipment: how to compare features, benefits and price Heating & AC System repair vs. replacement tips and services For home buyers and real estate agents: tips and services A/C and Heating Equipment and How It Works Air conditioning systems and all air conditioners and AC units Heating and furnaces: heating issues and different heat sources HVAC commercial and residential: acronym that stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. All about heat pumps, including both heating and A/C features. A/C and Heating Energy Conservation: Save Money and Energy Thermostats, programmable thermostats, features and benefits. Energy conservation, radiant barriers, attic insulation, energy audits and the Energy Star program Energy rebates, tax credits, financing and related topics Indoor Air Quality Topics Air filters & air purifiers, air filtration, a/c filter replacement elements, whole house filters, portable room filters and pollen filters Dehumidifiers, humidifiers, and humidity control Carbon monoxide detectors, inspections and issues Ventilation systems and A-C vents HVAC air duct cleaning, mold issues and more
(d)	Helpful and Free Cost Comparison Organizer To help you organize and compare HVAC contractor price quotes on a new heating and air conditioning system, we included a printer-friendly grid. It gives columns where you can enter efficiency ratings, features, manufacturer’s warranty on the main components, and brand. This free tool helps you cut through the details so you can compare essential features and installed costs at a glance.
(e)	Glossary of heating and air conditioning terminology To help you understand the description of problems with your current HVAC units or price quotes and bids for a new system.
(f)	HVAC blog: repair, replacement, warranty, equipment and service trends Get useful up-to-date information and trends in A/C, heating, HVAC and more.
(g)	A/C and Heating videos and video clips Links to informative clips on Youtube and more. Videos help simplify some of the more complicated HVAC topics such as heat pumps and indoor air quality.

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