The Best Is Not the Same for Everyone
While we might want to know which brand of air conditioner is the best overall, the first question might be which type is the best air conditioner for Skagit county. Modern manufacturing processes are excellent. Top brands are competing at a high level of reliability. Efficacy, though, is determined by application as well as design.
The majority of the cooling season in the Skagit Valley features low relative humidity. While it may be uncomfortably warm in your home, it is not usually also uncomfortably humid. An air conditioning unit that includes a dehumidifier may not be the most efficient choice.
Unlike the huge condenser units of the past, a ductless mini split won’t dominate your yard or ruin the look of your home.
How to Reduce the Load on Your HVAC – and Your Wallet
Before we look at what type of air conditioner performs the best where we live, let’s refresh ourselves on what we can do to make any air conditioner, including the one you might have now, perform better.
- Seal leaky ducts or re-route old, convoluted airways. Be sure ducts are free of obstructions.
- Ensure that the condenser (the part outside) has plenty of room to breathe – cut bushes back and don’t crowd it with objects or obstructions to airflow.
- Consider adding awnings to south-facing windows to reduce solar heating of your home.
- Use heat-generating appliances such as dryers and ovens during cooler parts of the day.
- Cool only the spaces you are using at any given time.
Avoiding the losses associated with leaky, dirty, or poorly-sized or -routed ducts while also cooling only the spaces you are using is easy – with a ductless mini split.
Your Condenser Unit Needs Ample Airflow to Operate Efficiently
The Best Air Conditioner for Skagit County is American Standard
I mentioned earlier that the top brands are all competing at a high level of reliability. Still, I prefer to sell and install American Standard over any other brand. I will install a less expensive piece of equipment IF you are on a tight budget, or an American Standard will not fit with your existing system. American Standard is a better built piece of equipment. That’s just not my experience talking, but also consumer reports over the last six or so years.
Even the best piece of equipment, if badly installed, will perform poorly and fail early. That’s why Alpine Heating and Cooling guarantees our labor for life. Installing an American Standard Ductless Mini Split system gives us a great sense of satisfaction. We know that you will be comfortable and happy with your new system for years to come.
For many of our customers, the best air conditioner for Skagit county is an American Standard Ductless Mini Split. The best is not the same for everyone, though. We are happy to guide you in your decision. Which HVAC setup is right for your home, family, and budget is personal. Give us a call today to see how we can help you spend less and be more comfortable no matter the weather. We can be reached at 360-755-5146 or 360-293-6210 and are excited to help you!
Clean, High-Quality Installations Are Our Hallmark
Is Your Money Flying out the Window?
Most folks don’t enjoy paying more than they need to, or paying for something they aren’t getting. When it comes to heating (and cooling) your home, you may be doing exactly that. How can you find out? A home energy assessment can tell you where the energy you’re paying for is going. Efficient energy use is smart money management
Your Personal Comfort – the True Test
A more personal test is to compare your comfort level in your home with the comfort level of your wallet or pocketbook. Are you paying more than you’d like to, but you still aren’t warm in winter and cool in summer? While this sacrifice may have been necessary in the past, today’s new technologies and heating/cooling systems can pay for themselves with savings in a few years, then keep on saving you money for years to come. There are even rebates and incentives to help you out.
Efficient Energy Use Begins With a Tight Building Envelope
As in the video above, it’s important to stop your expensive heated or cooled air from leaving for as long as possible. A tight building envelope is a must. Once you’ve checked your insulation and sealed up the windows it’s time to address another area of loss – the equipment used to heat and cool your home.
Here is a quick overview of some of the systems and technologies Alpine Heating and Cooling installs and how they can save you money.
Heat Pumps
A heat pump is a device that transfers heat from a colder area to a hotter area(“against the gradient”) by using mechanical energy, as in a refrigerator. While that may not sound like it could heat your home, the fact is there is heat energy all around us waiting to be harvested. A heat pump can move this heat from the air (air source heat pump) or the ground (ground source heat pump) into your home. Think of it like a refrigerator in reverse.
Here is a terrific, short video of an air-source heat pump showing operation in both summer (air conditioning) and winter (heating) modes.
Natural Gas Furnace
A natural gas furnace is a popular and smart choice for home heating in the Skagit Valley. Natural gas is available to most homes, is clean burning, and modern gas furnaces can achieve as high as 98.5 efficiency ratings while lasting for 15-30 years with regular maintenance.¹
Also according to energy.gov, between 2007 and 2012 the average U.S. household spent $700 annually to heat with natural gas versus $1700 per year to heat with oil. A new, high-efficiency gas furnace can save you money, especially if you are moving from an older, lower-efficiency oil furnace.
Ductless Mini Split
A Ductless Mini Split heat pump system can decrease your energy bill in several ways.
- Ducting can lose 10-40% of the heat or cool they carry before it reaches you, even more if there are serious breaks or leaks, which often go unnoticed in attics and crawlspaces. Ditch the ducts, ditch the loss.
- Mini splits can be used “zonally” to heat and cool individual rooms or floors. You don’t need to heat or cool your entire house to the same degree if you aren’t using most of it.
- The modern heating and cooling technologies used in ductless mini splits are more efficient than their older counterparts.
Programmable Thermostats
Any on-demand heating system including furnaces, heat pumps, and mini-splits can benefit from the proper use of a programmable thermostat. A programmable thermostat can help save you money when you’re away or asleep so that there’s more left over to keep you warm or cool when you’re home and awake.
By using “setbacks” (cooler settings in the winter and warmer settings in the summer) for times when you don’t need the full effect of heat or air conditioning, you can see a reduction in your utility bill with no change in your comfort level. Your programmable thermostat can turn your heat down when you leave for work or go to sleep and turn it back up just before you wake or return home in the evening, all automatically.
You won’t have to remember to turn the thermostat down when you leave the house or wait for the house to warm up when you arrive home in the evening.
Energy Star Rebates and Incentives
Be sure to check out our rebates and incentives page to find out how much money you can receive toward installing new, highly-efficient, quiet, and dependable heating and cooling equipment. We’ve put together a list that includes state, federal, local, and utility-based incentives.
Ask Us How You Can Save
Give us a call with your questions. We’d be happy to answer them over the phone if we can, or come out and have a look. Alpine has installed new, more efficient heating and cooling systems for thousands of satisfied customers in the Skagit Valley, from Sedro-Wooley to Burlington to Anacortes and beyond.
Alpine Heating And Cooling Inc.
1957 Park Lane
Burlington Wa 98233
Phone (360) 755-5146 and (360) 293-6210
Email Gary@alpineheat.com
¹ energy.gov: energy saver 101 infographic
Ductless In Anacortes, a perfect example.
Anacortes Ductless
This home(Ductless In Anacortes) is a perfect example of when you need to consider a Ductless Daikin mini Split heat pump. The home is slab on grade, meaning no crawl space under the home. Even if we had a crawl space there is no logical place to put a furnace. And the home is only about 1200 sqft. way to small for a full size furnace. Making the ductless Daikin ductless mini split ductless system a perfect fit.
And once again I forgot to take a picture of the indoor unit.
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.
Ductless In Mount Vernon
To think it wasn’t that long ago we didn’t have the Ductless line set covers that we have today. They really help clean up the install. We use to use gutter material found at a local hardware store, but these new covers offer better protection and more fittings to choose from.
Daikin Ductless Heat Pump
Here you see us installing a Daikni ductless unit above a window and running a refer line set from that unit to the outdoor Daikin unit. As you can see we actually penetrated the side wall of the home above the window. We actually use a wall sleeve to go through the wall. Sealing up the ductless and wall to the weather.
Daikin Ductless Heat Pump Indoor Unit
The cover is made of a type of PVC, its 2 piece, easy to install and is paint-able. It is a little expensive but well worth the price.
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.
Ductless For Mobile Home
Once in awhile we get a ductless project that is a little out of the norm, here we have older well kept mobile home that actually has some rough cut timber added into the interior and exterior of the home
Ductless For Mobile Home
Running our line sets tight against the siding would have been almost impossible. So we simple ran the line set on top of the trim down to the Ductless Daikin unit. Actually turned out pretty good.
Ductless For Mobile Home
The indoor Daikin unit was positioned centered between to timber columns, making for a very clean installation.
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.
Going Ductless In Sedro Woolley
Daikin Mini Split Indoor #2782
On this particular project (Ductless In Sedro Woolley) we actually installed the Daikin ductless indoor unit in the center of the home, a more difficult installation for a ductless but in this application it was the best location in the home. Here in the northwest we have to deal with rain and when the weather gets a little on the wet side we usually like to pop up a canvas/tent to help keep us and our work dry.
Ductless Mini Split Outdoor #2782
Unfortunately this is one of those projects where I failed to get an picture of the indoor unit. If I happen to get back to this ductless project in the near future I will snap a picture.
Dont forget if you have a questions about ductless heat pumps drop me an email.
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.
Ductless mini split system
[wr_row][wr_column]This is properly one of the easiest Daikin mini splits we have actually installed.
Ductless Daikin Project #2781
As you can see we sat the Daikin outdoor unit on a pre-formed pad and then ran the refer line set up and into the side of the home.
Ductless Daikin Project #2781
The indoor unit actually installed right next to the exterior wall, so the refer line set came through the side of the home and right into the unit.
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.[/wr_column]][wr_text]This is properly one of the easiest Daikin mini splits we have actually installed.