A/C: Air Conditioning

HVAC: Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning

Ton or Tonnage: This is a measure of cooling capacity given to air conditioning equipment. One ton of air conditioning removes 12,000 Btu's of heat energy per hour from a home. 5 ton is the largest regular residential model manufactured. In southern Arizona and the Tucson area, a 5 ton unit will handle about 2000- 2200 square feet of living space depending on a lot of variables such as climate, homes insulation, windows & doors just to name a few. Commercial equipment goes much higher in tonnage.

SEER: Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. A measure of cooling efficiency for air conditioners. The higher the SEER, the more energy efficient the air conditioning will be. As of 2006, per the U.S. Federal Government, a minimum SEER rating of 13 is now required for all new Air conditioning equipment.

AFUE: Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. A rating that reflects the efficiency of a gas furnace in converting fuel to energy. So, an AFUE rating of 90 means that approximately 90% of the fuel is utilized to provide warmth to your home, while the remaining 10% escapes as exhaust. The higher the number, the more efficient the heating. Furnaces and heating appliances that are more than 20 years old can be as inefficient as 50-60%!

BTU: British Thermal Unit. The amount of energy required to raise one pound of water one degree Farenheit. BTU is the equivalent of the heat given off by a single wooden kitchen match. For your home, it represents the measure of heat given off when fuel is burned for heating or the measure of heat extracted from your home for cooling.

HSPF: Heating Seasonal Performance Factor. This number is given to heat pumps to measure how efficiently they work. It is the total heating output of a heat pump in British Thermal Units during its normal usage period for heating divided by the total electrical energy input in watt-hours during the same period.  Most new units have a rating of 7.0 to 9.4. The higher the number, the more efficient the heat pump.

IAQ: Indoor Air Quality. There are a lot of things that make up the air you breath inside homes and offices

MERV: Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. The rating standard for efficiencies of filters. A rating scale of 0-20 is used. 0 being no filtration, 20 being extreme filtration like that needed in a clean room.  Recommended ratings are MERV 6-12 for most heating and air conditioning equipment. Some Air conditioning equipment and heat pumps can't handle the restriction that the upper MERV rated filters cause. Check with Baker's Mobile Aire for compatibility for your system.

HEPA: High Efficiency Particulate Air filters: A throwaway, extended-media, dry type filter with a rigid casing enclosing the full depth of pleats. The filter shall exhibit a minimum efficiency off 99.97% when tested at an aerosol of 0.3 micrometers diameter. (all but .03 of aerosol product is stopped. Here they mean to specifically consider only an area of .03 microns in diameter.) This is a very good method of filtration to clean the air for places like hospitals and surgical suites, it is also the method of filtration we use for our duct cleaning equipment.

Sporicidin^®: An enzymatic cleaner (a blend of proteins that speed up chemical reactions.) It effectively cleans both natural and synthetic fibers soiled with organic and inorganic debris. This highly effective, low-foaming cleaner and stain remover has a neutral pH, is biodegradable, non-flammable and non-toxic. It is ideal for pre-cleaning areas contaminated with mold and mildew.