I'm at a loss. I had a new 14.5 SEER American Standard HVAC system installed two months ago to replace my 20 year old 9.5 SEER American Standard HVAC system. During the majority of the year (looking at the SMECO Home Energy Reports, the ones that show you your energy use compared to neighbors), I'm normally on par or below the ussage for "my efficient neighbors". Since the new system was installed and has been running (which I can see exactly on the graph where usage shot up like a bullet), now I'm about halway between all neighbors and efficient neighbors.
My usage has gone up about 150kWh per month. I was looking forward to lower bills with the new system, not higher ones. Any idea what could be causing this? The new system does have the new refrigerant (R410) rather than the old (R22). I have the same thermostat as before (the SMECO CoolSentry) and the temperature settings are exactly the same as with the old system. Is the new refrigerant less efficient at cooling? The system cools fine, and seems to run the same amount of time per hour as the old system did.
Any ideas?
My usage has gone up about 150kWh per month. I was looking forward to lower bills with the new system, not higher ones. Any idea what could be causing this? The new system does have the new refrigerant (R410) rather than the old (R22). I have the same thermostat as before (the SMECO CoolSentry) and the temperature settings are exactly the same as with the old system. Is the new refrigerant less efficient at cooling? The system cools fine, and seems to run the same amount of time per hour as the old system did.
Any ideas?