You're reading this article for advice. You are one of the hundreds of thousands of American's every year who has finally got to make the decision to replace the heat pump or gas furnace. This is a big decision. The cost of a new heat pump will start somewhere around $5,000 and go up from there depending on size and add-ons. You want to make sure that you get the most you can for your hard earned dollar so do some homework before you buy.

Today's gas furnaces and heat pump units are much more efficient than units that are just ten years old. For a lot of us unfortunately heat pumps, which worked well in warmer climates somehow made their way north where they barely work at all. Today's heat pumps are far superior and can cost 40% less to run than older systems.

Before you purchase a new home heating and air conditioning unit investigate the energy ratings. There are many good online sites where you can find out the SEER rating of any unit. SEER is the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. It tells you how energy efficient a unit is. You're going to want to look for a unit with a high SEER. Unfortunately the higher the SEER rating the more expensive the unit will be. You'll have to try to balance out the cost vs. the return. If you plan to own your present home for at least ten years it might be worth your while to buy a more expensive unit as you will realize savings on your monthly energy bill to offset the initial cost.

You'll also want to get several different quotes before choosing a system. Talk to installers from trusted manufacturers such as Carrier, Grandaire, Goodman, Trane, American Standard, Lennox, AirPro, Thermal Zone and Guardian. Talk with your friends and family to see if they've had experience with having a new heat pump or gas furnace installed.

While you're making your decision there are things you can do to help make your home more energy efficient. Caulk and weather strip around doorways and windows. If you can see daylight between a door and the frame you're losing valuable heat and air conditioning. Add a ceiling fan which will help pull hot air up in the summer and force it down in the winter. Replace your old thermostat with a new and much more accurate digital thermostat.

Most home heating experts advise against any type of DIY heating. It's generally a task that is over the heads of most DIY homeowners. Installing a heat pump means updating sheet metal and your electric box. You'll need to have refrigeration gauges to check the final pressures in the unit. It's too much. Also, think about warranty coverage. Rudd and Goodman sell installation kits for heat pumps and air conditioning systems. If you're comfortable with it you can try to install it, but what if you have a problem? Who do you call? It's generally not worth the money you'll save.

One DIY type of heating you can do is passive solar. Passive solar panels are easy to buy and install. You can purchase them at home stores like Lowe's and Home Depot. They will last for generations with minimal care. Check out passive solar panels from manufacturers like Sun Power, Sun Tech, Photowatt, Kyocera, Mitsubishi, Carmanah and Uni-Solar. Any electricity you can produce from solar panels is money you aren't paying to your electric company. Make sure you talk with your income tax accountant to see what write-off's the government allows on your purchase.

When you purchase a window air conditioner make sure that you buy the proper sized unit. You need to do a simple equation to find out how many BTU (British Thermal Unit) the unit needs to be to cool efficiently. To determine BTU simply multiple length of room by width of room to get square footage. Don't let a salesman talk you into a bigger unit than you need. A unit that is too large will not cool efficiently. All you'll do is give the salesman a bigger commission.