Glossary

AFUE
AFUE stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency and is measured as a a percentage of how much energy your unit is converting to heat. An AFUE of 90 means that 90% of the fuel your furnace is using is heating your home and that 10% is being wasted.

Advanced Reciprocating Compressor
This is a type of compressor that uses a special technique for compressing refrigerant that is more efficient.

Air Handler
The air handler is the fan unit that moves the warm or cold air through your house's ducts.

BTU
BTU or British Thermal Unit is the unit of measurement used to measure how much heat a fuel gives off. Or how much heat your air conditioning removes from inside your home.

BTUH
BTUH stands for British Thermal Units per Hour.

CFM
CFM stands for Cubic Feet per Minute and is a measurement of airflow. Past a given point in one minute.

Capacity
Capacity is the measurement of a heating or cooling system's ability to heat or cool a given area. For heating, this is usually expressed in BTUs and for cooling it is usually given in tons.

Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, highly poisonous gas produced when carbon-based fuels burn. Homes with oil or natural gas furnaces should have carbon monoxide detectors installed.

Compressor
The compressor is the outdoor part of an air conditioner or heat pump that applies pressure to the refrigerant, which is necessary for taking in heat to warm your home with a heat pump or removing heat to keep your home cool.

Condenser Coil
Refrigerant that has been converted from gas form back to a liquid, passes through the coil sending heat to the outside.

DB
Decibel (dB) is the unit used for measuring the intensity of noise.

Damper
The damper is a valve in the duct work that controls airflow to the various areas of your house.

Downflow
A furnace type that takes cool air from the top and blows warm air to the bottom-commonly used where furnaces must be located in a second-floor closet or utility area.

Ductwork
The series of passages that carry hot or cold air from your air conditioner or furnace and carry it throughout your home.

EER
Energy Efficiency Ratings (EER) measure the efficiency with which a product uses energy to function. It is calculated by dividing a product’s BTU output by its wattage.

Electronic Air Cleaner (EAC)
An electronic device that filters out large particles and contaminants in indoor air. It then electronically pulls out tiny particles that have been magnetized, such as viruses and bacteria, drawing them to a collector plate.

Energy Saver Switch
An energy-saver switch causes the air conditioner’s fan and compressor to cycle on and off together, reducing energy use.

Energy Star
Energy Star is a government-backed program helping businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. Products with the Energy Star rating will be efficient and save cost on energy bills.

Evaporator Coil
Part of a split-system air conditioner or heat pump located indoors. The evaporator coil cools and dehumidifies the air by converting liquid refrigerant into a gas (or vice-versa). A blower motor, typically in a furnace, then moves air over the coil to either heat or cool your home.

Fan Coil
An indoor component of an air conditioner or heat pump system, used in place of a furnace and evaporator coil, to provide change the refrigerant from a gas to a liquid (or vice-versa) and blow air over the coil to cool or heat your home.

HSPF
The Heating Seasonal Performance Factor is a measure of the heating efficiency of a heat pump. The higher the HSPF number, the more efficiently the heat pump heats your home.

HVAC
Term used for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

Heat Exchanger
The part of a furnace that transfers heat to nearby air.

Heat Pump
A product that works just like an air conditioner in cooling mode; however, in heating mode, the refrigerant flow is reversed and heat is extracted from the outside air too heat your home.

Horizontal Flow
A type of furnace, installed on its “side”, that draws in air from one side, heats it and sends the warm air out the other side. Most often used for installations in attics or crawl spaces

Humidifier
A piece of equipment that adds water vapor to heated air as it moves out of the furnace. This adds necessary moisture to protect your furnishings and reduce static electricity.

Hybrid Heat
Hybrid Heat systems deliver exceptional performance by using a heating source that provides the most energy-efficient comfort during moderate heating conditions.

IdealDefrost
IdealDefrost is Carrier’s proprietary defrost management innovation for maintaining the ideal defrost interval for a heat pump, enhancing comfort and efficiency.

IdealHumidity
IdealHumidity™ is Carrier’s proprietary humidity management innovation for maintaining the ideal comfort in a home.

Indoor Coil
see Evaporator Coil

Load Estimate
A series of studies performed to determine the heating or cooling requirements of your home. An energy load analysis uses information such as the square footage of your home, window or door areas, insulation quality and local climate to determine the heating and cooling capacity needed by your furnace, heat pump or air conditioner. When referring to heating, this is often known as a Heat Loss Analysis, since a home’s heating requirements are determined by the amount of heat lost through the roof, entry ways and walls.

Low Boy
Low Boy is a type of furnace configuration in which the furnace is lower in height and occupies more floor space.

MERV
The Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value is the standard comparison of the efficiency of an air filter. The MERV scale ranges from 1 (least efficient) to 16 (most efficient), and measures a filter’s ability remove particles from 3 to 10 microns in size.

Matched System
A heating and cooling system comprised of products that have been certified to perform at promised comfort and efficiency levels when used together, and used according to design and engineering specifications.

Operating Cost
The day-to-day cost of running your home comfort equipment, based on energy use.

Outdoor Coil
see Condenser Coil

Payback Analysis
Overall measure of the efficiency and value of your home comfort system. By combining your purchase price and ongoing operating costs, a payback analysis determines the number of years required before monthly energy savings offset the purchase price.

Puron Refrigerant
Puron® Refrigerant is an environmentally sound refrigerant designed not to harm the earth’s ozone layer. Federal law requires that all manufacturers phase out ozone depleting refrigerants in the next few years. Puron Refrigerant is approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a replacement from Freon 22*.

QuieTech
QuieTech™ is a noise reduction system that provides comfortable heat while generating very little noise in the process.

R-22 refrigerant
R-22 is a single component HCFC refrigerant with low ozone depletion potential. It has long been used in a variety of air-conditioning and refrigeration applications in a variety of markets. Production of R-22 will cease in 2015 per the Montreal Protocol.

Reciprocating Compressor
A type of compressor used in air conditioners that compresses refrigerant by using a type of “piston” action.

Reclaiming
Returning used refrigerant to the manufacturer for disposal or reuse.

Recycling
Removing, cleaning and reusing refrigerant.

Refrigerant Lines
Two copper lines that connect the Condenser (Outdoor) Coil to the Evaporator (Indoor) Coil.

Riello Burner
A burner assembly within your oil furnace, manufactured by Riello to exact specifications of Carrier. This burner provides a cleaner, higher quality combustion of heating oil to increase energy efficiency.

SEER
The Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio is a measure of the cooling efficiency of your air conditioner or heat pump. The higher the SEER number, the more efficient the system is at converting electricity into cooling power.

Scroll Compressor
A specially designed compressor that works in a circular motion vs. an up and down piston action.

Serpentuff
Carrier’s exclusive Serpentuff™ Heat Exchanger features a patented polypropylene laminate, so that it extracts nearly all of the heat from the system and makes the most of the energy used.

Setback Thermostat
A state-of-the-art electronic thermostat with a built-in memory that can be programmed for different temperature settings at different times of the day.

Silencer System
Carrier Silencer System II ensures quite operation inside and out. Our systems meet or exceed local and industry sound standards with quiet motor mounts, a compressor sound blanket, forward swept fan blades, a laminated sound elimination compressor mounting plate and a a unique top with integrated silencer airflow baffle.

Single Package Product
One outdoor unit that contains both a heating and a cooling system.

SmartRecovery
Smart Recovery starts the system in advance to be sure that each zone reaches your selected temperature setting at the scheduled time.

Split System

Refers to an air conditioner or heat pump that has components in two locations. Usually, one part of the system is located inside (evaporator coil) and the other is located outside your home (condenser coil).

Thermidistat
The Thermidistat™ Control monitors temperatures both inside and outside, as well as indoor humidity and adjusts system operation to maintain the temperature and humidity levels set by the homeowner.

Thermostat
Unit that monitors and controls your HVAC system products.

Thermostatic Expansion Valve
A thermostatic expansion valve (TXV) is precision device used to meter the flow of liquid refrigerant entering the evaporator at a rate that matches the amount of refrigerant being boiled off in the evaporator.

Ton
A unit of measure for cooling capacity. One ton = 12,000 BTUs per hour.

Total Home Comfort System
The ultimate solution to providing you with consistent, customized home comfort, despite the ever-changing weather.

TrueSense Dirty Filter Detection
TrueSense™ dirty filter detection reminds you when it’s time to change your media filter.

Two Stage Compressor
Two Stage Compressors are capable of two levels of operation, a low stage and a high stage. Properly sized equipment will operate 80% of the time in low stage, enhancing efficiency and comfort with lower humidity levels and quieter operation. It’s like getting two air conditioners or heat pumps in one system.

UL
UL is an objective, non-profit organization that tests and rates electrical products for public safety.

Upflow
A type of furnace that draws cool air from the bottom and blows the warmed air out the top into the duct work. This type of furnace is usually installed in a basement or an out-of-the-way closet.

Ventilator
A ventilator captures heating or cooling energy from stale indoor air and transfers it to fresh incoming air.

WeatherArmor
WeatherArmor™ is a Carrier innovation that protects outdoor units from weather and increases durability.

Zoning
A way to increase your home comfort and energy efficiency by controlling when and where heating and cooling occurs in a home. Programmable thermostats are used to control operating times of the equipment. Dampers are used to direct air flow to certain parts or “zones” of the home.