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LaHouse is a display of high-performance building practices to create more sustainable, resilient and healthy homes in the gulf region. The research-based facility is located on LSU's Baton Rouge campus and displays home-building techniques and solutions for Louisiana's unique climate. LaHouse is open weekdays from 10 am to 4:30 p.m. for self-guided tours or can be toured completely virtually.
Experience the Lahouse via virtual tour
An HVAC system with a high SEER rating is considered a high efficiency system.
SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio or Rating. The SEER rating is determined by dividing the average cooling output of an HVAC system by the average amount of energy used during that time. The higher the SEER rating, the more energy efficient the system is considered. Because a SEER ratio is the maximum efficiency rating that an air conditioning unit can perform, the unit's performance could be lower depending on the conditions.
The EPA requires all brands of air conditioning systems to have a SEER ratio of 14 or higher.
In a traditional heating and cooling system, you are using the furnace for heating and the AC for cooling. In a dual fuel system, you use a heat pump for heating first with a second fuel source as back up. A heat pump can pull heat from outside air if the temperature is 35 degrees or higher. The secondary heating source would only kick in during the coldest months when temperatures dip below 35.
In our dual fuel heat pump system, our backup heating is in the form of a gas furnace with a 90% AFUE rating.
AFUE stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. It measures how efficiently a furnace converts fuel to heat. The higher the AFUE rating, the more energy efficient a system is.
According the U.S Department of Energy, a high-efficiency heating system has an AFUE rating of 90% to 98.5%. A mid-range efficiency heating system has a rating of 80%-83% AFUE. Any AFUE rating lower than 80% is considered a low-efficiency heating system.
A zone control system divides your home into several different areas. Each zone can be heated or cooled independently by its own thermostat. Instead of having one thermostat for the entire house, you can adjust the temperature depending on what zone you are in, which requires less energy.
Air in your closed HVAC system is either coming into the system or leaving the system. The return vents are connected to the return ducts, which means that the air is moving from the room to the inside of your system. The return vents and ducts equalize the increase in air pressure caused by the air movement and allow for the continued circulation of air. An appropriately sized air return grille is critical to ensure that your HVAC system has enough airflow while remaining quiet.
The air return grille will usually have a filter inside of it to trap contaminants.
MERV 8 filters are made of 100% synthetic materials. They capture common airborne contaminants between 3-10 microns in size, including these allergens: pollen, pet dander, lint, and dust mites. The higher a number on a MERV filter, the more it can filter out. MERV 13 filters are the only filters that can filter out airborne viruses.
High-rated air filters that should be changed based on the manufacturer's recommendation are essential to maintaining healthy indoor air quality in your home. Fine particles in the air can become lodges in our respiratory system and create health problems for those in the home. This risk is reduced when air filters have a high MERV rating and are changed regularly.
