In January 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to enforce changes to seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) ratings for heating and cooling (HVAC) systems in the United States. 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty (2-10) will continue to provide quality HVAC coverage for homeowners to address these changes.
Read on for more information about what’s changing, why it matters, and how 2-10 can help you throughout the changes.
What Exactly Is Changing?
SEER ratings are a measure of efficiency—the higher the unit’s rating, the more efficient and environmentally friendly it is. However, systems with higher SEER ratings are also more expensive to repair or replace. Due to EPA regulations, SEER ratings across the country are rising by one point. The old minimums were 13–14, and the new minimums will be 14–15 for heating and cooling systems.
This means that many of the current HVAC systems on the market will no longer be compliant and cannot be sold or installed from 2023 onward. With greater minimum efficiency comes a bigger price tag. With coverage from 2-10, you can protect your budget against breakdowns to these more-expensive systems.
While the implications and rules guiding the changes aren’t yet set in stone locally, there’s one thing you can count on: 2-10 will continue to evolve with these regulations and provide quality HVAC coverage.
Why the Changes Matter to You
You want to know your home is covered no matter how old the HVAC system is, and no matter what current regulations require. With 2-10, you can tackle the issue of changing HVAC regulations affecting one of your most important and THE MOST expensive system.
So, what happens if you experience a breakdown but can’t (or don’t want to) replace your entire system out of pocket?
When you purchase a qualifying 2-10 Home Service Plan (home warranty), you get great HVAC coverage, helping you reduce out-of-pocket costs to address breakdowns for as little as the cost of one Service Fee.
How 2-10 Helps
For many years, homeowners have trusted 2-10 to provide quality HVAC coverage. This protection helps you lower the cost of homeownership, which is crucial to a good experience for you.
While these SEER rating changes may seem like a fly in the ointment, you can rest assured that 2-10 will continue to excellent HVAC coverage as these changes are implemented.
More Changes Ahead in 2025
The changes to SEER ratings aren’t the only regulatory change on the horizon. In 2025, refrigerants (the chemicals used for cooling air) will be changing.
Much like we saw with R-22 (Freon), R-410A will be phased out with a moratorium on production or import of new R-410A. As of 2025, the only available R-410A will be recycled. This refrigerant change has a lot of unknown variables, but as the market evolves, we plan to keep educating our team to best serve you.
