100 years into the evolution of the air conditioning industry….
We now use objective criteria to determine the best supply air temperature for an air conditioning system, addressing the following concerns:
• System Cost
• Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
• Thermal Comfort
• Energy Use
Objective criteria for selection of a supply air temperature results in the minimum total system energy use while satisfying the room sensible heat load. The supply air temperature selected by these criteria will result in a system that not only uses the least energy, but also costs the least, maintains the best indoor air quality, and produces the best comfort.
The supply air temperature determined by this method is called the optimum supply air temperature;
not surprisingly, it is rarely 55°F.