In support of the federal government's efforts to raise the minimum energy-efficiencystandards for residential-type central air conditioners and heat pumps, a consumer life-cycle cost(LCC) analysis was conducted to demonstrate the economic impacts on individual consumers fromrevisions to the standards. LCC is the consumer's cost of purchasing and installing an airconditioner or heat pump and operating the unit over its lifetime. The LCC analysis is conductedon a nationally representative sample of air conditioner and heat pump consumers resulting in adistribution of LCC impacts showing the percentage of consumers that are either benefitting or beingburdened by increased standards. Relative to the existing minimum efficiency standard of 10 SEER,the results show that a majority of split system air conditioner and heat pump consumers will eitherbenefit or be insignificantly impacted by increased efficiency standards of up to 13 SEER.