LG KUSAE181A

Name: LG KUSAE181A
Brand: LG

Matched with the KNSAE181A indoor unit, this system is certified by ENERGY STAR but not to the cold-climate criteria and publishes 8.90 HSPF2 and 18.00 SEER2, with 13,300 BTU/h of heating at 5°F.

Heating capacity of the LG KUSAE181A at three outdoor temperatures, in BTU per hour. Paired with KNSAE181A: 13,300 at 5°F, 11,600 at 17°F, 19,000 at 47°F.

Not cold-climate certified. Paired with KNSAE181A. Points are the only three heating capacities the dataset publishes for this system; the lines between them are drawn to join those points and are not measurements. ENERGY STAR Certified Heat Pumps, retrieved 2026-10-16.

HSPF28.90Btu/Wh, seasonal heating
SEER218.00Btu/Wh, seasonal cooling
COP at 5°F1.70at that test point
Capacity at 5°F13,300BTU/h
Share of 47°F capacity70.0%ours: 5°F ÷ 47°F

What these numbers are and are not. SEER2, EER2, HSPF2 and the COP at 5°F are results from a standard rating procedure, measured at fixed temperatures and airflow in a laboratory. They are not predictions for your house, your climate or your winter. Two systems with the same HSPF2 can use different amounts of electricity in the same building, and the same system will perform differently in Boston and in Atlanta. Use the published capacity at 5°F to judge whether a system still produces heat on a cold night; use HSPF2 only to compare systems with each other.

LG KUSAE181A published specifications

Every figure below is the value the dataset publishes for ENERGY STAR ID 3555703. Nothing is calculated except the two rows marked as ours.
Outdoor unit	KUSAE181A
Indoor unit	KNSAE181A (KUSAE181A)
Cold-climate certified	No
ENERGY STAR Most Efficient	No
SEER2	18.00 Btu/Wh
EER2	12.00 Btu/Wh
HSPF2	8.90 Btu/Wh
Cooling capacity	18,000 BTU/h
Heating capacity at 47°F	19,000 BTU/h
Heating capacity at 17°F	11,600 BTU/h
Heating capacity at 5°F	13,300 BTU/h
COP at 5°F	1.70
Compressor staging	Continuously variable
Refrigerant	R-32
Date certified	2025-12-02
ENERGY STAR ID / AHRI reference	3555703 / 214931167
5°F capacity as a share of 47°F (ours)	70.0%
Capacity class (ours)	18,000 BTU/h nominal

Source. ENERGY STAR Certified Heat Pumps, U.S. EPA, retrieved 2026-10-16 from the dataset's Socrata API. Record identified by ENERGY STAR ID 3555703, AHRI reference 214931167. Certification partner: LG Electronics, Inc.. Model numbers are reproduced exactly as published, including the asterisks ENERGY STAR carries as the manufacturer's wildcard for trim variants.

What the published capacities say about cold weather

A heat pump moves heat from outdoor air, so the colder that air gets, the less heat there is to move. The dataset publishes capacity at three outdoor temperatures, and the shape between them is the single most useful thing on this page. For the KUSAE181A paired with the KNSAE181A:

At 47°F it delivers 19,000 BTU/h.
At 17°F it delivers 11,600 BTU/h.
At 5°F it delivers 13,300 BTU/h, which is 70.0% of the 47°F figure.

ENERGY STAR does not list this system under its cold-climate criteria. It is still a certified heat pump; it simply was not certified against the program's additional low-temperature requirements. In a cold climate that makes the published 5°F capacity above, and any backup heat you plan for, the numbers to look at.

Running cost for a 18,000 BTU/h system like this one

Worked as an illustration, not a quote: a house that burned 600 therms of gas in a year through an 80% AFUE furnace needed about 48.0 million BTU of delivered heat. At $1.50 a therm that gas cost $900. Delivering the same heat with a heat pump rated at 8.90 HSPF2 takes 5,393 kWh, which at $0.18 a kWh costs $971. The two costs are equal at $0.167 a kWh.

Those four prices are not your prices, and HSPF2 is a rating-condition figure rather than a seasonal measurement for your climate. Change every input in the running-cost calculator, which shows each formula as it works.

Comparable systems

Same nominal capacity class (18,000 BTU/h), closest published HSPF2 to this one. Colour marks cold-climate certification.

Daikin RX18BXVJU Standard
HSPF2 9.00 · SEER2 20.00 · 11,600 BTU/h at 5°F
Daikin RXTH18AVJU* Cold-climate
HSPF2 9.40 · SEER2 21.00 · 21,600 BTU/h at 5°F
LG KUSAH181A Cold-climate
HSPF2 9.40 · SEER2 21.00 · 13,300 BTU/h at 5°F
Daikin RXF18AXVJU Standard
HSPF2 9.60 · SEER2 21.00 · 10,700 BTU/h at 5°F
Daikin RXF18BVJU* Cold-climate
HSPF2 9.60 · SEER2 21.00 · 15,200 BTU/h at 5°F

More: all 92 certified systems, or the explainer on SEER2 vs HSPF2.