Right Sizing Your HVAC System: Why You Will Wish You Had
A forced-air HVAC system is the respiratory system of the home. Use this guide for sizing your HVAC system the right way, and you can breathe easier with better performance and reasonable energy bills.
Right Sized For Comfort, Efficiency and Performance
The HVAC system isn’t given a lot of thought until something goes wrong, like a cracked heat exchanger, or when it’s time to install a new system. Installing the right system pays off with these benefits:
- Comfort — A system that is too large cycles on/off too frequently, which creates uneven heating and cooling, and you pay more for purchase price. A system that is too small just won’t cut it during the Mid-Atlantic winters.
- Energy bills — Modern high-efficiency furnaces, heat pumps and A/Cs need to cycle longer at slower speeds to reach maximum heating and cooling capacity. Less fuel and electricity are used in this way, rather than frequent full-capacity cycles.
- Lifespan — Slower speeds (blower, gas valves and compressors) means less wear and longer lifespan.
Sizing Your HVAC System
These are the basic steps to follow for sizing your HVAC system
- Button up your home (sealing air leaks and adding insulation) to lower the heating and cooling loads, and enjoy greater comfort.
- Your HVAC pro should use Manual J (proven method for accurate load calculations) to calculate your home’s heating/cooling load room by room — not a block load.
- Manual D is used to size the air ducts to provide even heating and cooling to each room.
- Select add-on equipment for maximum comfort, health and efficiency. Whole-house humidifiers, for instance, help thwart the flu virus during dry winter months. Zoning systems control heating and cooling output to each room (zone) for custom comfort at your schedule and budget.
- Manual S is used to select the correctly sized HVAC system based on the specific requirements of your home according to these calculations. For professional assistance sizing your HVAC system, contact us at Sobieski Services, Inc.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC & plumbing systems).
Photo Credit: ** RCB ** via Compfight cc