It is important that new or replacement equipment is not sized by “rule of thumb” or by duplicating the existing equipment capacity. The only accurate way to determine the correct capacity of heating and air conditioning equipment for your home is to have a load calculation performed on your home. There is a specific method available to do this calculation. This will give you the heat gain and heat loss design data for your home. These figures can then be used to select the appropriately sized air conditioning our heating system for your home, based on equipment-performance data.

Many factors determine the size (capacity) system your home requires. Some of these are:

· Square feet to be cooled and heated
· Climate
· Humidity
· Number of windows
· Insulation factors
· Which direction your home faces
· Heat producing appliances, and
· The number of people who will be in the home

Oversized air conditioning systems will not remove adequate moisture from the indoor air due to short cycling. Oversized systems quickly cool the indoor air temperature, but they do not run long enough to remove the humidity. That leaves you feeling stuffy and uncomfortable. Control of your home’s climate is rarely achieved with oversized systems and electricity consumption is higher than with a properly sized system.

An oversized furnace is similar to an oversized air conditioning system. The furnace run time is short, creating uncomfortable air stratification and less air filtration. Also, the frequent cycling of the unit on and off and cause undue wear and tear on internal working components.

An undersized air conditioning system will not adequately cool your home on the hottest days and an undersized furnace will not adequately heat your house on the coldest days.

Please seek a qualified heating and cooling specialist to perform a thorough comfort needs analysis and load calculation specific to your home and family. In many cases, this comfort needs analysis and load calculation will be performed free-of-charge.

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Susan Sarno is a manager at A.B. May Company. A.B. May was founded in 1959, and is the premier Kansas City heating and cooling company. A.B. May Co. provides a full range of services to area homeowners and business owners including heating, air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, appliance repair, replacement windows, home warranties, water treatment, and more.