When you are in the market for home air conditioning installation, whether for a new house or to replace an older system, one of the most important steps to take is to properly size the new unit. An air conditioner must match the cooling requirements of a home, or else the system will run ineffectively and inefficiently.
So how do size an air conditioner? You call on licensed HVAC professionals for the job. They will come to your home and perform an extensive heat load calculation. This will determine the ideal size of a new air conditioner (as measured in cooling tons) for your home.
The importance of a professional heat load calculation
A heat load calculation is not a simple process that you can do on your own by walking through a few steps printed up from an Internet DIY site. It also isn’t something that contractors who claim to be professionals can handle in a few minutes by looking over a home and offering a “best guess.” This is an area where precision and thoroughness are 100% necessary.
A proper heat load calculation should take around two hours to complete, and it involves taking account of numerous factors about a home, including:
- Volume of space.
- Number of windows and if they are east-west facing.
- Number and size of all heat-generating appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, computers, etc.)
- Number of people who live in the home.
- Insulation levels.
Once the technicians have all the relevant data, they can make an accurate calculation that determines what size of air conditioner will do the job without wasting power or putting undue stress on the AC. It will be just as detrimental to install an air conditioner that is too large for a space as one that is too small.
If you want experienced and licensed air conditioning installers to take care of your home’s heat load calculation, contact MK Russell & Abbott in Maryville, TN. We take a thorough and exacting approaching to heat load calculation so that our customers receive the ideal air conditioning systems for their homes.