If you’re in the market for a new air conditioner, now is the time to install it: early in the summer while you can still get a huge benefit from improved efficiency and similar features. Before you can install it, however, you need to get it sized: ensuring that the power levels match what your home needs exactly. It takes a trained technician to do so, but fortunately, we’re skilled at sizing air conditioners as part of our normal installation procedures. Here’s how it all works.
Why Is Sizing Important?
You always want your air conditioner to be as efficient as possible, especially here in Garland, TX where the summers get so hot. You probably know what will happen if you install an under-powered system: it will struggle to cool your home and waste a lot of energy in the process. Overpowered systems, however, do much the same thing: cooling the air too quickly and cycling on and off rapidly throughout the day. That can waste even more money while similarly increasing the strain on your system (air conditioners use much more energy turning on than they do simply running). The ideal system for your home follows what we like to call the Goldilocks rule: neither too large nor too small but just right.
What’s Involved in Sizing
Sizing your home requires a trained technician and can include the following factors:
- Square footage, divide by room and floor (upper stories tend to be hotter than lower ones, and kitchens tend to get hotter than the rest of the house.
- The presence and location of any insulation in the home.
- Sunlight exposure, especially windows with western views.
- Double-paned windows and weather stripping under the doors.
- The presence and size of duct vents in your walls.
Once these numbers are factored in, the technician can come up with an accurate assessment of the needed size.
Call Hutchins Plumbing and Air Conditioning for accurate air conditioning installation.
