If you're installing a new air conditioning unit in your home, one of the critical decisions to make is choosing the right size of a system to keep your home comfortable. Should you go for a large or small HVAC system? In the heating and cooling industry, answering that question is referred to as sizing your HVAC unit, and the process is called load calculation. This article explains the importance of hiring HVAC contractors to perform load calculations to help you correctly size the type of air conditioning unit your home needs.

Bigger isn't necessarily better

As far as air conditioning is concerned, oversized HVAC systems lead to

• a humid house because the system doesn't run sufficiently enough to dehumidify the indoor air.
• the service life of the system being significantly reduced due to the repeated turning on and off.
• a costlier installation. That additional size doesn't come cheap.

What are load calculations?

In order to decide what size your home's air conditioning unit should be, HVAC contractors typically work out the actual heating and cooling loads of your home. Cooling load is the amount of cooling required to maintain cool, comfortable temperatures during the hot months. On the other hand, heating load is the amount of heating required to maintain warm temperatures inside the home during the winter. Both results together are referred to as your home's load. In other words, the size of your air conditioning system is dependent on your home's load calculation.

Your home's load is somewhat reliant on its square footage. Previously, load calculations involved basic determinations based mainly on square footage. However, sophisticated insulating options, home sealing, multi-pane windows, and other structural aspects make it possible for two houses of identical size to have surprisingly contrasting heating and cooling requirements. Therefore, HVAC contractors look beyond the square footage and also take into account other myriad factors including the construction of your home; positioning to the sun; thermal resistance; number, size, and position of rooms, doors, and windows; and climate. Today's load calculations are performed using computer programs that help HVAC contractors complete the task as fast and as precisely as possible.

The outcomes of a load calculation are then used to identify the size of air conditioning unit you need to buy. In this case, sizing denotes the functional capacity of the air conditioning unit and the amount of heating and cooling it may produce to deliver comfort inside your home. A correctly sized HVAC system will work at optimum efficiency, resulting in energy savings for the homeowner. To get your home's load calcualted, contact a representative from a company like ACSIS Airconditioning Warehouse.