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Is Your Air Conditioner the Right Size for Your Home?Homeowners sometimes believe that the bigger an air conditioner, the better it will cool the home. That isn’t necessarily so. In fact, there are some definite negatives to installing an A/C system that is too large for your house. What’s more, you likewise don’t want the system to be too small. An air conditioner that is too small won’t be able to keep the home’s occupants cool, and will run continuously, wearing out the system before its time. 

Air conditioners, besides cooling, also remove humidity from the air. When an air conditioner is too large for a home, it will cool the rooms quickly, but won’t run long enough to effectively dehumidify the air. Occupants may feel the atmosphere is too damp, and since damp air increases a feeling of warmth, they may feel uncomfortable. What’s more, a system that is sized too big cycles on and off too frequently, thus increasing the wear and ultimately resulting in breakdown.

Air conditioning pros determine the size of system needed by measuring the square footage of the space to be cooled. Measure square and rectangular rooms by multiplying the length of the room by the width. Rooms that are triangular shaped should be measured thus: multiply length times the width and divide by two.

HVAC pros will also take into consideration number of windows and skylights in a home, local climate, insulation, ductwork, roof and building materials, number of home’s occupants and how high the ceilings are.

Once he or she has compiled this information, the HVAC pro will calculate the heating or cooling load of a home by using software known as Manual J.

For more expert tips on choosing and maintaining air conditioners in Bloomfield Township, contact us at Aladdin Heating & Cooling. We’ve been serving Southeast Michigan for more than 50 years.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Warren, Michigan about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about air conditioners and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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