In a climate such as ours with long, cold winters, sizing the furnace before finalizing the system you’re replacing will provide you with better comfort, more dependability and energy-efficient heating.
The factors that go into what the industry calls the load calculation include your home’s energy efficiency, the heat you generate indoors, the cubic footage and your floorplan design.
HVAC professionals conduct the load calculation using software called Manual J that includes the many variables of your home that affect its indoor temperature. It’s important to go through this process because it’ll correctly estimate the amount of Btus (British thermal units) you need for the new system, which is how furnaces are sized.
Installing too large a furnace causes it to run in shorter cycles, which reduces your indoor comfort. The system will heat the air too quickly, and it won’t thoroughly warm all the spaces in your home. Running in short bursts more frequently also drives up your energy costs and results in increased wear on the furnace.
Too large a furnace can also strain your ductwork and create air leaks, which undermines the heating process of the room that particular duct services. Leaks also degrade indoor air quality and can pull carbon monoxide into your home if you use vented gas appliances indoors.
On the other hand, if the heating system you install can’t provide enough Btus during our coldest weather, your comfort will suffer when temperatures are at their lowest in the region. The furnace will run continually, and as the cold sinks into your home, especially overnight, it’ll increase the wear on the system.
When you’re sizing the furnace, it’s also not a good idea to go by the Btus of the existing system because you or a prior homeowner may have made improvements to the energy efficiency of your home, resulting in the need for a smaller furnace.
For more information about sizing the furnace for a replacement, contact Aladdin Heating & Cooling. We’ve provided outstanding HVAC services for Troy, Bloomfield Hills and the rest of metro Detroit for more than 65 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Detroit, Michigan about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnace sizing and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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