When investing in a new HVAC system for your Pinellas County, Florida, home, you may hear the term “load calculation” and wonder what it means. Load calculation takes into account many temperature-influencing factors, from square footage to your home’s windows and appliances, to determine what size HVAC system suits your home best.
Understanding Load Calculation
The load calculation is how HVAC professionals determine the correct size for your home’s HVAC equipment, whether you’re building a new home or installing new HVAC equipment. Load calculation takes into account many factors and comes up with numbers that represent your home’s total heating and cooling requirements. Load calculation used to depend only on square footage, but the formula has become more complicated and accurate in recent years.
Factors That Influence a Home’s Heating and Cooling Needs
Square footage is only one aspect of load calculation. Other factors include appliances that generate heat, like ovens and washing machines, your home’s foundation, the type of roofing you have, size of windows and their locations, and how much heat loss your home experiences overall. When professionals calculate your home’s heating and cooling load, they’ll calculate not just the load for the house as a whole but for each room.
Why Proper Load Calculation Is Important
Your HVAC equipment needs to be the right size to do its job. An AC that’s too small won’t be able to cool down your home, and a too-small furnace won’t keep you warm in the winter. If your AC is too large, it’ll cool too fast to properly remove all the humidity in the air. And a furnace that’s too large will heat too fast, leaving uneven temperatures throughout your house. You’ll end up with higher energy bills because of how often you have to run your HVAC system, too.
To get the most accurate load calculation and system recommendations, contact Seneca Air Conditioning. When you’re ready to buy and install a new HVAC system, we have the properly sized Carrier systems perfect for you. Call us today at 866-881-5935.
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