Hey guys, welcome to our new mini-series. During our mini-series, we answer some of our most common questions, go over some of the basics and keep you informed.
New Furnace Installs in Akron, OH
On today’s video, we’re talking with Dan of Virteom and Forquer Heating and Air Conditioning’s own, Jim Forquer. Forquer Heating and Air Conditioning services the Akron / Canton area of Ohio. In our video today we’re going to discuss new furnace installations and why you want to size your furnace correctly for your house — because it’s really important.
Looking to Find the Perfectly Sized Furnace for Your Home?
What Goes Into Load Calcualation?
OK guys, on today’s video we’re discussing sizing your home for your furnace and why it matters. If you don’t size your furnace big enough, it’s obviously not going to heat your house correctly. If you size it too big, it’s going to cause other issues like major drafts, inefficiency and more wear and tear on your furnace cause it’s turning off and on more than it should be.
This is a photo of the load calculation program we use. You basically draw up the floor plan of the house and then put in all the information about your home. We input things like:
- type of siding on the house
- type of windows
- if there is insulation in ceiling and walls.
- And for air conditioning – what direction the house faces.
We put all of this information into our load calculation program and it gives you exactly what you need as far as heating and cooling your home go. For more information, click here.
The total room load that you see in the bottom of the screencap (above) is the size for heating and cooling the entire house. Above, in this calculation it tells us we need a 70,000 BTU furnace and a 2 1/2-ton air conditioner.
Load Calculations for Furnace Installs
It seems like there is quite a bit that goes into getting the load size of your home, and there seems to be many advantages for the buyer. Does every furnace / maintenance company do this? What makes you different in this respect? Well, if the license contractor isn’t doing it – they should be. This program is mainly for a new system – furnace install. When the furnace becomes 25 years and older and it’s time to replace it – a load calculation should be — just to make sure it’s the right size.
Has Load Calculations Always Been a Factor in Installing a New Furnace?
The popular thing to do in the past was to just throw the biggest furnace in your home. Load calculations weren’t so popular back then because it was all done by hand. Now we have the technology available to do it through a program and it essentially does it for us. The longest part to calculate load size now, is actually sizing the house. Things like measuring the windows, and making sure all the information we’re putting in is accurate.
Load Calculations Save You Money
For new furnace buyers, load sizing just means cost savings. Making sure you’re getting the right sized furnace in your home is imperative because now you are operating at peak efficiency. You are also reducing the risk of wear and tear on your furnace (if your furnace is too big) and you’re making your home more comfortable for yourself. Again, if the furnace is oversized (which was the popular thing to do when most homes were built) the temperatures spike, kind of like a wave. When you size [your furnace] correctly you get an even steady heat, even with basic single staged services.
For more information, contact Jim and the Forquer Heating Team – they are obviously experts at furnace installations in Akron, OH. We look forward to calculating the right sized furnace for your home.