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Buying A New Air Conditioner |
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Three Important Things to Consider When Buying a New Air Conditioner
1. BIGGER ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER!
Make sure you are getting the correctly sized equipment. Oversizing your air conditioner can cause muggy, uncontrollable humidity levels in your house, increase your electric bills, and can cause damage to your equipment. Furthermore, the majority of the existing furnaces and air conditioners are incorrectly sized. Merely replacing your furnace or air conditioner with one that is the exact same size can be the wrong fit for your home.
The best way to make sure your equipment is properly sized is to make sure your contractor performs a Heat Load Calculation. To perform a heat load calculation, your contractor will measure the windows, doors, walls, attics, and floors of your house to determine exactly how big your air conditioner needs to be to cover the amount of heat and humidity that enters your house.
2. THE BRAND OF AIR CONDITIONER ISN’T YOUR ONLY DECISION
A proper installation is CRITICAL to the life of your system. So choose the right Contractor! Just about anybody can throw an air conditioner in your home, and most of the time, when they leave, cool air will come out of the vents. Unfortunately, an improper installation is one of the leading reasons why air conditioners fail much earlier than they should. Ask your contractor what they will do to ensure the long life of your system. This will help prevent costly repair bills down the line.
3. THE OUTSIDE UNIT IS ONLY PART OF THE PICTURE
When getting estimates for a new air conditioner, your contractor should look at your furnace too! The blower in your furnace is still used during air conditioning to move your air across the air conditioning coils. Your older furnace probably has a blower that operates in only a single speed while newer furnaces have blowers that operate in many speeds like the air conditioning in your car(variable speed motors). These motors also require much less electricity to operate. Furthermore, they provide much better humidity control, improved filtration for cleaner air, and can even minimize temperature differences throughout your home!
Your existing ductwork is also critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of your system. Unfortunately, up to 80% of homes have improperly designed ductwork. Make sure your contractor inspects and comments on your ductwork.
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