Design Factors and Consideration

Step 1 of any design process is setting a goal to design to.  Are we wanting to keep our home at 70 on a 100 degree day or 75 on a 100 degree day?  Are we trying to save power or are we on a tight budget?  Is having a gas system an issue or is it your preferred heat source?  What kind of system hvac system do I want?

The biggest factor in answering this question is you as a customer.  As the homeowner the system that I sell to you may not be right for your neighbor and his may not be right for you.  Maybe he is more concerned about getting the cheapest deal and you are concerned with the amount of power it will use the next 15 years.  We are often approached by customers who are unsure of exactly what they want, which is understandable given the variety of options available on the market today, and too often they just want to pick something.  

System selection is a process and one that can be a bit tedious but when you consider it will likely be your source of comfort for the next 10 to 20 years it is an important decision to be comfortable with.  I want to come back to do a maintenance in ten years and hear how happy you are you got the system that you did and not how much you regret not trying x.  Much like any other long term investment this is something that takes some time and consideration.

The first step in system selection is identifying your goals.  Are you wanting the quietest system? The most energy efficient?  The cheapest? Do you know what fuel source you prefer to use?  Do you have special considerations such as breathing issues or high allergy issues?  Typically I ask my customers to be honest with themselves and rank the most important to least important of the following;  cost, efficiency, asthetic, durability, warranty.  Once we know where we stand with those five things we can begin to narrow down what we are looking for.

Typically systems come in two types of fuel for heat, gas and electric, if it is important for you to have one or the other let us know and we can narrow the selections down a bit more.  Is your home a new build or an existing home?  Has the insulation/windows/etc... changed or will it be changing?  Have you had a Manual J, D,S ran on it? (See following tabs if you are unsure of what they are.)

There are lots of people who read online or have always heard your home is x square feet it needs an x ton unit.  This has never been true though in older construction it was a method that worked well enough.  In todays tighter construction it can lead to disastrous results.  If your building is 20x20 with no windows, wooden walls, and a metal rough it will be a drastically different requirement than 20x20 brick with a shingled roof and windows all the way around.  Something as simple as adding a fridge or washer/dryer to a room changes how much heat is produced in that room.  Please take the time to have a Manual J, D, S done on your home if you are unsure of how big your ac should be.  We will do the forms to make sure you are getting the right hvac system from us, or if you want them to have for reference as you look at bids we sell them as a service as well.