Derek Cole explains why HVAC technicians measure your home before quoting a replacement unit: they're required to do a load analysis calculating square footage, windows, insulation, and orientation to determine cooling capacity. A properly sized unit running constantly in hot weather is more efficient than frequent short cycles and improves dehumidification.
Hey, on this episode we talk about why do you have to measure my house to give me a price and why is my unit constantly running in the heat. You ask your comfort and energy questions and they get answered. This is the Ask Derrick Cole Show. Hey, this is Derrick Cole. Welcome to episode 85 of the Ask Derrick Cole Show, answering your home and energy questions. And it's been a nice, hot, ugly week. Kind of nasty, right? Really excited about it. Love nasty hot weather. But we do have a few questions today for the show. Why do you need to measure my house to replace my unit? That's a good question because probably you've never heard that before. Okay, uh, the reason we need to measure your home is to do a load analysis on your home. Now, 99.9% 99.9% of the time when we replace your unit, it's going to be the exact same size. Yes, that is true. But in this state, you have to do what's called a load analysis, which you measure the home, measure the windows, measure doors, measure insulation, see what direction the front door is facing— south, north, east, west, or whatever— that's going to affect the load. That's going to determine, after you do all those calculations, what size unit you need. Now, like I said, 99.9% of the time it's going to be probably the same size. Now, this year already I know of two situations in which we've gone down half a ton in size because they had a 40, 30-year-old unit and they added a deck to the home. They enclosed the deck to the home, and what was the south side is now the north side because all the windows are being shaded by the deck they added to it. They've upgraded the windows from single-pane to double-pane. So things do change in the course of a home life cycle. So you do that measuring in the loaded analysis to make sure that size equipment is still good for the home. Like I said, I know at least 2 of them so far have gone down half a ton in size because they've made those improvements to the homes in the last, you know, 20, 30, 40 years from what it was when it was first installed. So Merging the home is something that's kind of rare in these parts apparently because not too many companies or individuals do them. But it's something you have to do for your license in this state because if something were to go wrong and you would need to pull that load analysis, you would have to show the state inspector, yes, the load came up to 3 tons, we installed 3 tons, you know, what went wrong, then we can figure it out. But we can show proof, yes, we did our diligence. We poured a load on that house and we did it. My unit keeps the home cool but doesn't stop running. You don't want it to stop running. I mean, think about when it's 98 to 100 degrees outside. Think about getting in your car and then driving to the store. How many times did you turn off the AC? Probably not ever. Your home's the same way. It's trying to keep that same temperature all throughout the day. So it's not going to stop running if it's on a set point it's trying to reach. Now, if it reaches that set point, then obviously it's going to turn off. But the unit running for a long period of time is not necessarily a bad thing if the unit is sized— to go back to the first question— if it's sized properly, it is running— it is better for it to run longer because it's more efficient than turning on turning off, turning on, turn off. It's kind of like I relate it to miles per gallon in the car. Okay, what's better for your car? Is it better to hop on 95 and drive to Wilmington, or is it better to go through up 401, stop-and-go traffic, all the way down to Wilmington? Which is better gas mileage? The interstate. Why? Because it's running, not stopping. Same way for your unit at home. So the more runs And as long as it's keeping you comfortable, it's fine. It's cool. Think about it again. You get in your car. Well, let's say we take that trip to Wilmington. Okay, so you get in your car from Laurinburg, you're going to Wilmington. It's a 2-hour drive. You get on the interstate. It's 98 degrees outside. You got the air on full blast. You get to about Maxton, about 10 minutes into the trip, you start to turn it down a little bit because you're getting comfortable. And guess what you start noticing? It gets really cold the slower the fan goes. So then you turn the temperature up just a little bit because now you're cold in the car for the long trip. Same way in your house. The longer the unit runs, the slower the fan speed, the better it is to dehumidify and cool your home. The more time that air has to sit over that cooling coil and actually extract the moisture and the heat out of it before it blows it back in. The better it is for you. Same way, same reason you get cold in the car on that 2-hour trip. You know, you're nice and toasty to start with, and then you're getting cold as you go on, and you turn the temperature up a little bit or turn the fan down. Same way in your home. So it's not really a bad thing for it to keep running all the time. And plus, with the 98-100 degrees, you don't want to stop running. If the unit stops running, you have a problem. Did you see that? Alright, that's episode 85 of the #AskDerekCole Show. Be sure to hashtag your questions #AskDerekCole and we will get them on the show.
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